portugal: lisbon, sintra, and porto

When I first started planning my summer, I wanted to come to Portugal to see a sight in a town called Sintra, not too far from Lisbon. I didn't want to go to Portugal for just one day, so I decided to stay three nights, two full days. I'd been to Lisbon that one time previously, but I was staying in a different area of the city, so I knew everything would seem new at first.

My flight landed on time, and it was easy to ride the metro into the city. It was easy to get to my accomodation, and check in went smoothly. I hung out for a little while, then went for a walk. I needed a proper meal, and the weather was nice.

I slept well that night, mostly because I was tired from traveling. (The day trip in Hungary, then the metro and bus to the airport in Budapest, then the flight to Lisbon, then the metro into the city.) The food was average, but adequate. I should mention that I ordered a Greek salad, but when it arrived there were no olives (I didn't miss those since I don't like them anywho,) no cucumber, no feta, and no tomatoes. I never figured out what was supposed to make it a Greek salad. 

The next morning I woke up super early, partly because of the time change. Kyiv is two hours ahead of Lisbon, Budapest is one hour ahead, and I've always been one for waking up early.

Although I didn't get out quite as fast as I'd have liked, I did get out faster than I normally do. At least, according to the local clock. 

I started my day with a couple tasty Portugese pastries, pastels de nata. They're soooooo good, its a good thing I don't have access to them all the time. The typical cost in Lisbon is right around 1 euro, so they're perfectly priced and perfectly sized.

My first thing to do for the day was find a place to print a photo a friend had sent me. Back in the day this sort of place would've been easy to find, but nowadays not so much. Back in the day people printed photos, but nowadays not so much. Eventually I succeeded.

I walked to an area along the water, passing through a giant platz first. The platz has a large arch on one side, I think it's the arch of justice or something along those lines. In the middle of the platz is a statue of a guy on a horse. Nothing exciting, but a good place to watch people.

One side of the platz is a street, the other side of the street is on the water. It's not a port, or a marina in that spot, but it is an area people hang out. There are often busking musicians, which can be good or bad.

I asked someone to take a photo of me, which went really well until waves splashed my feet. I didn't much care about this until I realized the water had washed over to where I'd put my purse and food bag. Whoops!!

The guy taking my photo laughed, as did I. I raced the few steps to the bags before they were too wet, and nothing was ruined.

At that point it was just short of noon, so I walked toward a restaurant I'd read about on a travel app. It promized authentic Indian food, something I love. There is no sign on the street, but a few of the reviews had mentioned this, so I knew where to go. The food was indeed authentic, or at least as much as I know about Indian food. Yum.

After eating I walked back toward the water, and from there I turned right. (I'm terrible with directions, and since it wasn't long after noon I don't know which direction I was walking.)

This walk was long, which is what I intended. Along the way I stopped in a church that caught my eye. The front gate wasn't open, but the side gate was, so that's how I got in. The side door of the church was closed, but unlocked, so I walked in.

The interior of the church wasn't super impressive, but I loved the ceiling, which was made of wood. I'm used to seeing paint and gold on ceilings, but the wood was much more impressive because I could see how it was handmade. I could see where it was slightly warped in a few areas, and I could see the grain of the wood. Beautiful. 

Eventually I got to where I wanted to be, technically a different town called Belem. (Though as far as I know, everyone pretty much still calls it Lisbon.) The walk was over an hour, I could feel the sun on my shoulders the entire way. I walked through the gardens on the outside of the monastery of the Jeronimos, and watched the big fountain for a while. Very pretty.

I crossed under the street, and walked to a museum on the water. It's not a normal looking museum, it looks more like a big Soviet war memorial. I didn't want to go in the museum, despite it being a history museum. The weather was so nice I didn't want to go inside anything. Instead I took photos, then continued walking.

I looped around, and made my way to the Tower of Belem, not too much further away. It looks like a castle, and I think you can go in from time to time, but that wasn't happening when I arrived; this was fine since I didn't want to go inside. I took my photos, even a couple with the time delay function on my camera with no one else in the frame. Yay!

