When we checked into our Lisbon apartment, owner Elsa was sure to point out a cabinet which contained kids books in multiple languages plus a variety of toys, formerly owned by her children who are now older. All of the children have made good use of the toys provided, but Noah has especially taken to the blocks, using our master closet to build vacation-themed structures.
First up was the Berlin TV Tower (left) then the Eiffel Tower (right.)
Noah then created the Berlin Wall, followed by the Berlin Wall after it was taken down.
We decided to make the three-stop Metro ride downtown to the Armazéns do Chiado Mall, with sights on a food court lunch so everyone could choose their own meals (and the kids would have an opportunity to eat at McDonald’s.) The mall was busy but Amanda secured a place to sit while Cassy and I procured food from three different places:
- Wok to Walk featured made-to-order Mongolian grill meals; Cassy and Amanda both had beef teriyaki and were satisfied even if it wasn’t as good as HuHot.
- Mod Pizza was the choice for Noah and me, and completely underwhelming.
- Emmie had McDonald’s and ate all of her chicken nuggets plus some French fries and a bottle of water.
Amanda poses with her beef, mushroom, and broccoli teriyaki from “Wok to Walk” in downtown Lisbon.
Eilidh ate a few noodles in her food court high chair.
We did some souvenir shopping at A Vida Portuguesa, a store filled with only Portugal-made items, from food to crafts to postcards, which was highly recommended by Elsa and mentioned in Rick Steves’ Portugal guide. There’s a good chance if we’ve purchased souvenirs for any readers from Lisbon, they were from this store.
We’d planned to find another souvenir shop but the kids needed access to a water closet (the European name for toilet/restroom) so we decided to instead check out the Time Out Market. The market was noted in our food tour and sells Cassy’s newfound favorite chocolate cake. We perused the market, shared a couple pieces of cake, and sampled some ice cream from Lisbon hot spot Santini.
A canned fish vendor was among the local offerings at Time Out Market.
Eilidh again found a spot on the floor to rest; she was more than ready for a nap by the time we had gotten to the market.
Eilidh waits by the market exit as we finish tube-feeding Eilidh before catching the Metro back to the apartment.
Behind the Scenes: Lisbon Photo Shoot
This photo was taken just before we reached the meeting spot with the photographer.
While we started in the Alfama neighborhood, we ended along the river in Lisbon’s main plaza. Wanting a quick dinner, I used Yelp to direct us to a well-rated snack bar… which after a few blocks of walking, we found out was closed for the night.
We stopped by a canned eel store. Noah was a fan, so we bought a large container of canned eel to take home to the states.
Noah gives the canned eel two thumbs up; despite the thumbs up from Emmie, she wasn’t as enthralled.
We went to a plan B option, trying codfish cakes filled with cheese. The restaurant was one of a handful of places owned and operated by a Lisbon tourism association. Our photographer suggested they were pretty tasty but weren’t original to Portugal, despite marketing efforts to suggest they’ve been a part of Lisbon cuisine for years.
I went all-in, buying one codfish cake for each of us; after taking a quick bite, I sought out some drinks. When I came back, Amanda, Cassy, and Emmie had stopped eating. They reported the cheese filling was terrible, and within a few bites, I was able to confirm their assessment. Noah ate the most of anyone but mostly focused on the codfish part and like us avoided the cheese.
These… looked good… but were awful.
On our way to the subway station, we walked by a place that did on-the-spot embroidery of various clothing and home goods. Along the pedestrian-only-roadway, an employee was embroidering names onto paper; Noah and Emmie both got papers with their names on them, and Emmie wrote down “Mommy” and “Daddy” so we could get a souvenir of our own.
Noah added his name to the list to get a souvenir paper with his name.
The marketing strategy was effective, as we decided to get a hat with Eilidh’s name on it; she’s needed one since we started the vacation, as a hat was something we had forgotten to pack. It was cute and priced at only 10 Euros, a worthwhile investment.
We were still hungry when we left the Metro, so we decided to make a return visit to the familiar A Graça Cozinha Portuguesa, where we’d eaten the first night. They were a bit busier than on our prior visit so opened their second room for our party of six. The owner even turned on the TV to kids programming, which excited Noah and Emmie as they’ve watched very little television since the start of our adventure.
Another great meal in the books from A Graça.