It might be over now, but Portugal (the country) I feel you still!

Portugal, I came for your beaches and sunsets, but when faced with typical San Francisco summer weather, I’m leaving with some deep knowledge in castles, 19th century romanticism, a new found flower obsession and a very full belly.

 

We started our adventures in Portugal in it’s capital. In Lisbon, we visited the Castelo De San Jorge. After climbing to the top, I took a peak over into the city only to be met with what could have been a view from my own front yard. Lisbon’s Pointe 25 de Abril Bridge could be the Golden Gate’s younger sister! (If you’re wondering I refer to the GGB as a she too) Oddly enough, it was built by the same company that built the Bay Area’s Bay Bridge that connects San Francisco to the East Bay. When I was running, I saw it from a slightly different angle and could also see Bay Bridge similarities. Lisbon had some cool street art, which I would soon find out was all over Portugal. Their tram/trolley was bumpy and jam-packed with touristas like me. Sadly we witnessed a woman who was hit on the tracks and while I don’t know the outcome it was pretty amazing to see everyone jump into action. Civilians immediately put on their safety vests, put out their hazard triangles and started directing traffic so that when the professional help arrive all would be clear. It was nice to see strangers helping strangers and I sure do hope she was ok. While we were only in Lisbon for one night, we happened to be staying in the most hip neighborhood. It’s where all the party people go. You’ll find random parades through the streets at 11 o’clock at night and staying out in the streets until 5AM. I’m glad they didn’t check my party card before I entered because they would have realized my idea of an exciting night ends with me in bed before I turn into a pumpkin. I’m totally ok with being unhip but I do applaud you residents of Bairro Alto!

 

For the next part of our journey we rented a car and were going to try out our best attempt at driving in another foreign country. And while I don’t think anything could rival driving in Greece, I’m always a little tentative to take to roads and signs that I don’t know. Turns out the actual driving wasn’t the hard part. The hard part was finding a radio station to listen to and find some tunes we understood. We finally found one of the most diverse stations I’ve ever heard. One minute you were listening to the pop music of Shawn Mendes and Post Malone and the next you were listening to Annie Lennox followed by the Portuguese version of “Rapper’s Delight”. I mean I do love to hip hop hippity hop with the best of them, but I think the best song came right when I was getting a little tired from all the driving. If you haven’t busted out Karen Carpenter’s “On Top of the World” while driving, have you even lived?

 

The first stop of our Portugal road trip was the little town of Sintra. Sintra is home to castles, palaces, lush gardens and oddly really amazing Kebabs.    I attempted to get a run in in each town I visited on this trip and my attempt in Sintra was cut short, as there were not many safe sidewalks. After running along train tracks that I wasn’t really sure were still in use or not, I gave up. I did happen upon a hockey rink. I didn’t realize hockey was a thing in Portugal. We took a quick trip to Cascais in search of the notorious Cabo de Roca lighthouse and the beauty of it all at sunset. We may have come for the sunset, but Mother Nature had other plans for us. So we took a few pictures and quickly jumped back in the car for some shelter from the wind and dropping temps.  

 

Since any plans of a beach day were out of the question, we decided to hit up some other towns on our way up to Porto. Óbidos is a town completely encapsulated by a wall with strong ties to medieval times. Much to Sara’s disappointment we were missing the medieval fair by a mere two days! Here they are known for their cherry Ginja. While I didn’t try it, my source tells me that it can be likened to a sour cherry liqueur. It’s served in a cup made of chocolate and costs exactly 1 Euro. We overheard a gentleman say that he was stopping at each stand along the path leading to the castle to sample each one. Pretty sure he shouldn’t have been climbing any castle walls that day. I probably shouldn’t either, as I wasn’t dressed for climbing. I never let a dress stop me from trying to keep up with the boys when I was younger, so I wasn’t going to let a little skirt get in my way. Sara D likes to fully research places before deciding if we should go and she shared that the next town we were headed to was dubbed “The Venice of Portugal.” Just like the Ginja, I can’t really pass judgment without having gone to Venice, but one has to wonder how much poetic license they took on that article. 

 

Just a few more hours in the car after leaving Aveiro (Venice of Portugal) and we reached Porto. We arrived in Porto around dinnertime or a compromised dinnertime of 8:30pm. My research assistant was quick to find us a few restaurants and I picked the one with the cool photos and also happened to be a four-minute walk from our hotel. At first, we weren’t sure if they were open as there didn’t seem to be anyone in the place. But we were greeted by the most gracious host which we’d find out later was the owner and chef as well. She showed us the menu and pretty much had me convinced after translating the first few item menus (Meat, Cheese, Olives, more Meat). Upon deciding to stay we were ushered upstairs. Here is where all the people would be…nope not a soul. Could everyone be watching the World Cup? Did this place recently have an outbreak of salmonella that we didn’t hear about? Don’t worry it’s just that they were a new restaurant and the word is not out yet. The word should be out. It was definitely one of the best meals we had on this trip. The best part, the waitressed asked us if we just wanted her to choose for us. Not having to make a choice over so many fantastic options was reason enough for a good rating on trip advisor. Which reminds me I still have to write one. I am really rooting for Patio Do Duque to make it.