At that point I started walking back to where I was staying in Lisbon. I followed along the water the entire way, because I love water. Also, the weather was still amazing. I think I could've taken a metro or commuter train back into the city center, but since I love walking, I did what I love.

The walk back was an hour and a half I think? Something like that, I'm not really sure. By the time I got back, my feet were pretty tired.

I found a small supermarket and bought some food for breakfast the next day, as well as more water. I found double stuffed Oreos, which ended up being my dinner. Don't hold that against me.

Not too much later I got back to my room, and basically settled in for the evening. My Fitbit told me I'd walked almost 33,000 steps, a whole bunch of kilometers, so it isn't surprising my feet were so tired.

The next morning I woke up early of course, and actually got moving not too much later. I walked to Rossio train station and caught the next train to a small town called Sintra. Sintra is known because there are a few castles to visit, as well as gardens. Each of the castles has a different appearance, very different. One is called the castle of the Moors, another is Pena Palace. I think there is another one as well.

I went to Sintra because I wanted to visit a specific set of gardens. After my train arrived this was my first sight. I walked there, arriving a little bit after 10 in the morning

Inside these gardens is the specific sight I wanted to see, a well. Its called the Initiation Well, and has spiral stairs around the edge, going all the way to the bottom. I'm not sure what used to happen in the well, but now its a tourist sight. To get to the well you get to go through a couple tunnels in the rock, which get pretty dark at times; there are lights in the tunnels, but they're not bright. The views from both top and bottom are worth seeing. 

I explored the rest of the area, which had fountains and small ponds, and a few more tunnels. There were a couple towers that looked like fairy princess towers, if that makes sense; think of Rapunzel and the singular tower she lived in for years.
There was also a home, where you can walk through what used to be a dining room, game room, etc... The building was pretty, and I liked the ceilings.

I walked back to the city center, and through the city center. The city center of Sintra is very quaint, but now that quaintness is totally geared toward tourists.

Cafes, restaurants, tourist/souvenir shops, and not much else. Small alleys make everything look cute, even if they're lined with souvenir shops.

Eventually I ended up where I wanted to be, at the start of a hiking trail. Sintra is a small town surrounded by green mountains and hills. I intended to climb/hike this one to get to where I wanted to go next.
The trail is cobblestone for most of the way, with a whole lot of switchbacks. It wasn't steep, but with the cobblestones and switchbacks I spent a lot of time watching my feet, making sure I didn't trip over nothing in particular.

The trail goes by some cliffs that are really popular with climbers. I'm not a huge fan of climbing, so I didn't much care. There are a few signs clearly stating that climbers need to have safety equipment, and to climb responsibly.

The trail took me to a lovely viewpoint of the Castle of the Moors, I stood there for a while. I would see the walls, which stretch along the top of the mountain. Inside the walls I knew there were castle ruins. When I contined and arrived at the ticket office for the castle, I found out that the price was 8 euros, which seemed crazy expensive to me. I thought about it for a while, but decided to skip it in the end.

I walked to Pena Palace, which is known because it is painted a bunch of different colours. When I got to the ticket office, I discovered the cost for that one was 14 euros! That was waaaaay too much, I didn't even have to think about skipping that one. 

Fortunately, I'd seen this palace the first time I came to Sintra. Unfortunately, the first time I'd been to Sintra the mountain had been covered in fog, so I'd really only seen the inside of the palace. Even with the bright colours of the outside I hadn't been able to see the palace until I was just three or four meters away, as the fog was sooooo thick. I was sad I wouldn't be able to see the exterior, (and take the photos I really wanted,) but the ticket price was just way too much.
If I'd entered all the palaces and gardens and such it could've been a really expensive day trip! I'm pretty sure there are plenty of people who do spend the money, but I was trying to stay on a budget. 

I followed another path down the mountain, and eventually ended up back in the middle of Sintra. After checking out a few souvenir shops, I bought a magnet. I found a sortof out of the way cafe for a sandwich with spicy sauce, cheese, fried egg, and other meat. Yum.

