Europe, Pt. 2 - Two Weeks in Portugal
Check out our post on the 2 weeks we spent in Portugal.
Flickr Album - Portugal
With 15 nights in total, Portugal was one of our longest stays so far. In those two weeks we were lucky enough to spend time with many people that are dear to us both: Alex’s parents and sister, Alex’s high school friend Fiona, Fernando’s uni friend Dani (and his family) and our Portuguese friends who used to live in Sydney: Marlene, Zé Maria and Nuno. The time flew by, filled with many nights of great (and cheap!) Portuguese wine and food, beautiful scenery and hot, sunny days. Fernando felt right at home, getting to speak his mother tongue once again and it was an action-packed time, fitting in 8 towns/cities going from North to South.
Porto
Porto, Portugal
Good timing seemed to be on our side in Portugal, and this was first proven with some last minute scheduling so that we could spend two nights in Porto with Fiona, at the start of her own Europe tour. It was a blissful two days, filled with great weather and lots of delicious food. Here are some highlights: we had a true blue Aussie brunch (with the pricetag to match) at Zenith, an amazing vegetarian set menu dinner (at a much more reasonable price) at Taberna Folias de Baco and enjoyed the sun, wine and delicious food at the Mercado do Beirario (an open food market, with many good choices). Being a vegetarian in Portugal was not easy at the best of times, but being TWO vegetarians meant we had greater pulling power and could plan out all the best vego-friendly places to dine at ;-).
Our first brekky in Lisbon with Fiona
Another interesting food/vego fact: Porto is well known for it’s monster of a sandwich called The Francesinha, traditionally made with bread, ham, a few different sausages, steak and then covered with melted cheese and a spicy sauce AND served with fries, yep - a monster. We happened to find a place that was famous for these sandwiches and even had a vegetarian version! (Sacrilegious to Portuguese locals, I’m sure). The place was called Lado B and we can all recommended it, Vegos and non-vegos alike.
The famous Francesinha
When it was time to say goodbye to Fi, we joined up with Alex’s parents and sister Lou for a few more days in the city. Porto was one of our favourite cities in Portugal so we were happy to have more time to explore around. It’s definitely becoming very touristy but, as we learnt, the city is working hard to keep the locals inhabiting the city centre and to retain the old port-city charm that makes it so appealing.
We enjoyed more sightseeing around town, shopping (well, not for us) and lots of food. We especially enjoyed our daily Portuguese tarts (Pastel de Nata) - the best were from Manteigaria - a chain found around Portugal, but seriously fresh and good.
A winning combination: Port wine & Pastel de Nata's at Manteigaria
Porto was definitely a highlight to us, a vibrant city full of character that has been going through some deep transformation around tourism, safety and lifestyle.
Porto, Portugal
Porto, Portugal
Vale Douro
The beautiful scenery in the Vale Douro
On one of the three days we had in Porto, with the Thompson’s, we did a day trip out to taste some Port wine in its home: The Vale Douro, or the Douro Valley just 2 hours out of Porto. We joined a small tour group (8 of us in total) so that we wouldn’t have to argue about who was designated driver and could all enjoy the wine and scenery. This was a great choice as our guide, João, was a Porto local filled with interesting insights and facts and could take us to all the best-known wineries. We learnt that, similar to Champagne, Port wine can only be called as so if it comes from this specific wine region and all wineries in the region have to undergo stringent rules and regulations to produce the wine, such as the vines cannot be watered and you’re not allowed to use machines to press the grapes! It would be amazing to go back during vine-picking season as they allow tourists to help stomp on the grapes and it sounds like a fun time to be around!
Wine, wine and more wine
But to be honest, there’s only so much Port wine one can drink in a day, and even us professional wine drinkers struggled a bit. Don’t worry though, we supplemented the day with plenty of table wine, and enjoyed a traditional lunch in town. The wineries we vistited were:
Aveiro
Aveiro, the Venice of Portugal
Aveiro was a simple stopover while we were driving down from Porto to Coimbra. We stopped there for lunch and to checkout the so called "Venice of Portugal". A charming little town with rivers/canals and boats and historic buildings. They're also famous for their sweet Ovo Mole (literally translated to "soft egg" or "jelly egg"), made of egg yolk mixed with sugar and turned into some sort of paste which is then put into a sort of pastry.
Trying the traditional Ovo Mole, Aveiro
Coimbra
Coimbra, Portugal
Coimbra is very much a student city. Home to the historic University of Coimbra (established in 1290!) and to some still-standing Roman walls, the city is both historical and young at the same time. At night, the streets are filled with students, locals and tourists alike, crammed into the little alleyways, listening to live jazz or to the traditional Portuguese fado.
Coimbra, Portugal
Fernando was also very well received by Nuno, another Portuguese friend who used to live in Australia and took the time to meet for some drinks and talk about the good old times in Down Under!
Having drinks with the Coimbra local, Nuno
Évora
Évora, Portugal
Much less trendy or touristy, Évora is a landlocked city and without a river. So it was actually a bit weird to be in a city in Portugal with no water, but it turned out to be a very rich and local experience. Évora is a medieval town, and you can still see the old Roman walls around the city.
