Obrigado Portugal for an amazing time...
We had flights booked and Portugal planned quite some time back. At that point I didn't realise I was travelling to Galicia the exact previous long weekend. Two back to back vacations! What is the problem, you ask? Well, the only problem was I came back from Galicia on Tuesday morning and had to leave for Portugal on Thursday evening and had 4 classes to attend in between and an equal number of assignments to finish. But hey, it was totally worth it!
After two sleepless nights of working hard and writing one final cover letter on the flight, I was all set for Portugal. I was travelling with two amazing friends from school, Marlene and Ekaterina. We had done a trip together before, so we knew this was going to be fun!
As soon as we landed at the Portugal airport...well actually, as soon as we found our way after sort of getting lost in the airport (All the exit signs led to a dead end, really! It was 3 of us and one Austrian at that (they are super smart) - so it couldn't have just been my direction sense!) we were welcomed by the warm (not usual for October and hence lucky, we were told) breeze and a chatty cab driver who very kindly gave us tips on places to visit.
We had a nice cosy hotel not too far away from the center. We dropped our stuff off and headed out to the center of Lisbon. We walked down the narrow and quaint, yet busy streets, treated ourselves at a lovely local restaurant and continued exploring this lovely city. We spotted a street performer and halted to check what all the noise was about, but we soon became part of his captivated audience. This guy was super funny and performed some slick stunts. I have to say that I was truly amazed by how well he spoke English and it wasn't just him, the staff at the restaurants, bars and shops all spoke a little bit of english - a refreshing change from Barcelona. The Portuguese people were definitely very enterprising and made for warm and nice hosts.
By the end of the first night itself, M and E had become huge fans of Lisbon while I have to admit I thought it was nice, but not spectacular. To me Spain and France were spectacular, while Portugal had a very different feel to it. Some parts were rural while some parts were serene and extravagant as I was about to find out over the next few days.
The next day, we took a train to a small town called Cascais at the outskirts of Lisbon. It had been recommended by a number of people.It was different, a bit more touristic and colorful. When we saw the cute shops and beaches, we figured this was haven for us! After some shopping and a lazy late lunch at a cute Indian restaurant that was styled like the inside of Taj Mahal, we thought this day couldn't get any better, but it did! We readied ourselves for a mini adventure as we rented bikes to ride up to a specific beach. This was one of the best parts of this trip as we cruised , stopped, huffed and puffed and cruised along the riding tracks. Okay, it was just me huffing and puffing and poor Marlene would have to stop every now and then to check if I was okay. I told her to go along and I would catch up, but she was so sure I would get lost. To that, point taken, I thought to myself!
The sea-side view as we rode up was stellar, breath-taking, amazing...u get the point! We got to the beach, parked our bikes, got some ice cream and made ourselves comfortable. Just when we started enjoying the warm golden sand under our feet, we realised it was late and we had an hour to get the bikes back to the booth in time. Obviously, we had taken longer than we thought we would getting up there. So we halfheartedly packed our things, ran towards the bikes and started asking someone if they knew of another booth closeby. Thats when we realised we were running as per the Spanish clock and were one hour ahead of Portugal.*TING* So we went back to the beach, unpacked and spent some more time there.
The ride back was easier and prettier as the sun was beginning to set. We were exhausted by the time we got back to the hotel where Ekaterina was finishing up her work. She had decided to skip the day trip to finish some work.
We had planned to meet an ESADE alum (a year senior to us at school) for dinner. We decided we would finish dinner and call it a day as we were all exhausted. Yeah, that was going to happen.
We met Tiago for a drink and then headed for a Portuguese restaurant and had some amazing food. They have this tradition of serving bread with a few cheeses. The cheeses tasted so good and so did the food!
This was followed by a few halts or hops at what we were told were the most famous spots at Lisbon. I love how the most famous clubs there are called 'Looks' , 'Silk' and 'Bedroom'. It was good fun. I couldn't help notice that the music and huge floors reminded me of Barcelona!
Understandably the next day started pretty late and we just lounged around the city visiting a famous castle and some lovely stops at the city. We took the famous tram ride and ended the day at a restaurant by the sea. It was absolutely fantastic -overlooking a famous bridge (that looked suspisciously similar to the Golden Gate bridge). It was stunningly lit up in the night and that was the point, I made the transition from nice to spectacular. Of course the girls gushing about Lisboa and totally being offended that I didn't proclaim the same kind of love, also helped ;)!
The next day, Luis offered to give us a lift upto Sintra as he was driving up there. We had met him over dinner and he was Tiago's friend. It just so happened that I had met him over a year ago through another friend at Barcelona. Talk about coincidences. Small world, indeed! Anyway he was very nice to give us a quick tour around Sintra and told us where to start. We got off and started off with breakfast at a cafe (I think it was callled Cafe a Piriquita) that was recommended by one and all. We were even told exactly what to order - Travesseiros and oh boy it was awesome!
