Lisbon Part 2: Cascais & Belem

Once we laid our eyes on Bairro Alto on our first day in Lisbon, it was pretty hard to leave—the relaxed atmosphere, the small café-lined streets and colorful buildings had us eating dinner there every single night. We hit a local spot recommended by the shop owner down the street—Casa da India—which ironically is not an Indian place at all but a Portuguese grill. Any place where you’re sure that you’re the only foreigners in there and where you wait for a table for 30 minutes while sipping 1 EUR beers must be a good place! We were not disappointed—the guy behind the counter slathers marinade on grilled chicken, beef, bacon, seafood, shrimp and well just about anything that you can grill. We ordered a huge jug of sangria and a mixed plate of grilled meats which came with fluffy rice and crisp French fries----mmmmmmm mmm mmm.

The next day we thought we better venture away from Bairro Alto so we escaped to Cascais, a seaside town only a 40-minute train ride from Lisbon, and the train just so happens to go right along the water. We grabbed a harbor-side table and while Christian and my brother-in-law went to check out the yachts, my sis and I ordered some vinho verde and did some wedding planning :). Not a bad atmosphere to chat with my maid of honor about wedding stuff!

On our last night in Bairro Alto..errrr I mean Lisbon…we found a tiny café around the corner from our cute apartment. Shame on me for not jotting down the name because this was our best meal over the weekend! My sis and I ordered shrimp skewers but my brother-in-law’s bifteka Portguesa, steak topped with bacon and gravy, was so salty and so good! Let’s not forget that we started off with bread and homemade garlic butter and fresh gazpacho…I LOVE gazpacho! Upon finishing our 2^nd bottle of wine, the four of us decided that Lisbon was definitely one of the best cities in Europe! The lifestyle, the delicious food, street parties and cheap sangria and the sky is so ridiculously blue! We didn’t want to leave…but my sis and her husband were off to Rome and Christian and I were off to Croatia the next day sooooo…we were cool with it ;). 

I'm linking up with Bailey today for her travel party link-up! 'Travel' and 'party' just sound too good together, no? :)