Cascais

Yesterday we took the train west – at the rock-bottom price of €1.15 – to the town of Cascais. Here we found a small beach town with an active marina. My tour book describes the town as a fishing village, and though we missed the morning fish market – a wholesale auction – there were enough boats and fisherman organizing their traps on the docks to affirm this impression.

In front of the marina was a small downtown area with shops and restaurants. The weather was warm and the sun was out, so we were able to have lunch outside in one of the squares filled with café tables.

The only disappointment I had was that there is a New York Times travel article about the thriving art scene here. When we stopped at the tourist information office to pick up a town map to find the Ellipse Foundation Contemporary Art Center we were told that it’s not actually in Cascais, but north in a town called Alcoitao. Though I don’t think it was very far out of town, we decided to skip it and head back to Lisbon instead. The pastries that we picked up to eat on the train made up for any disappointment I might have had.