Dreaming on a Scooter - Best Day Ever?
This was an absolutely incredible, fantastic, wonderful, beautiful, perfect day. The pictures just do not do it justice. The feeling of the wind, driving along the ocean? Unbeatable. The smell of pines while driving on a curvy hilly road? Can't be topped. The kindness of Portuguese strangers in a restaurant or at a scooter rental shop? Just the best. The sun getting low on the water? Literally makes my heart skip a beat thinking about it. Getting to do all that with someone you love and you think is perfect? What dreams are made of.
There was 1 single thing I wanted to do on this trip: drive a scooter along the Atlantic coast and see cool beaches and walk along the ocean and just feel freedom in my bones. That's exactly what we were able to do and so much more.
We took a suburban train out to a coastal town called Cascais. My friends John and Morgan went to Portugal about 2 years ago and John said that Cascais was his favorite place so I knew I wanted to go there. Normally, this would have taken us about an hour from our hostel but we kept missing connections so it took a little over an hour and a half. Ultimately, this was totally fine but in the moment when I wanted this to be a perfect day, it was frustrating.
We walked through the town with the beautifully paved roads and cute shopping streets on our way to the scooter rental. It was about 9:30am and the town definitely had not "woken up" yet. We rented our scooter through a place called "Smoother Rent A Scooter". The owner's name is Eduardo and he is legit one of the nicest people I've ever met. He greeted us like old friends and made everything about the rental super easy. I cannot speak highly enough of him. I do wish I got a picture with him though...
The key to Eduardo's success is the map he gives all the rentals. He has a SUPER EASY TO FOLLOW map that tells you exactly where to turn for a super excellent, easy, day tour. The map has mountainous roads through forests, beaches with no tourists, coastal towns, incredible restaurants to try. Literally everything you need to have a perfect day.
We rented a 125cc Honda scooter. It was much nicer than the ones we rented in Cambodia haha. It took me a minute to get the hang of it again but I was driving confidently in no time.
We drove along the coast for a while at first and then cut inland to drive around this area called Sintra. Sintra is a small town up on a hill. All around the hill that the town is on are palaces and monasteries and other tourist sights to see. The first few mountain roads we drove on were empty and it was great.
Our first big stop was the town of Sintra. Eduardo recommended a restaurant called Casa de Natalia. Lacey ordered Chicken Cordon Bleu and I originally ordered a meat pie sort of thing. I asked the waiter if those were good choices and he said they were good but not very Portuguese. I asked what was and he recommended the fried sardines. So that's what I got! The waiter picked a side for me too haha. I didn't know how to eat the sardines at first but I figured it out (eat all the meat/skin, avoid the bones). The waiter also suggested an apple pie for dessert which was divine. One of the best meals ever and it was only 23 euros!!
Eventually, we hit a ton of traffic because the palaces on the hill are totallllllly touristy. We went to one palace and it was just alright. The gardens are beautiful but were so busy that it was hard to actually enjoy them at all. There's an initiation well that's cool to go down. The palace is beautiful but waiting our turn for a picture and trying to not be in other's pictures was exhausting.
We drove back down the mountain and then out along the Atlantic Ocean. We stopped at a beach and then drove further to a cliffside town. Next, our handy map brought us to Cabo de Roca. It's the westernmost point of the entire European continent. More coastal driving followed and we stopped at a giant beach where we walked the water for a while. We hung out there until it was time for us to head back, get gas, and return the scooter.
I'm not writing much because it's so hard to describe. My heart was full the whole day. I wish I had a photographic memory so I could preserve those moments in time forever in my head. With Lacey on my back and the wind in my face and the ocean on my left, it's just all I ever want.
We rounded out the perfect day with some gelato in Sintra (banana and toffee for me, stracciatella for Lacey). For dinner, we stopped at Time Out Market again. Because it was Saturday night, it was much busier than the day before so finding a table was tough. I got a codfish filet with potatoes (yum!!!). Lacey tried being adventurous and got a seafood risotto. It was a little too fishy so she also got a steak sandwich.
Exhausted, we made it back to the hostel and packed up for our early train ride to Porto the next morning.
This is probably boring to read but this really, truly was one of the best days ever. We are both so, so, so lucky and blessed to do these sorts of things.
There was 1 single thing I wanted to do on this trip: drive a scooter along the Atlantic coast and see cool beaches and walk along the ocean and just feel freedom in my bones. That's exactly what we were able to do and so much more.
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| Chicken Cordon Bleu & Fried Sardines |
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| Sardines |
The key to Eduardo's success is the map he gives all the rentals. He has a SUPER EASY TO FOLLOW map that tells you exactly where to turn for a super excellent, easy, day tour. The map has mountainous roads through forests, beaches with no tourists, coastal towns, incredible restaurants to try. Literally everything you need to have a perfect day.
 |
| Initiation Well at a palace |
We rented a 125cc Honda scooter. It was much nicer than the ones we rented in Cambodia haha. It took me a minute to get the hang of it again but I was driving confidently in no time.
We drove along the coast for a while at first and then cut inland to drive around this area called Sintra. Sintra is a small town up on a hill. All around the hill that the town is on are palaces and monasteries and other tourist sights to see. The first few mountain roads we drove on were empty and it was great.
Our first big stop was the town of Sintra. Eduardo recommended a restaurant called Casa de Natalia. Lacey ordered Chicken Cordon Bleu and I originally ordered a meat pie sort of thing. I asked the waiter if those were good choices and he said they were good but not very Portuguese. I asked what was and he recommended the fried sardines. So that's what I got! The waiter picked a side for me too haha. I didn't know how to eat the sardines at first but I figured it out (eat all the meat/skin, avoid the bones). The waiter also suggested an apple pie for dessert which was divine. One of the best meals ever and it was only 23 euros!!
Eventually, we hit a ton of traffic because the palaces on the hill are totallllllly touristy. We went to one palace and it was just alright. The gardens are beautiful but were so busy that it was hard to actually enjoy them at all. There's an initiation well that's cool to go down. The palace is beautiful but waiting our turn for a picture and trying to not be in other's pictures was exhausting.
We drove back down the mountain and then out along the Atlantic Ocean. We stopped at a beach and then drove further to a cliffside town. Next, our handy map brought us to Cabo de Roca. It's the westernmost point of the entire European continent. More coastal driving followed and we stopped at a giant beach where we walked the water for a while. We hung out there until it was time for us to head back, get gas, and return the scooter.
I'm not writing much because it's so hard to describe. My heart was full the whole day. I wish I had a photographic memory so I could preserve those moments in time forever in my head. With Lacey on my back and the wind in my face and the ocean on my left, it's just all I ever want.
We rounded out the perfect day with some gelato in Sintra (banana and toffee for me, stracciatella for Lacey). For dinner, we stopped at Time Out Market again. Because it was Saturday night, it was much busier than the day before so finding a table was tough. I got a codfish filet with potatoes (yum!!!). Lacey tried being adventurous and got a seafood risotto. It was a little too fishy so she also got a steak sandwich.
Exhausted, we made it back to the hostel and packed up for our early train ride to Porto the next morning.
This is probably boring to read but this really, truly was one of the best days ever. We are both so, so, so lucky and blessed to do these sorts of things.
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