For possibly the first time on this trip, we were ready on time; in fact, we were ready too early. When I reviewed the directions to get to the Oceanarium, our destination for the day, I noticed the opening time was 10:00 and not 9:00. So, we hung around the apartment a bit before making the two-train Metro ride to the Oceanarium.
Emmie poses in front of Metro station artwork.
The Oceanarium was closest to the Oriente station on the Metro red line. I’d not done the advance research, but it turns out the station not only has a Metro stop but is a hub for high-speed commuter trains, regional rail, plus local, national, and international buses. Opened in 1998 in advance of the Expo ’98 World’s Fair (which took place in Lisbon), the expansive station proved challenging to navigate, but we eventually successfully made it out of the station, and onwards to the Oceanarium.
We cut through the Vasca De Gama mall en route to a scenic walk along the Tagus River. The kids posed for photos, we saw fish in the sea, and Noah noticed the Vasco De Gama bridge, suggesting it was the “longest in the continent.” I was skeptical, but his intuition was correct: according to Wikipedia, it’s has a length of over 12 kilometers and is the longest bridge in Europe! Like the Oriente station, it was built in 1998 in advance of World’s Fair.
The Vasco de Gama bridge is barely visible in the background.
While Amanda, Cassy, and the kids were perusing the gift shop, I made attempts to buy tickets online and at the machine to avoid the queue. Neither attempt was successful, but the line wasn’t as long as it seemed, and we were able to beat at least some of the school groups into the Oceanarium.
The Oceanarium was configured with a giant tank in the middle and visitors were moved counter-clockwise around the tank, allowing views of the sea creatures at multiple angles. Each quadrant of the second floor had additional exhibits for each ocean, with the penguins and sea otters being the most memorable.
Noah took ample photographs throughout the Oceanarium, wanting to ensure each sea creature he saw was documented on his digital camera’s memory card.
At this point in our visit, Eilidh was more interested in licking glass than observing animals.
Note Eilidh is standing on the tips of her toes!
The first floor of the aquarium was largely more of the same, with more views into the central tank, allowing Noah and Emmie to see a few sea creatures they hadn’t seen in previous viewings. There were additional exhibits for smaller creatures like jellyfish which caught the kids’ eyes, but those had a lot of overlap with what we had seen a week prior in Berlin.
In Rick Steves’ guidebook to Lisbon, he highlights the Oceanarium but notes visitors will not only be observing penguins and sea otters but “school-aged children.” We found this especially true during our visit, as several school groups were present, further congesting an already-busy Oceanarium.
On our way to the mall for lunch, a street performer had a large bowl of dish soap and was blowing bubbles big and small onto the cobblestone pathway. Noah and Emmie were immediately fascinated with this, and Emmie even was given the opportunity to help create a giant bubble. Noah astutely observed they had as much fun outside the Oceanarium as they did inside, and for a fraction of the cost! (I dropped 3 Euros, all the change I had, in the dish by the bubble-maker.)
Raw reactions from Noah and Emmie as they observe the bubbles.
After bubbles, we made the short walk to the Vasco de Gama mall, where we planned to eat lunch at the third-floor food court. We were far from the only people who had that idea, as the food court was packed! After a trip around to look at all of the restaurants pleasant, we eventually found a place to secure a table while I went out to order lunch for myself and the kids.
In front of the Vasco de Gama Mall; note we were able to borrow a stroller from Elsa, which was perfect for Eilidh (and, at one point, Emmie) at both the Oceanarium and Mall.
Today marked two days of McDonald’s meals in a row for Emmie. Noah also had a Chicken McNugget Happy Meal, and I tried the “L.A. Bacon” sandwich, which seemed to be unique to Europe. The place was packed, but I was possibly able to save time by using the self-serve ordering computer. I tacked on a few McFlurrys to give Amanda and Cassy a bit of a snack before they ventured into the food court to order their meal.
It seems “Iowa Bacon” would be a better name for this sandwich than “L.A. Bacon,” but alas.
My L.A. Bacon sandwich (apparently inspired by American cuisine), Noah’s McFlurry and McNuggets, and Eilidh’s amusing face.
Amanda loves my obligatory food photos, this one of her Snickers McFlurry.
Amanda and Cassy had dinner from another fast food chain, grabbing sandwiches at Burger King. We split up to do some shopping in the mall before reuniting and taking the reverse subway route back to the apartment.
Amanda, Emmie, and Eilidh stayed back in the evening, while Cassy, Noah, and I made a second attempt to go to IKEA. I planned to bring Amanda dinner from our familiar, nearby A Graça restaurant; however, the English-speaking waitress was not working at the time I visited, and I was unable to order a hamburger for takeaway.
After a little more walking, I came across a tiny cafe with a limited menu, but the proprietor was able to make either a hamburger or “spaghetti” to go. “Spaghetti” was actually an Asian-style noodle recipe served with sweet chili sauce; priced at under 4 Euros, the meal was a hit with Amanda; so much so the restaurant was on her radar to revisit before the end of our stay in Lisbon.
The friendly cafe owner makes all of her meals on a single gas stove within a tiny restaurant kitchen area.
We preceded our trip to IKEA with a stop by the same cafe for glass-bottled chocolate milk, and a visit to Mú Gelato Italiano to introduce Cassy to the neighborhood ice cream shop. Once we’d completed both stops, we crossed the street to the bus stop, hoping the latest and greatest bus route I’d found would actually get us to IKEA.
I tried raspberry and kibana, a combination of kiwi and banana; Cassy had the Oreo ice cream; Noah sat this visit out.
After more than 20 minutes of waiting for a bus which supposedly stopped every 17 minutes, I decided to give in and order a ride with Uber. Our ride arrived quickly, and we were shopping in IKEA far earlier than we would have arrived even if my bus route had worked. We perused both floors before a stop at the IKEA cafeteria for a Swedish meatball dinner.
Noah fell asleep on Cassy’s shoulder during the Uber ride to IKEA.
The cafeteria was popular with Lisbon locals as both lines were at least 20 customers deep. They moved quickly, though, and it wasn’t too long before we were sitting down and dining. Cassy and I both ordered Swedish meatballs and mashed potatoes; Noah skipped the sides in favor of only the meatballs. Cassy thought the taste of her apple dessert was okay but wasn’t a fan of the texture; I liked my hard-to-describe chocolatey cake.
The apple dessert looked better than it tasted.
We grabbed a couple of IKEA cinnamon rolls to go before requesting an Uber to take us back to our Lisbon apartment for the night.