As promised, here’s a recap of our second stop while in Europe back in May. (I know I am waaaay late, but better late than never!) If you missed my last post, go back and check it out HERE.

Hoch and I wanted to take advantage of the longer flights to Europe so we decided to add another stop after our time in Croatia. We chose a country that neither of us had been to before, Portugal!

[Quick announcement that I haven’t mentioned on the blog yet, but Hoch and I got married back in May and are expecting a baby girl this December! So Portugal also counted as our Honeymoon!]

After Croatia, we had a little less than a week to spend in Portugal so we made the most of it and visited 3 spots. Porto, Douro Valley, and Lisbon.

We flew into Porto first which is in the north. It’s a cute, European city with a bunch of different neighborhoods. For the most part, we walked and ate our way through it (per usual!) We also went on a walking tour which is always a different way to experience a new place. FYI, it’s a super hilly city so be prepared for that if you ever visit!

After Porto, we rented a car and drove to wine country which is a couple of hours east of Porto. The area is called Douro Valley and runs along Douro river. The scenery was beautiful and had the whole stacked rice patties vibes, but with vineyards.

We stayed in an Airbnb that was a little outside of the main town, Pinhão. It was owned by a Dutch couple and they hosted a family style dinner one of the nights we were there. We got to meet other couples from all over the world and also get an idea of how the locals eat. 🙂

While in town, we visited a couple of wineries (don’t worry, I sampled Hoch’s wine), took a boat tour of the river, and we hiked down to the main town from our Airbnb (which was my fave part! The views were stunning and it’s where a lot of the photos are from).

This part of the trip was definitely a highlight of our entire time in Portugal. Cities are fun and all, but disconnecting and getting immersed in nature simply can’t be beat.

After Douro Valley, we drove back to Porto and then flew down to Lisbon. We debated driving and making stops along the way, but wanted to make the most of our time in Lisbon too.

Lisbon definitely has a bigger city vibe and is more diverse than Porto. The neighborhood we stayed in happened to have a festival going on with music, food, and these chocolate shot glass drinks (which we def participated in on our last night!). Per usual, we walked and ate our way through the city. We also visited Sintra, outside of Lisbon, which is known for its castles and gardens.

One of the highlights in Lisbon was a random dinner at a small restaurant called Alfama63. We had wanted to eat at a different place, but didn’t have reservations (which we found out is a MUST in both Porto & Lisbon), so we couldn’t eat there.

We were walking around, looking to see if any other places had availability and came across Alfama63, which was just opening. The owner was still setting up and when we asked him, he gave us a table right away (we were the only walk-ins that night! lucky us!).

It was such a small & intimate place with only 6 tables and fresh seafood. The owner’s mom was cooking in the back so it had a very homey vibe. He was super friendly and you could tell that he loved what he did. It ended up being one of our fave and most memorable meals in Portugal!

Overall, the people in Portugal are really friendly! Everyone from our Uber drivers to servers to walking tour guides!

Quick story about one particular person… One night, at our Airbnb in Lisbon, Hoch accidentally left the keys in the lock (OUTSIDE of the door). I didn’t think to check it and later that evening after we went to bed, I could hear someone knocking on the door.

The neighborhood festival was going on, so initially I figured it was a mistake. But then they kept knocking and since Hoch had a few too many drinks and was passed out, I went to see what was up. When I answered, it was an older man wanting to let us know about the keys!! He was worried that someone would be able to enter the apartment and who knows what?!

I thought that was soooo nice of him…and I was annoyed that Hoch would leave the keys there! Grateful that the older man did what he did!

Anyways, that is it for our time in Lisbon. Afterwards, Hoch flew back to Texas and I headed to Spain to meet up with a girlfriend I hadn’t seen in years! So my next blog post will be all about those shenanigans!!

If you’ve been to Portugal, let me know in the comments! I’d love to hear what you did and what your favorite part was!