A Magical Day in Lisbon, Portugal

Lisbon is a beautiful city, and one that we were very excited to visit on our honeymoon! We originally planned to visit some of the museums but our schedule got bumped a day due to a delayed flight, resulting in us visiting the city on a Monday. Pro tip - don't visit Lisbon on a Monday. Pretty much everything is closed. Luckily, we were able to do a bit of research in our hotel room and come up with a new plan!

First up was our visit to the World's Oldest Bookstore!!! SO COOL. I have a whole blog post about our wonderful stop by this store, but to recap: it was beautiful, go visit if you can!!

Next up we decided to hike through the Alfama district to check out Castelo de Sao Jorge. It was a bit of a hike, but we didn't need directions. We just kept our eye on the castle and explored along the way. We weren't disappointed!

We had such a fun time exploring the castle! We got to walk along the parapets and explore the different areas within the castle. There was even a nice little cafe where we sat and enjoyed the scenery. There were even stray kitties and peacocks wandering about! Right next to our table! So fun!

And of course, we got an AWESOME view of the city. It was breathtaking and possibly my favorite part of the day. It was truly memorable standing above the city with my new husband just taking it all in.

Our final stop of the day was to the Oceanarium. It was really neat! I wasn't too excited about this stop initially, but my husband insisted. And of course, he was right. It was pretty fabulous and definitely worth the visit!

 Finally, just a note about Lisbon - don't expect prompt food service. We loved the city, culture and views, but man! It took forever to place an order, get served and PAY at every restaurant we went to. We waited 45 minutes just to hand them our credit card, despite asking the waiter for it twice! So weird! 

All in all, we had a tremendous time exploring the city, even if we didn't make it to the Carriage Museum like we originally planned. If you'd like us to arrange a tour of Portugal for you and your family or group, check out MilesIntoMemoriesTravel.com. 

Visiting the World's Oldest Bookstore

As a book lover, I'm constantly on the hunt for beautiful bookstores wherever I go. While researching our trip to Lisbon, I stumbled across the ultimate bookstore! The Chiado Livraria Bertrand is the oldest bookstore in the world! It even holds a Guinness World Record! This location opened in 1732 and has since become the largest bookstore chain in Portugal. I must say it was magical.

Here I am with the sign out front!

Tired, sweaty but excited! I had the time of my life wandering through the stacks of books and of course, came away with a few to add to my collection. The set up of the store was really neat! It had multiple rooms that stretched back kind of like a tunnel. It ended with a pretty gorgeous little cafe. As a book enthusiast, it was a pretty awesome experience. I highly recommend stopping by if you get the chance!