Day 7 was mainly for a wedding I attended last minute.
The wedding was at the Palace of the Marquises of Fronteira. The main course had a Portuguese sausage. Will say that was pretty good. But yea, I’ll let the pictures describe the wedding (but lots of tequila…)
On Day 8, basically went to the airport, LIS. Only thing to note was that passport control took about 15 minutes, but people coming in, looks like the line could’ve taken 30 minutes.
Before talking about what happened during this day, wanted to talk about the various neighborhoods in Lisbon. The one I’m staying at is called Marquess of Pombal Square. It’s a very modern neighborhood that has a lot of 5 star hotels. I like it because it is not crowded, and very clean. Only downside is that it is farther away from Baixa (which is more south and where the nightlife is), but fortunately the 15 minute Uber ride is only 4 euros. More about neighborhoods can be found here:
https://www.lisbon.net/neighborhoods
Started off the day going to Belem. I would say Belem is very beautiful, and clean. First stop was Pasteis de Belem. You can either get seated, or order items to go. I ordered to go. Got the original pastel de nato and a cafe latte. It’s very soft, and flaky, which I liked.
After, stopped by McDonalds to see if they had anything special on the menu. Seems like they did not, so got a cheeseburger.
After, made my way to St Jerome Monastery. I went to the church part (since the museum part had a huge line up). I lit a candle, then went to the sacristy where they had paintings describing the life of St Jerome. One of the ones that was interesting is where the devil gave him “bad” books, but then he was ultimately forgiven.
After, went across the street to and walked through a really beautiful garden called Jardim da Praca do Imperio, or Discovery Garden.
After, went to Torre de Belem. The line to go up the tower was 2 hours long, so ended up only taking pictures of it.
From the tower, went closer to what I call the fake Golden Gate Bridge. It’s actually called Ponte 25 de Abril. Went closer to take some photos of it.
Afterwards, headed out of Belem and went to H&M to get a suite jacket. Got invited last minute to a wedding. The suit jacket was only 60 euros.
From H&M, went to TimeOut Market in Baixa. It’s a place where you can get local Portuguese food, and they have an Aperol spritz stand! More details can be found here:
http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2023/07/29/timeout-market-lisboa/
Then headed over to Alfama to check out Castelo de Sao Jorge. Will say that the view of the city from it was worth the visit (you had a view of Alfama plus the fake Golden Gate Bridge).
After, went and had dinner near the hotel at a restaurant called Selllva. More details here:
http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2023/07/29/selllva/
After dinner, went back to pink street to grab a drink and shot at one of the emptier bars nearby.
Then I headed to a club called Ministerium club (it’s at a part of the city you would have never guessed there to be a nightclub. It’s a restaurant by day, but something completely different at night). It has a very after hours vibe to it. There were two room. It was only 10 euros to get into. I went at 1:30am. It started to get busy at 2:30am. Ended up staying until 4am.
So I think the move for nightlife in Lisbon is to go to be at Pink Street at 11:30 and pregame at Pensoa Amor (being there at 11:30 is key to avoid the line), then head to Ministerium around 1:15am.
On the Uber ride back, the driver gave some of these suggestions for clubs:
-K in beach (more younger crowd)
-Mome nightclub (should have techno)
-Lust in Reuo (forgot the details on this one)
Started off the day pretty late at 1pm. First stoped by the park near the hotel, Eduardo VII. Seems like a place they would host concerts. Along the way there was a monument Marques de Pombai… basically the man who rebuilt Lisbon after the fire from an earthquake put a statue of himself.
Note, people say Lisbon is the SF of Europe. Not sure yet about this.
From the park, headed to Church of Our Lady of the Rosary. Unfortunately it was closed, so only took a picture of the outside.
Then used an Uber to head to Sintra (was going to use the underground train right beside the church, but then realized I wouldn’t make it on time since it’s a 50 minute train ride be 30 minute Uber ride.
At Sintra, did a private one hour TukTuk tour, going around the places listed below…
Cafe Saudade – near Sintra train station and grabbed an egg tart and espresso shot from here. Also met the tour guide here.
Fonte da Sabuga – a fountain that has clean water coming out of it (water is from a spring). Still clean till this day
Sintra Central Palace – built in the 13th century, but took a long time to build. Windows are different colors because it took a long time.
Quinta da Regaleira – A Brazil Entrpreneur Bull this. He was part of the secret society, free masons. There is an initiation fountain for free masons there, which is also a very iconic site (probably should visit this palace next time I’m here).