We walked through the castle, took the bus up to the palace and walked around the park. We spotted a few exotic birds and tons of cats (This country probably has the highest cute cats population).Sintra also has the most amusing carvings and statues standing by the winding roads.We spent the entire day in Sintra and loved every bit of it.
On the last day, we had a flight back to catch in the evening. We spent the morning in Belem, walking by the sea and spotting the Belem tower. We headed back to the Lisbon centre. We split up to go shopping and ended the day with a late lunch at an outdoor restaurant where the girls finally got their sea food and I got my veg Lasagna.
Portugal, to me, was such a different experience. It had so much to it - quaint streets, lovely thatched roof houses, traditional tiled walls, narrow lanes,tiled roads, upbeat music, one of the best cuisines, uber fashionable women walking elegantly in their heals, traditional women, old couples walking hand in hand, the occasional man sleeping on the street and many many tourists looking just as amazed as I was and trying to take all of it in!
I still have to do Porto and Coimbra,especially because I have heard more than a few people swear by these places. So my tryst with Portugal is not over, just as yet! Until next time...
We had flights booked and Portugal planned quite some time back. At that point I didn't realise I was travelling to Galicia the exact previous long weekend. Two back to back vacations! What is the problem, you ask? Well, the only problem was I came back from Galicia on Tuesday morning and had to leave for Portugal on Thursday evening and had 4 classes to attend in between and an equal number of assignments to finish. But hey, it was totally worth it!
After two sleepless nights of working hard and writing one final cover letter on the flight, I was all set for Portugal. I was travelling with two amazing friends from school, Marlene and Ekaterina. We had done a trip together before, so we knew this was going to be fun!
 |
| Coastline |
 |
| The street act |
We had a nice cosy hotel not too far away from the center. We dropped our stuff off and headed out to the center of Lisbon. We walked down the narrow and quaint, yet busy streets, treated ourselves at a lovely local restaurant and continued exploring this lovely city. We spotted a street performer and halted to check what all the noise was about, but we soon became part of his captivated audience. This guy was super funny and performed some slick stunts. I have to say that I was truly amazed by how well he spoke English and it wasn't just him, the staff at the restaurants, bars and shops all spoke a little bit of english - a refreshing change from Barcelona. The Portuguese people were definitely very enterprising and made for warm and nice hosts.
By the end of the first night itself, M and E had become huge fans of Lisbon while I have to admit I thought it was nice, but not spectacular. To me Spain and France were spectacular, while Portugal had a very different feel to it. Some parts were rural while some parts were serene and extravagant as I was about to find out over the next few days.
The next day, we took a train to a small town called Cascais at the outskirts of Lisbon. It had been recommended by a number of people.It was different, a bit more touristic and colorful. When we saw the cute shops and beaches, we figured this was haven for us! After some shopping and a lazy late lunch at a cute Indian restaurant that was styled like the inside of Taj Mahal, we thought this day couldn't get any better, but it did! We readied ourselves for a mini adventure as we rented bikes to ride up to a specific beach. This was one of the best parts of this trip as we cruised , stopped, huffed and puffed and cruised along the riding tracks. Okay, it was just me huffing and puffing and poor Marlene would have to stop every now and then to check if I was okay. I told her to go along and I would catch up, but she was so sure I would get lost. To that, point taken, I thought to myself!
The ride back was easier and prettier as the sun was beginning to set. We were exhausted by the time we got back to the hotel where Ekaterina was finishing up her work. She had decided to skip the day trip to finish some work.
We had planned to meet an ESADE alum (a year senior to us at school) for dinner. We decided we would finish dinner and call it a day as we were all exhausted. Yeah, that was going to happen.
We met Tiago for a drink and then headed for a Portuguese restaurant and had some amazing food. They have this tradition of serving bread with a few cheeses. The cheeses tasted so good and so did the food!
 |
| The sea side restaurant |
 |
| Sintra |
We walked through the castle, took the bus up to the palace and walked around the park. We spotted a few exotic birds and tons of cats (This country probably has the highest cute cats population).Sintra also has the most amusing carvings and statues standing by the winding roads.We spent the entire day in Sintra and loved every bit of it.
On the last day, we had a flight back to catch in the evening. We spent the morning in Belem, walking by the sea and spotting the Belem tower. We headed back to the Lisbon centre. We split up to go shopping and ended the day with a late lunch at an outdoor restaurant where the girls finally got their sea food and I got my veg Lasagna.
Portugal, to me, was such a different experience. It had so much to it - quaint streets, lovely thatched roof houses, traditional tiled walls, narrow lanes,tiled roads, upbeat music, one of the best cuisines, uber fashionable women walking elegantly in their heals, traditional women, old couples walking hand in hand, the occasional man sleeping on the street and many many tourists looking just as amazed as I was and trying to take all of it in!
I still have to do Porto and Coimbra,especially because I have heard more than a few people swear by these places. So my tryst with Portugal is not over, just as yet! Until next time...
