Our Family Trip to Portugal

It has a while since our return home from our vacation to Portugal. I must admit, i believed that i would have started this post 3 weeks ago! But here are my excuses... Baby, house work, office work blah blah blah.

Let me start by sharing this beautiful sky view with you...

So we arrived to Lisbon Portugal on the 8th of July 2016 at 11:30PM with 2 suitcases (one large and one small), 2 back-packs (1 on my back and one on my husbands) and a foldable stroller where our 8month baby boy sat contently. We were accompanied by my sister and her family who carried about the same amount of luggage (2 large suitcases, 2 back packs, one double stroller for the two kids age 3 and 1, and 2 small back packs for the kids). 

With 3 small and sleepy kids the first thing on our list was to make our way to the hotel-apartment that we booked in advance. We walked out of the airport with the clock near midnight and stood in a long line of people waiting for a TAXI. What we did not know, was that for large groups like ours we could of jumped the line and taken one of the 7 seat TAXIS. We found this out the hard way! Nevertheless we were all exited to have our holiday start and waited in line with good spirits and laughed at our mistakes afterwards.

We arrived at the hotel-apartment. It was passed midnight and the TAXI driver requested 20.00 euro for the 8 min drive. Even though the apartment block did not look that great from the outside everything was clean and well looked after once we were in. 

We stayed at the Discovery Apartment Expo.

We used Booking.com  to book our hotels and apartments.
The owner of the Apartment was very friendly and healthful. She took the time to explain to us how to get around the city from the location we were and advised us about some nice local areas to visit.

The next morning after a good night rest was a quest for breakfast and then a visit to the local aquarium which is one of the best in Europe. 

This was a fun outing for the hole family. It felt magical to see the fish and other marine creatures from up close. The architecture of the aquarium makes you feel like you are underwater yourself and the views are more that amazing! All of us, baby's and parents loved this.

The aquarium has two exhibitions. The all year round one and then a temporary one that changes every few weeks. We were lucky to see some cute little creatures here.

 

The rest of the day we spent in the same area of the aquarium called "Parque das Nações" which was very pleasing to the eye, had various options for food and shopping at the "Centro Vasco da Gama"

Let me add that facilities for changing baby's and family friendly locations were always around the corner and this made our trip much more care free.

On our second day in Lisbon, we had to visit the well know location where "Pasteis de Belem" are freshly baked and served. We took the bus from our apartment to Belem and after seeing the "The Jerónimos Monastery" and listening to the live music which rang up a group of people (including ourselves) dancing  in the park opposite the church; we had a delicious brunch of Pasteis/Pastries.

 

We took the bus from our apartment to Belem and on the way there and back we were able to do some serious sight seeing. So this would be the rout to take to see it all (Parque das Nações-Belem).

Walking us we found many tourists and that means also many shops for souvenirs, lots of food options and easy ways for transport. Unfortunately we were not able to go see the "Cristo Rei/Christ the King" from up front and close but this rout gave us a nice view from a distance.  Here is what we got to see:

On the 3dr day we decided to find our way up to Fatima. This town is the home of the Sanctuary of Fátima where it is believed that Virgin Mary appeared in 1917. This was probably my favorite place to stay. We arrived late after the Euro celebrations where Portugal was titled 2016 champions! This was fun to be part of and see the emotion of the Portuguese people from the heart of Portugal.  

Fatima was a well looked after touristic town where all locals were super friendly, kind and generous. This is also a good place to find souvenirs at very good prices. It felt like the whole town kept a serene atmosphere and you cant help but link this to "The story of Fatima". To our family it was an important stop as we had a lot to be thankful for. Taking the opportunity to thank Our Mother for siting at my brothers side and fighting for him when he has been badly injured in a car accident and miraculously granting him a second chance was an indescribable feeling.

Can you ignore the sky and how it leads the way to the church?

After Fatima we headed the next day to Aveiro. Aveiro is a picture perfect town surrounded by beautiful beaches, colors, students (due to the University of Aveiro), and friendly people. The river that runs through the town makes even more welcoming and it was super fun to jump on one of the river tour traditional boats Moliceiro.

Another central location for some family fun was the City Park. Here we fed the ducks and what i believe to be catfish, walked through the beautiful gardens and played at the playground.

And the best burgers in town are waiting for you at the local cafe RAMONA which is surrounded buy a neighborhood of traditional homes covered in colored tiles.

After Aveiro we were off to see the beutifull Porto. I must say that this is probably the most beutifull city we visited. The architecture, culture and natural beauty of this city is overwhelming.  The only downfall is that in comparison with all the cities we visited in Portugal the people are a little less friendly and as they are used to having many many tourists at this time of year, you may find that some of the people of the local businesses tend to be rude, dismissive or even bored when talking to you. Also souvenirs are a little more expensive in Porto than in Lisbon, Fatima or Aveiro. But don't let that hold you back from visiting the city as i loved every moment there!

From the old train station you could literately pick any direction to walk in and have many beautiful things to see and do. We walked down to the River Douro where we took a boat ride under the Dom Luís bridge. 

Obviously we had a blast and this post is going on forever. Nevertheless before i can call it quits i need to post about our last destination which was Sintra. This subregion town of Lisbon is like living in a fairy tail. Castles, Horses, Forests this is a place for Princesses and Prices.  If i were not already in love...I could see myself falling in love in a place like this! 

Hope you enjoy these photos and that this post gives you the urge to visit these beautiful places.

xoxo

Natasha