The Lisbon Adventure - Part 4

The Sweet Art Museum and a final day in Lisbon

We had quite a trek this morning to the area of Marvila. We'd booked tickets online for a place called The Sweet Art Museum. The walk there was a bit boring but we were occasionally treated to a glimpse of street art.

There was no doubt in our minds that we'd arrived at the correct place!! We were in fact slightly early so we searched for some breakfast nearby.

There was a place that looked kind of open but once inside it looked like they were just setting up for lunch. They kindly agreed to sell us sandwiches and a coffee though and charged us under €5 for everything! My sandwich was salami and cheese, it hit the spot nicely!

Back at The Sweet Art Museum a small queue was starting to form outside. So what is The Sweet Art Museum you're probably wondering? The website description reads "Need a distraction from reality? Say YES to happiness! Visit The Sweet Art Museum in the Marvila neighborhood of Lisbon. It’s the first European pop-up dedicated to being silly and having a good time in an imaginary world. Eight colorful and dreamlike themed rooms offer interactive experiences and great visual impact. Bring your friends. Bring your family. Or, just bring yourself. The Sweet Art Museum is open through Summer 2018."

The first room you enter has a big marshmallow pool where you can play around to your hearts content! There's inflatables to play with or you can just lay back and relax as my lovely wife is demonstrating. Unfortunately the marshmallows are only made of foam, probably just as well really.

Fear not though as you are given some actual marshmallows as you leave this room.

The next room features huge ice creams and ice lollies, this place really does set the perfect instagram backdrop! In this room you're given a tub of ice cream to enjoy whilst you explore.

Through another doorway leads you to the giant jelly baby room.

Yep, you get jelly babies!

The giant sweets are everywhere and as the numbers of people are limited to time slots there's plenty of opportunities to take photos without other people in the background.

The Sweet Art Museum costs €20 to visit, we visited on a weekday as it was easier to secure a ticket which we bought online.

After this lollypop merry-go-round room there was one final room. It featured a cloud swing and a big monster face with a giant tongue which you could pose on if you wanted to. At the end you tell the lady on the door how the museum has made you feel, take one last sweet and exit. A great place that's really good fun, if you're off to Lisbon over the summer it's well worth checking out!

Once outside it wasn't so much fun though as the heavens opened and we couldn't find the metro station. We found it eventually though and headed back to Lisbon.

Tram 28 is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Lisbon. The number 28 Lisbon tram connects Martim Moniz with Campo Ourique, and passes through the popular tourist districts of Graca, Alfama, Baixa and Estrela. For visitors, this is the classic Lisbon tram journey, riding in the quaint yellow tram as it screeches and rattles through the narrow streets of the city. We tried to catch a tram though and it was a complete nightmare which will test the most patient of people. We queued at Martim Moniz for 2.5 hours and eventually gave up, during the first 1.5 hours 3 trams arrived but then nothing for an hour. I'm sure it's great once you're on it but I'm guessing catching one very early is the key.

The disappointment of the tram called for some sangria to lift our spirits again.

After the sangria we went in search of a restaurant, this place had live music so we decided to eat here.

The traditional Portuguese music featured 3 singers in different locations within the restaurant. Each took a turn to sing which was quite atmospheric, also quite a surprise as initially we'd only noticed one lady singing to start off with.

This was the only restaurant I've ever been to where the starters are put on the table and you're charged if you decide to eat them. It was a clever ploy as of course we ate them! They consisted of bread, cheese, pate and croquettes.

Everyone had told me before coming to Lisbon to eat seafood, but as I'd had food poisoning on previous trips abroad I wasn't willing to take the risk. I was however willing to eat fish so I ordered some sardines. They were really fresh and were served with potatoes and salad. My wife ordered a dish featuring mushrooms, it had to be sent back though as there were no mushrooms in it when it first arrived!

The rest of the evening involved mojitos, tequila and blue shots of something.

Things were getting a bit hazy at this point, cocktails and B52's from what I remember!

The next day...

First things first, hangover food! The same breakfast I'd had on day 2 but not looking quite as good as it did first time around, it done the trick though.

A blue sky makes such a difference and today the weather was probably the best it had been so far on the trip. We were expecting a week of sunshine but in reality it had been warmer back home in Norwich.

We visited the Puppet Museum which featured a collection consisting of more than 1,000 puppets gathered from China, Indonesia, India, Italy, New Zealand and Portugal.

Next we caught a train to Belem, not to buy more Pastel de nata though. We explored the peaceful surroundings of the botanical gardens, the entrance fee was just €2.

There are quite a lot of different birds living here which were fascinating to watch.

We spent ages waiting for this peacock to fan out his train of feathers, it didn't happen though.

Back at the waterside area near the ferry terminal I stopped for a burger. The cafe had sold out though so I ate another toasted sandwich. What looks to be standard crisps from a packet are actually homemade and fried on the premises, really nice!

Our time in Lisbon was coming to an end but we still had time to check out the Time Out Market which was nearby.

To be totally honest I wasn't very keen on the Time Out Market. The hall was big and noisy and it was difficult to see what each trader was actually selling.

Then I spotted L'Eclair, these looked delicious, it was just a case of deciding which one to buy.

I chose Frutos vermelhos which cost €4.20. Red fruits, diplomate cream, fresh red fruits and a homemade red fruits marshmallow.

This was the ultimate eclair, they don't get much better than this! The tangy fruits, the light choux pastry and that red fruits marshmallow running through the centre was sheer bliss.

We sat with a beer at one of Lisbon's famous kiosks, this one was selling a pint of Super Bock for just €2.50.

For the final time we ate a Pastel de nata, they really do taste best in Portugal.

Sometimes you see something in a window and just have to buy it. For me it was this slice of vegetable quiche. It didn't disappoint either and cost just €2, bargain!

These cup cakes were a mystery, linked to the World Cup maybe?

We slowly made our way back to our hotel as we needed to be up at 3.30am to catch a taxi to the airport. On the way back I decided to have an ice cream, choosing which flavour was easy.

Pastel de nata flavour of course!