Kids in Cascais — Nomadic Creatures

We're shocked and delighted that we discovered Cascais.

Back in November 2017, when this family Eurotrip was nothing more than a bunch of neurons hastily rearranging their connections in our brains, we thought Lisbon 'would be nice.' I checked www.nomadlist.com -- a brilliant compendium of all the attributes one could care about in a foreign place -- and Lisbon was safe, had fast Internet, was relatively warm, and (crucially) had beaches. All boxes checked.

Next step: find proper lodging. I studied VRBO listings, knowing that our rental must be within easy walking distance to--

A park and/or the beach
A suitable grocery store
Good restaurants
Bonus: kids' libraries, museums, indoor play areas

Scanning the listings in map view, I found one that was near a park and a few blocks from the beach, but it wasn't in Lisbon proper. Situated in 'villa' (i.e. a city that yearns for smallness) called Cascais, It would be about a 40-minute trip into Lisbon via train. At the time, this didn't seem quite ideal, but the 600 square foot apartment seemed appropriate in every other regard. We booked it from Feb-28 - Mar-29.

When we arrived, we started walking.

3 minutes away, we found Ribeira beach --

Across the cobblestone street, the carousel at Visconde da Luz--

A 7 minute walk through streets as tight and lovely as those in Venice, this giant, clean, modern playground, at Parque Marechal Carmona

And literally next door (far too close), to the delight of Cosette and Celestine, delicious gelato.

And to the delight of Chelsea and me, a restaurant specializing in octopus (polvo) worked their culinary magic a few blocks away.

Grilled polvo (octopus) at the excellent Polvo Vadio

Somehow, we stumbled upon the most perfect place we could imagine. Twenty-nine days of beaches, carousels, playgrounds, and polvo. Pure Portuguese bliss.