1.29.17
Day 1
Portugal. Quite easily becoming our favorite country. History, architecture, friends … and pastries everywhere! Definitely a good mix.
We landed in Lisbon and promptly hopped an Uber to the hotel. By the way, Uber while traveling finally means no more paying outrageous prices for taxis. (choirs singing)
Step 1: We need food and wine and find A Cevicheria which served amazing dish after amazing dish.
Step 2: After 2 hours of eating, we thought we should probably do some sightseeing and headed to Miradouro.
Took in some amazing views then hopped another Uber to Belem tower and walked up 93 steps to take in some more gorgeous views of the water, the bridge and passing sailboats. After realizing that we may have spent too much time eating and the Jeronimos Cathedral was closing in 30 minutes, we ran to the Discoveries Monument, ran through the underpass and made it just in time to see the beautiful cathedral. This meant we deserved a treat in the form of delicious egg tarts at Pasteis de Belem. Pasteis de nata (egg tarts) are the most delicious, flaky, creamy and sweet egg treats made. We had at least 5 a day. After gorging, we went back to take some night shots of the fountain and were off to dinner!
Whatever it is you’re doing in Lisbon, GO to Quermesse! We ordered this and couldn’t get enough of it. Did I mention we went back the next night?
sauteéd lobster with linguini nero and shrimp
1.30.17
Day 2
Woke up at 8:30, alarm was set at 6am. We thought we should be productive right away, so we went out to grab … egg tarts of course! Walked up some crazy hills, saw some graffiti, saw some trolleys, saw some graffiti covered trolleys. By the way, can you see how steep these hills get?! Reward for the walk = egg tarts!
We got to Manteigaria, and promptly ordered 9 pasteis de nata and some cappuccinos. 
It is standing room only here but you can see the egg tarts being made in front of you. We quickly rate it tastier than Belem’s egg tarts which were delicious to begin with. We then did some quick shopping for cork products around Praça Luís de Camões and also picked up some $4 inhalers.
Off to lunch at Carmo in front of the Carmo Convent. The rest of the afternoon was filled with more shopping of Portuguese sardines, ceramics and then sightseeing around Barrio Alto. We rode up the Elevador de Santa Justa and got some amazing views of the city. This also drops you off right back near the Carmo Convent. Hmm… what to do next? 
Egg Tarts? Yes, Egg Tarts! We tried the third place on our list, Fabrica da Nata. Definitely the roomiest, with plenty of seating under chandeliers but Manteigaria had already stolen our hearts. Took a walk to Rossio Square, a place to avoid if you are not a pigeon lover but a wonderfully lively part of the city. Couldn’t quite make it to Castelo de San Jorge being totally out of energy and had to Uber back to the hotel.
Then back to dinner at Quermesse, where you feel like you’re eating right in someone’s home, everyone’s friendly and you’re surrounded by tons of trinkets and food goodies. Just because I can’t stop talking about food, between the repeated visits we had lobster/prawn squid ink pasta, pork cheeks, sparkling sangria (mmm), seafood lasagna, cheese, duck risotto and toucinho do ceu for dessert. This was a pretty good dessert with a recipe originated by nuns with bacon as the secret ingredient. BACON! Did I say we love this place?
Off to bed after the good meal! Sadly, had to leave the next morning to continue on our trip to the Algarve.
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