Day 122 : Cascais & Cabo da Roca

Cascais is a coastal town, located 34km west of Lisbon. Getting there involved taking a 40 mins train from Lisbon.

Giulia and I made our way at about 10am, taking the train from near the ferry harbour.

The view of the coast can be seen most of the way over.

The town of Cascais is rather small, and we soon made our way towards the marina, one which I had heard so much about because of the SB20 sailing I do in Singapore and how Cascais has held a number of such races as part of the international race scene.

We continued along the coast a little further, which was covered with very rocky formations and pretty strong waves.

At one point, we saw this guy fishing, and it probably took him by surprise when the waves came crashing really high, as most of the waves before that had been very low.

We wanted to also cover Cabo da Roca today, so after a quick lunch, we made our way to the bus station to catch the bus over.

It was a 40 mins bus ride from Cascais, and a very pricey ride at €3.45 one way.

Cabo da Roca is the Western most point of Portugal, as well as Continental Europe. The view here was impressive and we ended staying here for over an hour.

Time to head back to Lisbon... The same 40 mins bus back to Cascais and then another 40 mins by train.

So glad we had good weather for most part of today especially since it was forecasted to have more rain today.

Upon arriving in Lisbon, I went straight to Principe Real and Bairro Alto area. This area is famous for clubbing and restaurants and dining, and is located high up on Lisbon hilly terrain. I was too exhausted to walk more, lest to climbing up a steep slope, and I decided to take a tiny feeder bus that services the area. 

It was just about to get dark by the time I got up there, but I briefly managed to see the beautiful architecture on some of the buildings in the light, before the city litted up as darkness hit, especially at the Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara. 

There was a really good clarinet player playing at the park too, super talented as he used a repeater to create the background music for his own rendition.

Feeling very hungry by 7pm, I searched for a restaurant on Google maps, and came up with M'Arrecreo, which had really good reviews.

You know it is good when you walk into a restaurant in Portugal before 8pm and it is full. I managed to snag the last table, as a guest had just finished their meal and left the restaurant, but with a warning that I need to clear the table within 50 mins for a prior reservation. 

The fragrant smell of pizza filled the room as I walked in.

I ordered the M’ARRECREO, made up of San Marzano DOP tomato, Mozzarella di bufala campana DOP, spicy ventricina, ’nduja, red onion, along with beer.

Within 10 minutes of my order, the pizza arrived and I was very pleasantly surprised at the speed. 

This was definitely one good neopolitan style pizza!

It was then a slow walk back to the hostel, as I venture down the streets of Barrio Alto, and enjoying the lively atmosphere of the area.