Tips for travelling through Spain and Portugal
O Even though individual tapas dishes are inexpensive, they quickly add up — especially when you’re converting back to rands. You can expect to spend about €50 for two people to share a few dishes with a beer each.
O There are two important Spanish phrases to learn: “dos cervezas, por favor” (two beers, please) and “una tabla para dos” (one table for two). Most people can speak some English, but it’s better to memorise some basic Spanish phrases to ease the conversation and to be polite. With some simple gestures and Google Translate’s offline dictionaries you’ll be good to go pretty much anywhere.
O Don’t try to talk Spanish in Lisbon! Many Portuguese resent being treated like a Spanish province and would rather converse in English. O If you see a tourist attraction or a Starbucks, chances are the restaurants around them will be opportunistically overpriced and sub-par.
O A really useful travel app is Spotted by Locals. Again with offline options, the app is free — you buy a guide for each city. It collates recommendations from locals and has a great “near me” function that lets you choose restaurants, bars and off-the-beaten-track spots loved by the city’s inhabitants.
O The Google Maps offline function indicates continually updated public transport options (even with start and stop times — we discovered minutes after the last bus left us behind in Barcelona) and is extremely accurate.
O Don’t bother to get cellphone roaming. In my experience, 90% of all locations had wi-fi, and a lot can be done offline with a little planning. We used the wi-fi to get our routes, and then followed them offline.
O As you can see, there’s a lot you can do with your cellphone. Getting a reasonably sized power bank will save you a world of stress after a long day out.
O If you’re going to use taxis, I recommend Uber rather than metered taxi service — especially in Lisbon. The taxi drivers are notorious for trying to milk customers and, after one bad experience (getting from the airport to our Airbnb), we tried it out using local wi-fi.
O Tipping is optional. I spoke to the waiters and they said tips are not expected.
O It’s common for bread, cheese and butter to be set down on the table, but beware — these are not free.
This city is a cultural feast and was the heartbeat of the 1920s, visited by literary greats such as Ernest Hemingway and the Fitzgeralds, F Scott and Zelda, among others.
It has a food market scene to love (we stopped by Mercado de San Antón for delicious tuna tapas) and beautiful parks to enjoy them in.
Museo Chicote: Start your evening off with cocktails from the broody Museo Chicote bar. The spot was one of Hemingway’s haunts and makes some of his favourite drinks, and a few dozen others you probably haven’t tried. Head there early before the crowds pick up.
El Winnie: Spain is going through an Asian food revolution, and Madrid is packed with bao and dim sum restaurants well worth trying, even if they weren’t on your original meal itinerary.
We loved the quirky restaurant El Winnie, emblazoned with a picture of the dancing yellow bear. It served dim sum (also called japonesa tapas), juicy pork buns and a lip-smacking
If you can, it’s well worth it to sneak in a few days to the capital of Portugal at the tail end of your Spanish adventure. Cheaper than Spain and extremely Instragrammable, with graffiti, trams and a pastry scene that puts hearts in my eyes, Lisbon was the highlight of my honeymoon.
End your days wandering the hilly streets and popping into the tiny bars serving delicious sour cherry liqueur, ginjinha, in chocolate glasses.
Pasteis de natas: These creamy little pastries are €1 each and sold all over Lisbon. Buy one every chance you get — it’s impossible to find a bad one. The best ones I found were from Manteigaria, a pastry shop. They sell close to 8 000 of the delectable mouthfuls a day. I have literally had dreams about these pasteis de natas.
Time Out market: This market was so packed with culinary adventure we visited it twice. It’s a curated market, with only the best of Lisbon’s food scene invited to have a stall. The emerald-green matcha gin and tonic was a highlight, as was the black tempura cuttlefish, an octopus hotdog and an incredible chimichurri chicken prego roll.
Must eat
Jamon: this cured ham is found all over Spain and should be pounced on every chance you get.
Manchego cheese: firm and flavourful, this pairs well with jamon and a little bread.
Fresh fruit: Spain and Lisbon have a beautifully lush fresh fruit scene. The fragrant and subtly sweet figs were my favourite.
Patas de bravas: Delicious mouthfuls of salty fried potatoes.
Spanish omelette: Cheap and delicious, this is a great filler if you need a quick bite.
With a little planning, a trip to Spain and Lisbon could be the culinary highlight of a lifetime.