Over the next 24hrs we explored all of Porto’s sites. I went for a run along the Douro River in the morning. It was the perfect weather for a run. Low sixties with a touch of mist. The kind of mist that covers your body and you can’t really tell where the mist ends and the sweat begins. For a sweat hog like myself this is always a plus. One of the travel tips given to us by Monica from the restaurant was to visit the Lello Livaria. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I find a lot of joy in bookstores.   I went to one in Germany and in Spain and while I knew I would not understand many of the titles there, I loved checking what children’s books they had and which ones we didn’t have that they did. So back to the one in Portugal. If my love for books wasn’t enough, this particular bookstore is something you’d only read about (ironic isn’t it) . If you can get past the amount of people in the store hoping to grab that perfect shot of the famous red staircase and imagine for a minute what it would look like if you were the only one in the place, you’d feel it. Books lines the walls from floor to ceiling, tracks in the floor from the old book cart and yes the staircase. Local legend has it that this bookstore was one of the places that inspired J.K. Rowling to write Harry Potter!   Next stop on our whirlwind, get to know Porto in 24hrs journey was to the Dom Louis Bridge. Ok before I say anything about this, please know that I know I’m going to sound like a snooty B, but I think I’m spoiled with the Golden Gate and Bay Bridge because if I’m being honest, I was a little underwhelmed. Truth be told I was also a little hungry so I could have just been having a hangry moment (they happened more than I’d care to admit on this trip). We found a cute café along the Douro and decided we were going to try some more of the local cuisine. We kept seeing this thing called francesinha. It looks a little like a piece of lasagna, but what it is is a meat on meat sandwich, with melted cheese over it and sometimes a fried egg on top set atop of plate of fries. When you think it about, it sounds divine but it will not be something I miss when I return to the states. The Chorizo on the other hand, well damn I’m not sure what it is they do, but it’s perfect. Super fun that they legit grill it right at your table.

 

That afternoon we started our journey back south towards Lisbon. We stopped at the religious town of Fatima. There is a story that goes along with how this town became a site where over 60,000 people would flock. The short version is that in 1917, three young children saw an apparition of Mary. Upon being told to come back each month and she would show up, they did and supposedly she did. It is said that Mary predicted three secrets. One of which was the falling of the Berlin Wall. Sara D thought it would be interesting to check out one of their services or vigils. I would classify myself as religious (sometimes religish). I truly believe there is a God. I do not believe that my God is the only God, but am totally willing to share my God if someone’s is not working out for them. It was a beautiful vigil and I’m glad we went. Our hotel was legitimately 37 dollars (including breakfast). I’m pretty sure the ladies running it are like nuns IRL. I did have a chance to light some candles for my family and pray for some others. I found myself praying for the people with hate in their heart the most. It’s them I worry about and hope my prayers will be answered.

 

 

If you are actually still reading this very long post, let me start this last paragraph off with an apology. Let me also say hi Mom, hi dad (most likely the only ones who kept reading) I know in the other countries I broke the posts up by town, but with all the traveling I didn’t have much time to sit down and write. Ok so now that that’s out of the way, we can wrap it up.

 

Last stop back to Lisbon. The airport in Lisbon is not the easiest to navigate nor is it set up logistically. I’d like to quote the young chap from England standing behind me in line, “This is quite possibly the most inefficient queue I’ve ever been in.” If it wouldn’t have been weird, I totally wanted to high five him. For this flight we needed to go through both security and passport control. It was here that I witnessed some of the most obnoxious adults who either don’t a) know how to wait in line or b) plan ahead to make your flight on time. There was shouting, there was more yelling, and there was even some cursing. I myself was raised by Paul Shanley and know that you get to the airport 45 hours before your flight or you will be late, so I just sat back, popped open my can of Pringles and watched the show. If I’m being honest the line was ridiculously long and when we finally did make it up to the window I told a small fib. The Customs agent asked if Sara D (last name Davidson) had a Harley. I proceeded to let him know that that was actually her family, which she adamantly denied to which I just went with my fib at this point and just said, “She doesn’t like to brag.” He smiles and waved us on through to the other side. One last funny was when we checked in, the gate agent asked if we were ok with our emergency exits. We both said yes and she said well I wasn’t sure if you were pregnant or anything. Or Anything? I’m not sure what the or anything would entail, but I’d sure like to find out one day.

 

In a few hours or maybe even one hour, I try not to count too much on these long flights; I will be touching down on American soil and the European leg of the Catch Flights not Feelings tour will be over. I did catch one feeling while I was away and that was Suadade. In Portuguese culture it is a deep emotional state of melancholic longing for a person or thing that is absent. I will miss my adventures, but I’m looking forward to my time with my family, playing golf with friends (hopefully winning a round this summer), not having a side of smoke with my dinner and seeing where the rest of the Summer of Shanley takes me. Stay tuned!