Then I walked back to the train station. The next train back to Lisbon left about 10 minutes later, I'd timed it perfectly.

When I got back to Lisbon I visited a couple more platzes, and saw a couple big statues and fountains. I'd seen both of these before, but I still went. It was nice to watch people and enjoy the fabulous weather. I also stopped at a supermarket to pick up breakfast food for the next morning.

I went back to my room at one point, and settled in. I needed to pack up my stuff before going to sleep, since I needed to get up early the next morning.

The next morning I woke up before my alarm (which was set for 0510!) and got moving. I got dressed and went to the airport. As much as people complain about Ryanair, if you follow their rules it's a great airline. Check in online, and print out your boarding pass. Keep your luggage to carryon only.

My first flight of the day was just to Porto, in northern Portugal. The flight was only 10 euros!

When I arrived in Porto I wandered around until I found a place to store my bag for the day. After getting that sorted I took the metro into the city center. The ride is only 35 minutes, and costs 4.5 euros roundtrip.

I stepped off the metro, and started walking. I was in the city center, of which much is UNESCO designated. Beautiful buildings, churches, etc...

Of course I stepped into most of the churches. I've seen a LOT of churches while traveling, and I feel comfortable making the generality that many of the churches in specific areas look similar. In other words, in one city, many churches will look similar. This annoys many people, but not me.

One of the churches in Porto is on the edge of a hill overlooking the river that runs through the city, and has a cloister area. I paid the fee for the cloister area, which includes a few altars, a chapel, and the treasury. Very pretty and very photogenic.
After the expense of the castles in Sintra the day before, I was more than happy to pay just 3 euro to enter this area. 

From that trip I followed a street until it came to a bridge, the bridge of Louis 1^st. There are two levels of the bridge, you can walk and drive along both levels; The street I was walking took me to the upper level of the bridge. Come to think of it, I've never walked the lower level, I don't know why not.

I walked across the bridge, and back. I stopped a couple times, just to enjoy the view of the buildings along the water. The lower levels of the buildings are filled with restaurants, cafes, and tourist shops, but they still look lovely.

After coming back across the bridge I found a small-ish cafe to have lunch. It was a sandwich of sorts, like the one I'd had in Sintra (Portugal) the day before. The meal was supposed to come with fries and a drink but I didn't want either of those.

After paying the bill I walked back to the metro station and took the train back to the airport. I collected my bag, went through security, and got to my gate just as people were lining up to board the plane. It worked out perfectly.

The flight was smooth, and landed about 20 minutes early, yay!

Though Portugal isn't high on my list of places to return to, it's on the list, and if someone planned a trip or I had the time, I wouldn't say no. It's small, but has heaps of history, culture, and beautiful landscapes. 

portugal: porto

another early morning bus took me from coimbra to porto...though portugal is small, the differences between lisbon and porto (portugal's two main cities) were apparent immediately...
unfortunately the weather was crap that whole day...yuck yuck yuck...as i've said before (many times) and will probably say again (many times) i hate rain...and it rained most of this day...
i wasn't able to check into my hostel, but they let me drop my bags for a few hours, and use wifi...
upon starting my explorations, i tried to find the main post office...it didn't happen...i'm guessing lonely planet labeled it wrong on the map, or perhaps it has moved since this edition of lonely planet was published...or maybe i'm just blind and missed something very obvious...

i did find a yummy pasteleria (surprise!) with a few items i hadn't seen before...of course i had to try them...i'm not a foodie, i don't go into food descriptions of pictures much, but they were yummy...and totally unnecessary, as i wasn't hungry...across the street from that pasteleria was a market, at which i found strawberries...i doubt they were in season, but it was well worth the splurge...i also found cheese, and was sorely tempted to buy several varieties...porto is known as a town in which to buy cheese and port...(hence the name: porto)...howeva the lack of refrigeration facilities on a regular basis reminded me this wouldn't be a good idea for a budget traveler...

