Blog ≫ 2026 ≫ Portugal holiday part three
This looks like some shorter contemporary notes about our holiday in Portugal. My next notes are after wife and T2 had had the day in Sintra, Pena Palace and so on. She sent me some pictures, it looked nice. She says it was very crowded and I don't think I actually missed much by going to this "must see" activity. While they were out I did lure T1 down to the pool for a bit but he wasn't feeling great still so went back to the room.
The transcribed bit
Three of us had dinner at Local, it is nearby and looks a bit like Honest Green. It has more meat and a big focus on Poké bowls, but two of us had their take on Thai red curry, and one had Cajun chicken. Was very tasty. Wife had heard portions were not great here, but it was fine, they found the coconut rice too filling. Felt healthy, fresh veg heavy. Glass of wine only €4 and all the wine seems to be local too.
Not late to bed but we did take back a one litre carton of red wine that costs €1. Yes one. It's fine! Really bought it because we have no corkscrew in room. Yes me me zombie apocalypse survival who always had a corkscrew in his pocket does not this week because of airport security. I do have a bottle opener, my tifoon 1 was allowed through in my hand luggage.
Slept quite well last night, probably AC woke me up. Boys not awake yet, but wife is up and we've had coffee. The machine in the room is a Nespresso but the pods are compostable and I'm enjoying the coffee. We're booked into the spa and gym today, then out somewhere, and a fully vegan restaurant tonight. We still have a Lisbon hit list, we've not been on a tram yet or had a sour cherry liqueur.
On to my second book, A Death Most Monumental 2. Have basically stolen wife's book and lumbered her with mine. I never read a bad book so quickly 3, thoughit was quite compelling, good holiday fodder. New one is by JD Kirk, someone recommended, gentle Scottish crime series. If it's good there's lots in the series. But starting with a charity shop chance in the middle of the series like this I already know the destiny of some characters; who forms a relationship, who chucks themselves of a bridge, the usual stuff.
Back to the up to date bit
So those notes end on the morning of Friday 21st then. We went down to the spa, we were allowed an hour per day in this one. There was a small pool, sauna, steam room, and treatment rooms. We just splashed about in the pool for an hour. There was another family there when we first arrived, but I think we had a booked slot and they left as we got in. Nice little pool, some very powerful jets in it. T1 was feeling much better by this point.
My next notes are relating to a planned trip to Belem, something wife sent me that was AI generated. I can see that before that, we went to the supermarket, I have a picture of me and T1 there using the fresh orange juicing machine, but I think I went to the supermarket the day before to get that one Euro box of wine. We had a day walking around Lisbon, first seeking out the vegan Pastel De Nata store. Ate them, again I don't think I would have missed much if I had not found this. Nice enough. We shopped and T2 bought himself a full head mask of a duck, so I can put in a picture here of me wearing that! No even better, a picture of wife wearing it!
We went back to Canil beer bar that we had passed in our Tesla taxi a couple of days before. It was playing good rock music, and they had lots of beer, but it's all "craft" keg. Wife liked it, it was OK. Some mix-up and I got two beers, oops. Then we sought out Queen Ale, a kind of a micropub. Lots more walking to get here, so felt like a treat when we arrived. This had more craft beer and some food, but definitely a nice little micropub vibe 4.
After we did a self guided tour of Alfama, it was just too early to get the best of it. Feel like I've said this before somewhere, we could have sat and had a rest and listened to some of the traditional folk music if we'd been a bit later or stayed a bit longer.
In the evening we had dinner in Kong, for a fully vegan take on traditional Portuguese food. I had the Francisinha which I'd had at Glastonbury, it was way too filling though. Everyone found the food a bit heavy, but it was tasty. Salad starter was the best. After this restaurant I prefered a long walk home while the others got another taxi.
My next pictures are from Belem so that deserves a new post.
- Titanium fork and spoon combo, with bottle opener.
- As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. In theory…
- The first book was bad, the Simon Kernick one.
- And that is where the duck head picture was actually taken.
⬅️ Artists of the week, commencing Sunday 30th August :: Lovely flying visit back to Portchester ➡️