We did a walking tour around town (with an old Portuguese lady carrying her shopping bags with her, not exactly what you'd expect as a tour guide) and could see the historical buildings, churches and even the street where Vasco da Gama is said to have lived for a few years. The highlight (not sure if a highlight?) was the Chapel of Bones. Inside a Christian church, there's this room covered with human bones and skulls. It's said that the priests used this place for meditation and contemplation that life is ephemeral and very short. Bit creepy, but very cool.
Chapel of Bones, Évora
Other than that, the city is filled with restaurants, bars and souvenir shops all around.
Streets of Évora
Lisbon
The Praça do Comércio, Lisbon
Lisbon was the last stop with Alex's family and we were lucky enough to meet up with Fernando's friend Dani and his family, and Fernando's cousin Luana and her partner. We didn't know it at the time of planning, but one highlight of travelling in Europe during summer has been all these coincidental meetings!
Lisbon is a beautiful city, large enough to take a few days to really explore but small enough that you can pretty much go everywhere by foot (or a short Uber ride). We did an interesting walking tour on our first day, with the highlight being the neighbourhood of Alfama, it's charming and old with its windy and narrow alleys filled with locals going about their day. For all the touristy parts of the city, Alfama has still retained its authenticity and is a must-see in Lisbon.
Another cool area, where we enjoyed dinner and an evening stroll was at the LX Factory,a trendy complex filled with bars, restaurants, shops and lots of art.
We couldn't leave Portugal without listening to Fado, and so we found a restaurant where you could enjoy a 3 piece Fado band while dining on great Portuguese tapas, Povo. We went there with Dani and his family and it was well done, with the singer taking as break every 3 songs to give people time to chat and eat.
On our final day in Lisbon, we said goodbye to Alex's parents and spent the day in town before heading off to Cascais, where we'd be staying next. That morning we enjoyed breakfast with Fernando's cousin Luana and her partner, another lucky meeting!
Dinner with Dani and his family
Breakfast with Luana, Fernando's cousin and her partner
Belém
In front of the Padrão dos Descobrimentos in Belém
On our final day with Louisa, Alex's sister, we took a day trip to Belém, only 20/30 mins by Uber/train from Lisbon. As many people know, Belém is famous for the pastry that was invented in a monastery there: The Pasteis de Belém - or Portuguese tarts as we call them in Australia. So of course this was our first stop upon arriving in the town, we came early (around 9am) to beat the crowds and we were able to get a seat inside and enjoy an indulgent breakfast.
The famous Pasteis de Belém
Outside the store - later in the day there will be a long line here
There is a lot to see in Belém, the town is full of history. The Jerónimos Monastery (Mosteiro dos Jerónimos) that is responsible for the Pasteis de Belém is actually as old as the Great Wall of China! They had a great exhibition that showed the timeline of significant events in the world since the monastery was built and it really hit home to see how far you had to go before Australia made it into the picture!
The Mosteiro dos Jerónimos
This is also where some of the most important Portuguese figures are buried: Vasco da Gama, Luis de Camões, Alexandre Herculano and Fernando Pessoa. All the names you learn in history classes in Brazil - there they are!
Sintra
The iconic Palácio da Pena
With a spare day in Lisbon, and the last with Alex's parents, we decided to do a day trip to Sintra, just 1 hour by train out of Lisbon. Sintra is home to many historical buildings and beautiful scenery and you could easily spend a few days in this town but as we had only the day, we decided to hit up the main attraction: the colourful Palácio da Pena.
The palace sits on a hill in the middle of a huge park and is iconic for its bright colours (something found in a lot of architecture in Portugal). To be honest, being high season, we had to fight the crowds and spent a long time queueing to go inside the castle. Although, very opulent with impressive views, I'd say the interior pales in comparison to the palace's exterior, which you can enjoy at your own pace without being crowded by fellow tourists.
Without a car, Sintra was quite a mission, requiring a cab to get up the palace and back to the station. For future, I'd recommend spending a night or two, or hiring a car and driving from Lisbon.
The iconic Palácio da Pena
Cascais & Estoril
Cascais, Portugal
Once again, we found ourselves alone with each other - but not for long! After a day walking around Lisbon, we took a train to São João do Estoril, where our Portuguese friend Zé Maria lives. He was incredibly generous and offered us his own place - a very nice and cozy 1-bedroom apartment - while he moved back home to his parents while we were in town. It is also the hometown of Fernando's ex-flatmate in Australia - Marlene!
We only had 3 days there, but it was amazing to experience Portugal (and suburban Lisbon) with the locals. We spent our time walking around town, going down to the beach, hanging out with friends and riding Ze's bike! Cascais is incredibly touristy (it's one of the main beach destination for those who visit Lisbon), but gladly we stayed at São João do Estoril, a smaller and less crowded part, which we loved.
Biking around Cascais
Fernando and Zé Maria
Marlene and Filipe also had us all over and cooked an amazing dinner! That was the real Portuguese feast, and it was amazing to catch up with them and remember all the stories from Australia.
Dinner party at Marlene and Filipe's place
This was pretty much the perfect ending to our Portugal trip - surrounded by friends, in a smaller town, by the beach, with beautiful weather. We couldn't have asked for anything else - and can only thank everyone who got out of their ways to come and meet us. It means a lot to us and we hope we can repay the favour back in Australia one day!
Off we went now to the Netherlands, where we'll be living for 2 whole weeks - yes, it feels like an eternity to us! Time to unpack our backs and wind down a bit...