Portugal | FindPenguins

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Trip start
August 30, 2024
Portugal Traveler
Night in Chicago
Aug 30–31, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C
We are officially on vacation! Our trip starts in Chicago, with a flight to Portugal scheduled for tomorrow afternoon.

While in Chicago, we, of course, had to indulge in some good food. After a half-day at work and a celebratory bottle of champagne, we picked up our one-way rental and headed into the city.

After a quick check-in at the JW, we were off to dinner at Shaw's, a favorite spot of Charles and Amiyah. It truly lived up to expectations! We were seated at a high-top on the bar side of the restaurant and immediately ordered the seafood tower, followed by more oysters, a lobster roll, and fish and chips! Oh, and of course, a round of martinis 🍸

As we walked back to our hotel, the bars were just starting to open, and we were ready to tuck in for the night—a real sign of our age.

We relaxed in Cham's massive upgraded suite with a viewing of Daniel Craig and Eva Green in Casino Royale. Tomorrow, we have a slow morning planned before heading to the airport for the first official stop on our trip: Lisbon.Read more
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Portugal Traveler
Welcome to Portugal
Sep 1–2, 2024 in Portugal ⋅ 🌬 25 °C
After a lovely ride in first class and the speediest airport experience, we have arrived in Portugal!

We each took a different approach to fighting jet lag today, as we arrived at 11am and had much of the day ahead of us.
- Chams went the classic nap 3-4 hour approach
- Igs and I each took < 1 hour nap and tried to stay awake with some city walking
(we're still evaluating who made the right choice)

As I knew laying down too long would end poorly for me, I went out in search of coffee and an ATM, while Igor slept a bit more. I found a cute coffee shop in a nice hotel down the road and brought back our first Pastel - a delicious egg tart that's caramelized on top! A big hit, and one we hope to repeat!

Igor and I got up and about before dinner, by finding an adorable wine shop - we immediately went too hard with cheese, meet, cod fritters, and a Madeira flight. But it was amazing!

Fighting to stay awake we walked down the VERY steep hill to the ocean and explored. Including a quick sardine tasting!

I thought for sure I might fall asleep walking, I took my power nap and we freshened up before dinner.

We ate at. cozy restaurant called Duque, meeting up with Charles parents who our trip overlaps with. We promptly ordered all the appetizers. Cha and I got G&Ts with local gin - very good, while Igor and Ams went for the Vinho Verde, a young, fresh white wine - made from not fully ripe grapes. Nice and refreshing.

Dinner included seafood rice, grilled octopus, clams, ossobucco (veal shank). Smartly, we headed to bed early to get on the right schedule and to be awake for our trip to Sintra tomorrow.Read more
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Portugal Traveler
Day trip to Sintra
September 2, 2024 in Portugal ⋅ 🌬 18 °C
For our first full day in Portugal we decided to take a day trip out to Sintra to visit the Peña Palace and explore the gardens!

After a rough and rainy car ride, we made it to the park. However we still needed to hike straight up hill to the castle in the rain. In case you were curious - rain and cobblestone paved hills and new air force ones do not provide the safest walking experience.

In a great show of skill, all of us made it to the top without falling on our face and in only 15 mins! Just in time for our entrance time.

We wandered the castle for a while, which was full of cool mosaics, tiled courtyards, and colorful rooms. Much more color and interesting patterns than the German castles we visited last year.

Still foggy and rainy, we grabbed a coffee and took off to the garden paths. The trees were covered in moss and the whole area felt like we were in a haunted gothic forest - very cool!

We continued the trek down to town on foot and really got in a calf workout. Whats wild is we passed some people wearing heels trekking up to the castle via forested and mountain climbing trails 😱

Finally arriving in Sintra city center we had lunch overlooking the city. The view was great, the food and service was mediocre. But we were most excited just to have a warm place to sit down.

We wrapped up our trip with a walk around the city before heading back into Lisbon for a quiet evening.Read more
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Portugal Traveler
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"quiet" evening
September 2, 2024 in Portugal ⋅ 🌬 20 °C
In an attempt to stay awake and rid ourselves completely of jet lag, we may have over done just a tad.

We checked out the hotel bar at Rocco, a stunning setup with cool art deco vibes. This included a few takes on the negroni with the most interesting being a rum based rift. We also found some great Portuguese sparkling and relaxed until we were hungry for dinner.