Castro dos Mouros – built in the 10th century. Was occupied by Christians, then Muslims, then back to Christian’s once the King came back. The mountain it is on is what gave Sintra its name, since the mountain reflects the moon’s light so well. Also, Sintra means mountain of the moon
Chalet and Garden for the Countess of Edla – for the 2nd wife of the King (couldn’t stay in the palace since ) –
Also, Sintra is actually a volcano.
Lastly, the tour guide did mention that Uber is the best way to get around (both in Sintra when jumping from castle to palace, or in Lisbon proper).
After Sintra, headed to the Eduardo VII park with some friends, and then to Alfama for dinner at Lisboa Tu & Es. Highly recommend, and here is the review:
After, quickly stopped by Miradouro de Santa Luzia at night in Alfama (we wanted to catch the sunset, but food took a while).
We then went to Pink Street. It’s a very short street, but had drinks outside at Povo Lisboa, then nightclub bed at Pensoa Amor. Gotta say, street is definitely filled with European tourists, but I didn’t mind it lol.
Lastly, we tried to get into Lux nightclub, but we weren’t dressed for it. Apparently it’s a bit like Bergheim. So we ended up going to the G neighborhood at Finalement Club (honestly, enjoyed Pink Street way more).
Woke up early to grab our last breakfast at Grand Palladium, then to catch a flight to LIS. I will say the departure area of IBZ looks nice because it is newly renovated. However the lounge was very subpar.
After arriving at LIS, the hotel, Intercontinental Lisbon, was a 20 minute Uber ride away.
After checking into the hotel, slept for 20 minutes, then booked a bus ride to Nazare. The fastest bus ride was 1.5 hours direct. It departed from the Lisboa Oriente Train / bus terminal. Fortunately the bus platforms were above ground and the buses super easy to find, since the Uber for their 4 minutes before departure. (Bus company used was flix bus)
After the bus ride, we walked alongside the beach, Praia da Nazaré, to grab lunch at Aki Del-Mar Mariscos:
From there, took a tram, Nazaré Funicular, up a cliff to a lighthouse called Farol da Nazaré, where you can see 100ft waves from the beach Praia do Norte (however it is usually near the winter months). One story to note from the cliffs is that there is a story of a miracle where a knight was chasing a deer, and the deer fell of the cliff, but the knight’s horse stopped right at the edge of the cliff (and his hooves are imprinted at the edge).
Then walked back to the bus stop (8:30pm departure), but got some ice cream along the way).
FYI, this is a really good resource for Nazare: https://travellemming.com/things-to-do-in-nazare/
After getting back to the busy terminal, Ubered to the hotel, and ordered some room service (some salmon dish pictured below). (FYI, one thing I wish this hotel had was a pool or hot tub).
Third day in Ibiza, and woke up at 3pm because of the night before 🙂
Started the day by going to a beach at the south part of the island, Es Cavallet (took a taxi from the hotel). It is a clothing optional beach, but I would say 3/4 of people were wearing clothes, and it was family friendly as well. At the beach, there were drinking bars, so we got a couple of drinks there, then chilled on the beach for an hour.
After, we took an hour long journey to get a taxi. This is because instead of doubling back we tried to take a shortcut, which ended up going to a road with no taxis. That is, until we hit the main road, where someone who claimed to be a taxi stopped by and gave us a ride back (a little sketch, but walking for an hour in the heat and trying to make a dinner reservation got us desperate). In short, taxis are always available at the touristy points. It’s harder to get one in the middle of nowhere.
When we got back to the hotel, we made it to our dinner reservation at Il Palazzo. Details can be found here:
http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2023/07/26/il-palazzo/
We then made our way to San Antonio (30 minute taxi ride) so we can catch the sunset at Cafe Del Mar. Details can be found here:
http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2023/07/26/cafe-del-mar/
After grabbing drinks at Cafe Del Mar, we walked along the boardwalk, which had restaurants and bars. Stopped by for ice cream. Also, we walked all the way to O Beach. Unfortunately it was wrapping up for the night.
So then we headed back to Eivissa, where we checked out Calle de Virgin again. Grabbed a drink there, and then hiked up to Ibiza Castle. It is open 24/7. Along the way up there are shops and restaurants, which is why I can see why they are open late. The view up at the top of the castle looks great, but would probably look better during the day time.
After, we went back to the hotel to our favorite late night sports bar for hot dogs, pizza, and ice cream.
One place I do want to visit next time is O Beach. Also, if in Ibiza on a Monday, apparently there is a place called Casino for a good G party.
Slept in until 1pm, but still had a super productive day.
