3 go mad in Portugal

Well it’s been a while since we put an entry other than a photo on the blog – apologies! Life has been pretty hectic and most evenings are spent chilling out, if we’re not out sampling the local fare. Briefly – Phil and I are still living in Balham as per the photos – its spring now and the blossom is out on the trees – and we were rudely awakened by the dulcit tones of the local fox (presumably) serenading a potential mate this morning… It is quite young and pretty fearless – if you whistle at it and keep still it will come up and take a look at you. Phil is still working at RBS – his area is being restructured at the moment so there is a bit of uncertainty but Phil is (as usual) being quite philosophical about it. I am working at CPG HR services, assessing peoples job applications for various government agencies. Good pay and plenty of hours at the moment. The aim is to have my student loan paid off in a year.

Future plans are an eventual return to NZ so that I can go back to varsity – to become a dietician. Means I have to do an entire science degree but I’m keen. My interest in the field has been inspired by the charity work that I have been doing. I am a kitchen assistant for the Food Chain, who makes and delivers meals on Sundays to people housebound with HIV/AIDs. Through them, I am also training to be a lead cook (design and supervise the cooking) and am on the Nutrition committee, which is concerned with the nutritional needs of the service users. I am also volunteering doing odd bits of clerical work in the Dietetics department of the local hospital. So I have been pretty busy!

But you must think that we are all work and no play – no fear!

Attached are some photos of our trip to Portugal at Easter. Wonderful, beautiful country with friendly helpful people (esp when you take the time to learn a few local words ; - ).

Day One – London to Lisbon

We hopped on the Gatwick Express on the Thursday before Easter, catching a flight on TAP Air Portugal to Lisbon/Lisboa. After an experience with the most awful customer service person we’ve ever had the misfortune to meet (and she was English, before you make any assumptions about the Portuguese), I went a bit wild in Duty Free (yes it still exists in the EU). The flight was uneventful, the food nice, and we touched down two hours later in Lisbon. Customs took minutes – I noticed that we could get free travel into the city from the airport with our boarding passes, so we hopped on an airport bus and were on our way!

Tony (who came along with us) noted that you know you are in a different country straight away – the houses etc look ‘tropical’. We were dropped off in Rossio and spent 15 mins finding our Pensao which was in the next square (we went the wrong way for a while). Wow! For £10 a night each for a triple room, we’d hit the jackpot. Corner room and view of both the Castelo de Sao Jorge, all lit up for the night, and the Praca (Square) below. We headed out for dinner – had an average meal (we were crippled by our lack of knowledge of Portuguese – you can translate the main constituent of the dish but the details are lost in the translation) – but had our first taste of the beautiful and fresh Portuguese white wines – I don’t think we paid more than 6 euros for a bottle of the ‘table white’ and all were fantastic. From there we wandered around the Rossio/Baixa areas looking for a bar. No luck until I noticed a wee hole in the wall that had lots of people with small plastic cups gathered outside. We had stumbled on ‘A Ginjinha’, a cherry liquor shop. After a few of these we had plucked up enough courage to talk to some other people (“Fala Ingles? Si – nice to meet you”…). We met a couple from Madrid, two women from Croatia and a couple from Austria. Lots of tourists in the city at Easter. After an hour or so at A Ginjinha, and giving up on finding a bar, we bought a bottle of ginjinha and went back to the pensao.

Day Two – Lisbon

Next day we got up and went to a pastry shop for breakfast – Portugal is known for its pastries and these didn’t disappoint. The coffee is good and strong though all tastes like it has been made with UHT milk. We then walked over the city to the Elevator and took a trip up so we could look over the city. Unbeknownst to us, we had jumped the queue, as we found when we got to the bottom and headed up the hill to take a look at the Cais do Sodre area. Not much happening, being Good Friday but we did find a crazy $2 shop type place that was selling the usual range of ashtrays shaped like women with big boogs, wearing Rasta hats. We headed down to the waterfront to look around and got caught in a rainstorm. At this point my umbrella broke, so we had to share a doorway/shelter with a very smelly (hopefully dog) poo. We then trekked across town (I stopped to buy an album of Fado music on the way) to catch the bus to the Alfama district. The plan was originally to go to the Castelo de Sao Jorge but we got side-tracked by getting off the tram too early. Instead we stopped at the Miradouro da Graca and took in the view, while enjoying a nice glass of beer (Super Bock). The weather was a bit dodgy by then so we headed down the hill towards the sea and left the Castelo for another day. The Alfama district is absolutely gorgeous, the classic European old town of winding pedestrian walkways between picturesque houses (see photos below). We found a great restaurant and whiled away a couple of hours with a nice meal and a few drinks. We then made our way all the way to the bottom of the hill (stopping to buy some souvenirs) and walked back to the pensao, picking up some wine, beer etc on the way to while away the rest of the afternoon.