Igor found a delicious spot down the road from our hotel and what we vowed would be a chill evening quickly escalated. Making friends with the owner, ordering 4 meals + a bonus steak, and trying all sorts of Portuguese digestives.

The next morning we woke up all feeling less than 100% to say the least. However, it was nothing a stop at McDonald's couldn't heal 🙏Read more
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Portugal Traveler
2 Monkeys - Dinner
September 3, 2024 in Portugal ⋅ 🌙 19 °C
As is our tradition, we found a Michelin star dinner to try out! This one was a small seating area around an open kitchen, where they plated the dishes in front of you. Pretty cool, though not as conducive to chatting as a group.

The restaurant is set in the Torel hotel in Lisbon, which is at one of the highest points in Lisbon. Which meant a rather intense (and kind of rough) walk up the hills. However it certainly worked up the appetite!

Dinner was amazing, starting with 2 tartars - a beef and a tuna. The beef was delicious, but tuna wins most interesting, as it was served on a mirin cookie.

Highlights of the meal included the pigeon, monkfish, the fanciest slice of blue cheese, and the full Portuguese wine pairing.

We ended the night with a waffle ice cream dessert and enjoyed views over the city while waiting for our uber home. 🥂Read more
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Portugal Traveler
Food tour continues
September 4, 2024 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C
We are all a bit under the weather, and so we took the morning slow and steady. But by afternoon we were hungry and ready to explore for food!

On the advice of many friends/previous Lisbon visitors, we headed to Time Out Market to enjoy a sampling of Lisbon foods. Set up like a big market with individual food stalls and center tables, we all went off to collect goodies to share.

First up:
- steak & red wine
- local beers
- shrimp bao

Second round:
- octopus hotdog & tuna tartar

Third round:
- oysters
- shrimp, cod, tuna, lamb fritter sampler

Fourth round:
- fancy chicken hotdog
- korean sweet & spicy wingsRead more
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Portugal Traveler
More Tasty Things
September 4, 2024 in Portugal ⋅ 🌙 20 °C
After our eclectic and delicious lunch/dinner, we headed out to The Red Frog, a speakeasy cocktail bar rated in the top 100 bars.

With only some confusion around where the hidden entrance was, we were seated in a small, cozy bar.

We each quickly picked out some favorite options off the menu and put in our first round. All of the drinks were well balanced and interesting! The foamy U photo is of the cocktail named bubbles & troubles - made up of sparkling wine, passion fruit juice, and yogurt 😯

Upon leaving, we decided a little pre-bed time pizza would be just the thing. And so we stopped by a small pizza place on the way home for a good last night hang in Lisbon!

Tomorrow we're off to The Douro Valley!Read more
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Portugal Traveler
Off to wine country
September 5, 2024 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C
Today we're headed to the Douro Valley, one of Portugal's main wine regions!

Before leaving though we have one last lunch in Lisbon - Ramirez, a seafood place that Charles highly recommended from his previous trip to Portugal. And when I say seafood place, it was more like a seafood boil/market/buffet where you order your seafood by the gram and eat family style! A very dad place, he would have loved all the seafood ❤️

We had butter clams, prawns, red shrimp, langustine, and spicy shrimp. A delicious end to our time in Lisbon. Oh and dessert is a steak sandwich 😂 I guess you need some red meat to round out all the seafood.

After lunch we got our rental, a DS SUV... DS is a Europe brand car that isn't well known, just what you want in a rental car. Igor is our trusted driver and let's just say I don't think we'll be looking for DS rental cars in future travels.

The drive is 4 hours to our hotel, and it goes pretty quick - especially as a passenger. Lots of pine trees, eucalyptus trees (an invasive crop that now grows all over), and rolling hills. We also passed a truck of cork bark!

With a quick stop for a light dinner (after our very large seafood lunch) we made the last 30 min drive along the Douro River to the Quinta (wine/farmhouse) hotel we'll be at for the next few days.Read more
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Portugal Traveler
Quinta Wine Tour
September 6, 2024 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C
Quinta De Sao Bernardo is perhaps the most quaint and adorable place I've ever stayed. It's a working boutique vineyard, with 15 or so rooms, daily new dinner menu, and the most stunning views of the Douro River.

