When we visited Portugal a few years ago, we spent the first days on the beach enjoying the sunny days and the great Atlantic Ocean.

The Atlantic Ocean is so beautiful. Some days it looks green, some days dark blue.

ps. click on the photos to enlarge them

After visiting the famous and beautiful Sintra, we wanted to see Lisbon, the capital of Portugal.

Ponte Vasco da Gama is a  very long bridge – more than 17 kilometers long. When you see it, you will be astonished. It is the longest bridge in Europe. 

If you want to, you can also enjoy Lisbon from the air – with these cable cars:

We had heard of an amazing place, which we wanted to check out: Oceanário de Lisboa. It is the largest indoor aquarium in Europe.

The Lisbon Oceanarium has a large collection of marine species — penguins and other birds; sea otters; sharks, rays and seahorses;  sea anemones and corals; octopuses; marine plants and terrestrial plants and other marine organisms – about 16,000 individuals of 450 species.

The Penguins:

The sea otters:

There is so much to see in Lisbon. I recommend to visit at least Baixa and the Belém Tower, which was built 1515–1521. If you like Fado music, you will love Portugal.

After spending half a day in Lisbon, it was time to drive back to the Atlantic Ocean. July is quite hot in Portugal, so a swim in the ocean is one of the best things to do after a few hours in the hot cities.

Praia Grande is a huge beach. Though there were lots of people every now and then, sometimes you felt like you were there alone – and that was amazing.