A Long Lisboan Style Weekend

I only get to see my best friend once a year, on average. This statistic takes into consideration the years that I don’t even see her at all, coupled with the years I see her twice, maybe even three times. Lucky for me, this year, I have seen her two times, and I may even get to see her once more. So despite the hangover I should have felt after having too much wine in the hotel bar last night, I felt great upon waking up this morning at 5:45 AM. Today was the day we were leaving Amarante, picking up Lauren at the Lisbon airport, and spending three glorious days with her and Nico, the newest addition to her family. We planned to spend a relaxing long weekend where the Lisboan locals spend their summers, a posh beach town only 30 minutes outside of town called Cascais (pronounced Kush-kighsh).

As we departed Amarante, we entered the Lisbon airport into the GPS to ensure we didn’t get lost trying to read Portuguese street signs. At this moment, the GPS told us the trip to the airport would take 3 hours. I have no effing clue what happened – there wasn’t any traffic, and we somehow saw only a handful of cars during the entire drive – but at some point, the trip duration jumped to 4 hours. When we finally made it to the airport and picked up Lauren and Nico, we barely had enough space in the car – yes, the entire car, not just the trunk – for our bags, plus her (minuscule) backpack, stroller, and carseat. (Sidebar: How does anyone in Europe take a road trip? I guess the trains really are better options...) We had initially rented a station wagon, but were told at the rental center a full size sedan had more trunk space. I feel like we were driving in a Honda Civic, which as you know, is no real full size sedan. Nevertheless, we somehow managed to close the trunk (more on that later...) and get everyone buckled in, to drive 30 more minutes to Cascais.

We had rented an apartment through AirBnB, which looked LOVELY on the AirBnB website. And to our hostesses’ credit, the place was lovely on the inside. But upon arriving at our destination, we kind of felt like we had stumbled upon either a crack house or a meth lab. OK, it wasn’t that bad, but it was pretty close. Not sure how the insides of a building can be so nice when the outsides are so decrepit. Our hostesses, Ana and Izabel, greeted us from the kitchen window, smoking cigarettes and waving. They certainly know how to welcome a gaggle of parents with two children under the age of 1. No comment. We certainly are in no position to judge.

Once we settled inside, we were thankful that the inside was indeed, lovely. So we put on our swim suits, took a walk, and ended up at the city beach.  Just beyond the center of town and many different bars and restaurants, the Cascais beach is conveniently located. Parker took his first dip in the Atlantic Ocean (from the European side, I’d like to add) with Nico, Lauren, and me. Jeremy, a fan only of water that is a few degrees warmer/cooler than his body (but not more than a few degrees warmer/cooler) stayed on the beach and documented the occasion taking pictures.

Parker's New Bud, Nico

Crazy Babies after a Swim

Once we tired of swimming, we traveled back into town, searching for a place to eat dinner. We stumbled upon a pizzeria, and while asking a man who ended up NOT working there for a menu, we were invited to sit down and join him for appetizers whilst he waited for his girlfriend. I know right? Who would have thought that this guy’s girlfriend would actually ever show up? But she did. He wasn’t a total DB. We hung out with them for an hour or so, while the boys luckily napped, had a couple drinks, and discussed where in Portugal we had to visit. It was awesome. We eventually left this lovely couple to enjoy their date without three additional adults and two crying babies, went home, and devoured two pizzas – one with truffles, the other with anchovies – and passed out. (I’ll pretend that we didn't spend any time dealing with putting babies to sleep. It’s a better memory of the vacation that way.)

By the way, I’m serious. Pizza #1 was not covered in mushrooms. They were truffles. The real effing deal. Dee-lish. Thanks for coming to meet up with us, Laur. I am so excited to spend a few days with you!