Started off the day at the resort’s buffet for a quick lunch and sparkling wine. Then got a taxi to the part of the Platja d’en Bossa where I would get my ticket for the Oceanbeat boat party (they said to meet at a place called BXXCH Club Ibiza for tix, but it ended up being just a stand that was near the boat dock).
The boat ride itself was actually pretty chill, with melodic house being played for the first half, then deep house on the ride back. The route stayed to the east side of the island. We stopped for 40 minutes for people to jump in. FYI, the only drinks that was included beer and sangria. A shot is whisky was 20 euros (I got two for free since they didn’t give me the correct change when I paid for the remainder of my ticket). Next time I would do the VIP package, since you get shade, a bottle of champagne, and also the people in the VIP section seemed really chill. Also on the boat ride I met some people from California that were staying in the bungalow part of Ushaia. I would say half of the boat was Americans, and half were heading to Tomorrowland after.
After the boat ride, walked through the town back to the hotel (not to be confused with Ibiza Towne). There were some restaurants and bars I would check out. They also had KFC and Burger King. I stopped by a Supermarket (that’s what they call grocery stores here) to get Ballentines and water.
When I got back to the hotel, we had reservations at a restaurant called Portofino. You can read about it here:
http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2023/07/25/portofino/
FYI, at all inclusive, you need to always should prioritize reserving restaurants when you land.
After dinner, took a Power Nap, then pregamed for Eric Prydz. Left the hotel at 1:30am to Hi Ibiza. We were able to catch Christoph before Prydz. For Prydz, I felt the set up was a bit backwards from the regular shows. I thought the 3D ness was inward, as opposed to outward (compared to hide regular Holo shows). After Prydz, caught a bit of Adam Beyer, then went to the side room where they were playing some chill tech house.
We concluded the night by going back to the only restaurant open 24/7 in the resort, the Sports bar.
I will say all the popular tourist spots have taxis available, so I see why Ubers are. It a thing on the island (but available mainland).
Original plan was to leave SF at 3pm on a Saturday, then arrive aim Ibiza on Sunday 4pm (in time to catch Swedish house mafia), connecting through AMS. Plan was solid until my flight leaving SF was delayed 3 hours! Within those 3 hours tried to see if there was any other reasonable solution (ie not paying thousands) to get to IBZ at the same time. Was about to take a United flight to London Heathrow instead (several direct flights to IBZ from there), but then it got cancelled! Also tried to figure out a new flight to IBZ. Unfortunately had to get a non direct flight (stopping by Barcelona). Getting me there 4.5 hrs later.
Flight went by reasonably fast (was in Exonomy Plus with no one at the middle seat, and watched Suits for most of it, then got maybe 1 hour of sleep).
Arriving at AMS, taxiing to the gate was probably a good 15 minutes. When entering the airport, the walk to passport control was around 8 minutes. Then waited in line for 35 minutes (although they were actively asking if people had flights to catch within 30 minutes of the current time). After passport control, no re-entering security. Went to the aspire lounge aka Lounge 26 (covered by priority pass). The lounge was just meh (comparing to centurion). Only hot food was soup, and alcohol was self serve (only whisky was Red label).
On the positive side, sorta learning how to adapt to unexpected travel hiccups. Hopefully this is the only one on this trip!
FYI, vueling and posting the gates on google of the worst. Had to go to the airport website to find the gate info.
The flight to BCN (stop over) was around 2 hours. Vueling doesn’t have seats that recline, but alcohol they sell is cheap. When I got to BCN, my gate we landed to was at A12. The gate I needed to reach was B43. I basically sprinted for a good 10 minutes to make my connection. Super glad I made it.
Arriving at IBZ, got a taxi, where they accept cc. Arriving at the hotel, The Grand Palladium White Island, quickly checked in, then made my way to Ushuaia for Swedish house Mafia. Only caught an our, but it was truly satisfying.
After, went to the Ushuaia rooftop. Great view, but it’s just meh unless you go during the music (aka before 11pm) (great view of the stage).
The last place we stopped by this night was Elvissa (aka Ibiza Town). We had stopped by Calle de La Virgin (the Castro street of Ibiza). Because it was a Sunday, it wasn’t super happening, but I can see how it could be busy got G area. We had a drink at Cenote, where the vibe is mainly jungle themed. Had a Mojito Pina Colad (basically a Mojito wit a hint on Pina). Was pretty good.
We also did walk around the Ibiza Marina (Avinguda Andanes). Reminded me of Split, Croatia.
This day seemed pretty jam packed, but productively fun. Slept at 4am the previous night, and got up at 8:30am to go for a boat ride in San Lucas. We took pre-arranged transportation, and got to the San Lucas Marina around 10am (honestly I wring would have been cheaper though).
