Cascais, Portugal - Day 1

Thursday, February 22, 2024

This morning, we were up bright and early to go to the airport for our 9:00am flight to Lisbon, Portugal. I packed most of our belongings last night, so we didn’t have much to do this morning but toss pajamas in our bags, pack up toiletries, and hit the road. The highways were eerily quiet as we made the 45 minute drive from Ponta dol Sol to the airport in the capital city of Funchal. Apparently, not many people get moving before the sun comes up on the island.

After returning our rental car, we navigated through the airport without any issues. We flew domestically from Madeira to Lisbon, so we simply made our way through security and located our gate on the other side. Andi wasn’t feeling great this morning, so thank goodness for an easy travel morning.

Air travel is such a game of hurry up and wait. Once it was time to line up for our flight, everyone on our plane squeezed into a tiny boarding area, segmented by premier status, and zones A and B. There was no rhyme or reason to the boarding process other than those three designations, so I was oddly proud of Tory when she butted right up to the front of Zone B and confidently stood her place in line. How many 12-year-olds can easily navigate a foreign airport by themselves? She knew exactly where to go, and wasn’t about to be stuck at the back of the boarding line.

Our flight from the Portuguese island of Madeira to Lisbon was a short 1 hour and 40 minutes. I happened to throw a couple travel-sized diamond art kits in my backpack which have been Tory’s favorite thing to do on flights this trip. It keeps her busy for hours. Aden? Not so much. I gave him one to try, and it kept him entertained for 10 minutes.

No food or beverages offered on Air Portugal unless you wanted to pay for them, so the kids gave this airline a 5/10 rating. The flight attendant didn’t even ask us if we wanted to buy something to drink; she skipped right over our aisle.

We landed in Lisbon, Portugal around 11:30am. From there, we caught an Uber ride to the town of Cascais, Portugal located about 30 minutes away on the coast. We’re spending the next two days in Cascais with Andi’s sister, Lindsay, and her five-year-old son, Arnie. It’s so fun that she lives in Europe and was able to meet us here during one of Arnie’s school breaks.

We made it to Cascais by 1:00pm and had our Uber driver drop us off at our airbnb. We couldn’t officially check in until 3:00pm, but the owner said we could drop off our bags when we arrived to town. The house cleaner was jamming out to tunes and dancing with the vacuum cleaner when we arrived which was kind of funny!

Andi rented a three-bedroom, two-bathroom house in Cascais for the four of us + Lindsay and Arnie. There’s also a really nice backyard area with a pool, though I doubt we’ll use it this weekend. Temperatures are in the 50’s and 60’s with rain in the forecast. It had been in the 70’s in Cascais the past few weeks, but of course a coastal weather system has blown into the area this week bringing cooler temperatures and precipitation.

Our new airbnb is a 10-minute walk to the historic central area of Cascais. Andi, Tory, Aden, and I walked downtown to find something to eat while we waited for Lindsay and Arnie to arrive. There were lots of different food options in Cascais, and they all sounded great to Andi and I. After traveling through Morocco and eating tagine for every meal, and then spending a week in Madeira eating typical Portuguese entrees, we were excited to see some a variety of food options here. It started to rain while we walked along the historic cobblestones streets, so Andi encouraged Tory and Aden to make a choice between tacos or Thai food. Of course, the kids couldn’t agree. Tory wanted tacos, and Aden wanted Thai food. Andi and I sided with Aden and picked Thai which didn’t make Tory very happy. We promised her tacos before we left the Lisbon area.

The menu inside Soya Noodle Bar looked amazing! It tasted so good to eat something different for a change. Andi ordered gyoza, dumplings, chicken skewers, pad Thai, and bibimbap for us to share. Tory refused to eat anything but the chicken skewers, and then cried when she burned her arm on the side of the hot pot. Aden, on the other hand, devoured our entrees. He had the biggest smile on his face the entire meal. “Can we travel to Asia sometime, Dad?” he asked expectantly.

Lindsay and Arnie met us at the restaurant just as we finished our lunch. It was so great to see them, and fun to experience a new place together. Arnie’s eyes were wide with a big smile on his face when he saw us emerge from the restaurant doors. Unfortunately, Lindsay has been super sick the past few weeks with a cold/cough and I could see in her eyes that she didn’t feel very well. It’s hard having the energy to travel and parent when you don’t feel well.

From the restaurant, the six of us walked around downtown Cascais by the waterfront. Historically, the town of Cascais was a summer retreat for Portuguese nobility, so the historic city center has a grand allure to it. Patterned cobblestones streets weave through alleyways of centuries-old buildings with ocean views in the distance.

All three kids perked up at Andi’s idea to stop for ice cream. We popped into a store called Santini’s which claims to be the best-tasting gelato in all of Portugal. The kids each picked two flavors of gelato which were expertly mixed together to form one ball of sweetness. Tory picked chocolate and strawberry, Aden picked vanilla and salted caramel, and Arnie picked vanilla and chocolate.

The six of us continued to walk around downtown Cascais, eventually stopping at the carousel right in the city centre. All three kids picked a plastic animal to sit on, and Andi paid for tickets. Not more than a minute into their ride, it started to rain. Not just a sprinkle — pouring rain. Andi had gone next door to buy a hamburger for Tory at Burger King since she never really ate lunch, so Lindsay and I stepped onto the carousel to dodge the rain. “Ok to stand on here?” Lindsay asked the attendant. He said that it was.

Andi returned with a Burger King hamburger and fries for Tory. She was so excited and scarfed down the food immediately. We waited underneath the protection of the carousel for the rain to stop and then made the 10-minute walk back to our airbnb. On the way, Lindsay wanted to stop at a grocery store to pick up a few snacks and breakfast items for tomorrow. We did our best to navigate to one, but ended up going the wrong way. Eventually, we found a mini-market that had the basics. She bought a few things and Tory and Aden each picked out some chocolate. There was a homeless man in the store begging for money which made us all a little uncomfortable. I didn’t have any cash on me so I wasn’t any help. Eventually Andi gave him a couple Euros so he could buy the few items he wanted in the store.

We hung out at our airbnb for the rest of the evening. Andi ordered more groceries to be delivered on a food delivery app called Glovo. He also ordered take-out for our dinner from a restaurant called Local (Your Healthy Kitchen). The kids had Burger King again.

It was fun to catch up with Lindsay, and share all the details of our trip since we saw her last month in the Netherlands. While the adults chatted, the kids had some screen time and then we all played a few card games together.

We ended up staying in at our airbnb for the rest of the evening which was fine by me. It was fun to spend time with Lindsay and Arnie which is the purpose of this stop in Lisbon anyway. Tomorrow, we have a full day to explore the city of Cascais together.