i walked back down the hill, toward the river that flows through town, and bought a ticket for the palacio de bolsa...it was originally built by businessmen, and still functions as the chamber of commerce for porto...you can only see the building on a tour...there are paintings everywhere, the steps are built of granite, many rooms have specific themes for decoration...one room has paintings of many members of portugal's royals over the years...in my opinion, they were not attractive...the middle of the building is an area called the hall of nations, there are many flags to see...(it's always fun to play guess the flag)

the president and directors of the chamber of commerce still meet in the gold room of this building every month, and the full chamber meets once a year...the arabian room of the palace took 18 years to complete (and looks like the alhambra palace in spain) and the whole palace took 68 years to finish...unfortunately, visitors are not allowed to take photos...
from the palace i walked around the corner to the ingreja (church) de sao francisco...i started with a small museum, which led me down to the crypt...lots of tombs and bones everywhere...inside the church itself was a LOT of carved wood and gold leaf...
each time i went outside i had to deal with rain, and wind...it is difficult to take photos when rain continually lands on your camera lens, no matter which direction you face...ugh...my feet were cold and wet, and i was generally pissed off at the world...

if it hadn't been for the rain, i would've really enjoyed my walk along the riverfront...i should mention that this area of porto is a UNESCO sight...i walked for a while, then went back up the hill to see the se...a cathedral/fortressy looking building...it wasn't open, as there were no services at that hour...but it provided a nice view in several directions, and there was a break in the rain, yippee!!!
not long after i left the se, it started raining again, so i took refuge in a cafe and ate way more than i should've, even though the food wasn't wonderful...(adequate, but not great or bad...i should've picked somewhere else)

one of the sights mentioned in the guidebook is a particular bookstore...of course i visited...it's mentioned because the staircase in the middle of the store makes it quite picturesque...i wonder how many of their sales are due to tourists who just want to see what the fuss is all about? now called livraria lello, it was originally founded (under a different name, by different owners) in the late 1800s...
there was still a bit of daylight as i left the bookstore, but i was not in the mood to continue wandering, as the weather had finally gotten to me...in for the night at my hostel...thankfully there was a space heater in my room...portuguese buildings don't often have heating systems, i spent a LOT of time during this trip huddling under blankets...this space heater felt like a true luxury!!

the next morning i woke up to fog...really? argh...my thoughts were something along these lines: first i get screwed by rain and now i won't be able to see far due to fog? not fair!! fortunately, the fog quickly...i walked to the bus station (i wanted to go to a UNESCO listed town nearby,) but it seemed to be closed...probably because it was 1 january...happy new year and all that...i'd forgotten, not that i've ever been big on celebrating this holiday...trains weren't running either, argh...
howeva, since the weather was far better today, i walked, a lot...i ended up retaking many of the photos i'd taken the day before...(blue skies always beat grey skies in a photo)

as i walked by the se, i realized it was open, as there was a service going on...the inside wasn't stunning, but i did appreciate the atmosphere in general...the organ was powerful, and there is always something that gets me when i hear so many people singing in unison...i could see at least 3 priests participating in the service...
i walked across one of several bridges, it's a nifty bridge...the upper level is for pedestrian use on the sides, public transport goes down the middle...private cars and taxis use a lower level...lovely views of the river from both sides of the bridge...

i walked to vila nova de gaia, which was once a separate village on the other side of the river from porto...now it's just part of the big city, though i think the actual boundaries make it technically separate...it is known as the home of several lodges that make and store port...it was originally founded by the celts, and was once a town in the roman empire...
i didn't think much of the area, but i loved being able to look back at porto over the river...for people who have cameras with wide view lenses or the ability to stitch pictures together, it's a great place for photos...this is also where you can catch any number of boat tours along the river...(which are probably quite popular in warmer months)...

i went back to the hostel to relax for a while, then headed out again after dark, i wanted a few photos at night...a beautiful town...
i should mention that porto is known for it's restaurants, and for that reason alone i'd like to go back, as i didn't make those part of my visit at all...
not only did i not visit the restaurants, i didn't get to any of the towns around porto...my next visit to portugal will definitely include a return to porto!