Boat ride was 3 hours. We saw a whale and her child whale (called a caff). They emerged from the water several times, and the caff did several summer salts, which was pretty sick. We also stopped on some beach to snorkel. Unfortunately didn’t see too many sea creatures (brought my face snorkel mask). Lunch was provided also (which we thought the chicken was from Costco, which is totally fine).
The boat ride ended around 1pm. After exiting the marina, notice there are a lot of chill spots to drink around the marina area. Would want to day drink around the area next time (and apparently Senor Frog is an excellent place to check out that is around there).
One place we did go check out around the marina was The Office. Would definitely go back there and the area (the area also had a mall).
http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2023/02/06/the-office/
Around 4pm we headed back to the resort. We chilled by the beach, and then watched the sunset from the other infinity pool that they had (which we had not done yet).
After chilling in the room for a bit (ordered some room service so I could try the tuna shashimi appetizer, which was great), we had reservations at the resort restaurant Pergola, but this time for dinner (it is a full pledge Italian restaurant at night). Basically sampled a bunch of pasta dishes (got the fettuccini carbonara with salmon, and for apps got the bruschetta, some and some eggplant dish. Tried other people’s dishes like the steak. For desert, tried the tiramisu, cannoli, and some other tart thing. The two aforementioned were pretty good. Next time I would want to try and get the lasagna).
After dinner, we headed to the bar and played Play 9 (did a whole game with 9 rounds). Only came in second. This ended the night.
For the 5th and last day, finally got up to try dinner at Villa Belenas. It was Buffett style, and honestly, could not complain about the food. The eggs, chicken and drinks were all great.
After, chilled by the pool for a bit with everyone, then took an Uber to the airport. At the airport, security was not bad, but unfortunately the lounge (called VIP) had a super long line, so ended up chilling at a bar near the gate.
And that concludes the trip. Honestly, such as relaxing trip.
Started this day by ordering room service (since I would have already been late for breakfast, so it was great to order while getting ready in parallel). I got scrambled eggs with ham, pancakes and waffles. All great!
Then joined everyone at the beach. Pretty much chilled there for several hours, including playing chess and re-learning poker (thought I was going to play from one of the resort activities, but ended up not doing it because it wasn’t real money.
Then went to the coffee shop and grabbed a donut and espresso. After, chilled at Pergola again, and then by the infinity pool to watch the sunset.
One thing I did discover is a childcare martini (basically it’s like chocolate kiln with alcohol. They make it with real melted chocolate, baileys, and vodka).
After, pretty much got ready for dinner at Sakke (which is a Japanese hibachi resort restaurant). We didn’t get a table for hibachi, but we got a fixed meal. Overall, it was alright, but definitely not the best Japanese food I e had (they didn’t even have any Japanese whisky!).
After, we headed to Crania in San Jose to see David Holme. Along the way we saw some of the resorts nearby there. They look pretty nice, and I think if I come back, should look into booking a place there.
Crania has a dinner part (the one gotcha is that if you reserve, you’ll get charged $16 USD per person if you cancel).
Here is the details about the food: http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2023/02/06/crania/
Crania itself was very burner like. Lots of art, sand, and playa tech vibes. Would go back again.
Started this day by chilling at the beach. The key part is to get beach chairs, a table and umbrella.
There is food service, so ordered a bunch of mimosas, a pina colada, and some nachos.
After the beach, we tried out one of the nearby pools, and then ate at a restaurant in the resort called Pergola. It’s an outside dining restaurant that had tacos and pizza. The steak taco was good. Margarita pizza was alright.
Afterwards, we headed over to the spa to sit in a hot tub for about an hour. Temperature was not as warm as I’m used to (it was around 37 degrees Celsius).
After the hot tub session, made our way to downtown San Lucas. We stopped by Metate first for food:
http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2023/02/04/metate/
Then we were planning to head to Mandala for a night out, but ended up going to El Squid Roe (rig hit beside it), since the music sounded better. Definitely had a really fun night there. The music was top 40 mainstream, but her layout was super unique with 3 floors, and a really interesting open concept.
Overall, downtown San Lucas is like a mini downtown Vegas. All the clubs are super open in the front, so at least you can see the lighting and hear what music they are playing. (One site that guided our decisions aside from hearing what music was playing is this one: https://www.10best.com/destinations/mexico/cabo-san-lucas/nightlife/dance-clubs/)
Ended the night again with room service, this time trying the shrimp penne pasta, and chicken tacos. Would get the penne pasta again.