We spent the first two days relaxing at the hotel and exploring the property. Slightly too cold to go paddle boarding in the river but we enjoyed the views from the family room and multiple balconies. I also got plenty of sunshine at the pool. ☀️

For activities, the first afternoon we did a winery tour and tasting, which we found out would include 9 tastings... The wine master was great and told us some history of the region. The Douro region is one of the oldest DOCs (designated wine regions) and originally found global success with exports to England. This prompted the creation of Port due to the need to avoid spoilage by adding brandy or other spirit to the wine.

As the region has grown in exports and in tourism, vineyards are focusing on more single-varietal (one grape) wines vs the blends they had originally prioritized. Some 250 grape varieties are native here and are the only grapes allowed in Douro DOC wines (no international varieties like Pinot Noir). Two main ones: Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz.

All of their wines we tasted were delicious, especially the reds which are super full flavor and tannic. Here they only make 40-50k bottles a year, so they sell most in the restaurant and to a few local places. They also sell grapes to port makers!Read more
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Portugal Traveler
Grape Stomping
September 8, 2024 in Portugal ⋅ 🌙 18 °C
On our last night in Douro Valley we went to another local winery to participate in the grape harvest! Quinta de Pacheca. Here, instead of using machines to manage the fermentation of red wines and port (by mixing the skins and fermenting juice, called cap management), they manage it with grape stomping or foot treading!

With big shallow granite vats of grapes called lagares, works stomp through ~2 feet of grapes to mix the skins and juice! All the while musicians play :)

They gave us some shorts and a new t-shirt to partake before dinner - and we returned the favor with some free labor! The bin we were in is destined for a port wine.

The rest of the evening included some wine and port tastings, and a very generous dinner. Truly and fully stuffed, we got a ride back to our hotel for our last night - heading to Porto tomorrow.Read more
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Portugal Traveler
The charming city of Porto
Sep 9–11, 2024 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
After a winding but quick 1.5 hour drive, we made it to Porto! Igor navigated the roads expertly and dropped us off right at our apartment in the heart of the Ribiera district.

We made quick work unloading and all went across town to return the car and walk around the city some. The city is much more romantic and felt more like a place where real people lived as opposed to a tourist destination. We are already big fans!

To really appreciate the apartment stay, we quickly ordered Uber eats from a few local places and played cards. A nice quiet night, but of course way too much food!

On our first full day I was ready to explore bright and early. Igor gave up on his late morning sleeping and we went out in search of coffee! After many flights of stairs we found a cute place with a wonderful view over the harbor area. Charged up with coffee we walked up to the church at the top of the hill and climbed even further to the top of it's tower!

With my immediate need to explore the city satisfied, we took a few hours break and met up with Charles and Ams. Our next adventure included a port tasting across the river - what we've all learned is: tawny and ruby port are delicious, but they will make you feel awful from all the sugar 😭 so best to drink in moderation.

Our final expedition for the day included dinner at a Fado restaurant - which is a traditional Portuguese dinner with live music. Set in a 17th century cellar, we had delicious food and enjoyed the beautiful songs (in Portuguese).Read more
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Portugal Traveler
Last nights of Portugal
Sep 11–12, 2024 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C
We spent our last few days enjoying time at our apartment, exploring the city, and sitting by the water.

The exploring easily doubled as a workout given the numerous inclines and stairs. The worst was when we made the wrong choice on the route and both had to descend and the re-ascend - do not give up any elevation gain if you can help it!

We had great success with our last few meals. The first was a multi-course dinner at Emotivo where they had chosen 2 regions of Portugal to highlight, the menu a surprise and determined by choosing a set of toys in a choose your own adventure game! This was hands down some of the best regional food we had, the two regions: Douro and Algarve.

Our last meal was a steakhouse named Muu. It highlighted two new truths we learned this trip: Portuguese steak is arguably better than their seafood (and incredible), their red wines are our new favorite and highly undervalued elsewhere in the world. Amiyah gets the credit for choosing this restaurant and a top candidate for #1 meal of the trip!

We spent the rest of the evening with a few cocktails and a nice sit by the water, watching the night boats and lights on the port. ❤️Read more
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Trip end
September 13, 2024