We decided to go to the Bairro Alto for dinner so took a taxi in the pouring rain up there. We went to an Italian restaurant recommended by Lonely Planet for dinner – most expensive meal we had in Portugal, then went looking at some of the local bars. Great reception at our first bar – and had some very strong caiprinhas (we think) – then on to a salsa bar for a few more cocktails – unfortunately the long and active day paid its toll so we soon repaired back to the pensao for a glass of ginjinha before bed – and Sintra tomorrow!

Day Three - Sintra

Another fine breakfast after checking out of the pensao, we trotted down to the train station to find it closed – argh! A helpful security guard pointed us towards the Metro and we met up with the overland train to Sintra that way. Out of the central city, Lisbon is a lot of apartment blocks, for nearly the whole way to Sintra – even as you are travelling next to the National Park (Sintra is a World Heritage site in the midst of a national park area). Getting off, Sintra was a complete contrast (see photos) – steep hills covered in bush, picturesque houses and wee valleys with tiny farms, the National Palace, and the Moorish Castle overlooking it all.

We decided to walk to Casa Miradouro, the B&B that we had booked for our stay. A short, but hilly walk later, we arrived at Casa Miradouro and were greeted by Frederic and his wife Janda and were shown to our room at the top of the house. A bit of hilarity when we say the fold out camp bed that Tony got to sleep on – I think his feet may have hung off the end. We chilled out for a bit then headed into the old town for lunch. Thousands of tourists – everywhere – we waited for 20-30 minutes for a table at a restaurant that Frederic recommended. Once seated there was a further delay because they were very busy but the food was worth the wait. Simple, but delicious, and very cheap! I tried the Vinho Verde – green (young) wine which was lovely. After such a late lunch we headed back to Casa Miradouro and relaxed in preparation for dinner. Frederic had recommended another restaurant for dinner so we headed off early there. We were a bit early and our lunch had not gone down completely – a great dinner, but unfortunately we were so full from lunch we could not fully enjoy it. The walk back to CM was needed!

Day Four – Sintra

We had a lot planned so had breakfast at CM. Headed into the old town and caught the bus to the bi-monthly market at Sao Pedro. Vibrant, helped by the morning sun, from beautiful local produce to usual market tat. Picked up some lunch supplies, scarves and cooking pots and caught the bus back to the Old Town. From there we walked to Estefania to get the tourist tram to the beach. Well – we missed it…..

So we got the bus!

The beach at Praia das Macas – hmm – a wild springs day – we walked down and checked out the surf that must have been 6-10 ft high. The guys played hacky and we ate our lunch in the sun. I nosed around and found a room full of cats next to a beach shop. We went up to the shops and sat down to have a beer – it looked like it was going to rain – then I noticed the clouds in the south were beginning to rotate. A small funnel started coming down from the cloud – it started to rain, the funnel dispersed and we went inside the café to finish our beers. We had 5 small beers between us – for the princely sum of 4.50 euro! I like Portugal!

After the beers, we picked up icecreams and caught the tram back to Sintra. The countryside was really beautiful, despite the lack or rain over the winter. The tram takes you through the villages that you only see the edge of from the road so was definitely worth it. It was getting to late afternoon so we had a cup of tea and caught a taxi up to the Moorish Castle. Totally majestic with views right up to Lisbon and down to Cascais to the South. Photos are below (hard to describe)….

We walked down to the town from the Castle, finding a Fosters bar hidden in the heart of Sintra. After one drink we repaired to a less commercial establishment down the road, and from there, to the last restaurant that Frederic had recommended. A great meal, with several other people from CM also there for dinner. After dinner we headed back to Casa Miradouro – I had a good chat to some of the other guests, from Birmingham and New England, and finally went on up to bed.

The next day was a straightforward checkout and trip back to Lisbon. We wandered around a bit and had some lunch, then headed for the airport. Stocked up on port and wine (if you can get hold of some Joao Pires 2002 or 2003 Muscat, I thoroughly recommend it) and hopped on the plane.

And that was it! Our trip to Portugal…… You should go there if you ever get the opportunity….