Iberian Roadtrip—Part 1: Lisbon, Sintra, Cabo da Roca

On the way from Porto to Madrid, I teamed up with Jura, my ex-colleague and friend from Brno and Evelyn, a friend from Hamburg and we did an epic roadtrip. How was it? You'll find out here. I'll split it in several parts, so that each post stays short and internet-friendly.

Part 1: Lisbon, Sintra, Cabo da Roca

First stop: Lisbon

The first two days we spent in Lisbon and its surroundings. That city was the biggest positive surprise from the Iberian Peninsula so far. I expected a small capital, but the opposite was true. On the other hand, it has this feeling of a "student city". Not so crowded, not too industrial nor gets one claustrophobic feelings. They say it has been built on 7 hills, just like Rome. And it's true that the views from the hills on the mouth of Tejo river are breathtaking. They got their own "Golden Gate" bridge (Ponte de 25 de Abril) and their "Jesus Statue from Rio" (Santuário Nacional de Cristo Rei). The city is famous because of its yellow trams. The ones in San Francisco were inspired by them. If I were to pick two things that you certainly must visit, then it would be: Torré de Belém, the symbol of Lisbon and the steampunk-like public elevator, Elevador de Santa Justa.

Monument to the Discoveries
(the bridge of 25th April in the background)

Lisbon view

View on the Atlantic from the Torré de Belém

National Pantheon—the tomb
of Portuguese heroes

Alfama—the medieval town

Santa Justa Elevator

Torré de Belém

Mosteiro dos Jerónimos—beautiful monastery,
where Vasca da Gama is burried

That's him, the big discoverer

Parque de Nações—The place where Expo 98 took place

Lisbon at night, Castello de São Jorge in the background

Close to Lisbon lies Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point of continental Europe. Another surprise. I expected just a boring beach with a pole stuck in it, but the cliffs are high above the ocean and you can just sit on the rocks and listen to the waves breaking on the rocks. "Onde a terra acaba e o mar começa..."

And Sintra? Sintra is a fairy tale village between Cabo da Roca and Lisbon. It was one of the seats of the portuguese royal family. Too bad every time I visited it, it was already evening, so almost everything was closed. But the place is magical, even in the evening and is certainly worth a visit.

Jura, me and Evelyn, chillin "in da west"

Looking for the Statue of Liberty

Lisbon felt good. It was fresh and young and it did not feel like a stressful city. I got to return there one day.

End of my Portuguese Mission

I realized I don't have a video in Portuguese, so let me speak about it like this (Subtitles in Portuguese and English available):

And if I think I would pass C1? With little preparation for the test, yes, I am confident. I did this test for myself: http://www.ilearnportuguese.com/index.php/en/test-your-portuguese and I got right 53/60. Reading is ok, I read couple of books. But I would still have to practice writing, speaking and listening more. I am pretty confident when it comes to vocabulary, but the Portuguese pronunciation is sometimes so hard to decode, that after one year of studying Portuguese and one month studying Spanish, I understand both at the same level (when listening).

I am happy though how significantly I improved. I can sustain a discussion about such things as politics and corruption. And thus I managed to "unlock" theses countries as my potential home, or at least, a very pleasant touristic destination:

Lusofoníc World

Keep in touch Portuguese, our relationship isn't over yet.

Good bye Atlantic. I'll see you again!

Porto—A Beauty on Douro

Here is one look-back post, which I didn't manage to publish sooner. It's about the city where I spent the last 6 months: Porto.

So what makes this city so attractive? So far, I encountered two types of cities: Business cities (good job opportunities, rush life-style) and student cities (great atmosphere, easy to find an accomodation) and Porto is definitely a student city.

Porto from Torre dos Clérigos

Umbrellas in Trashbins

The presence of students is visible at the beginning of semesters, when they have their praxe. And also, they give the nightlife of Porto its atmosphere. Usually, it starts around a famous bar Piolho, or in one of the surrounding streets and then the focus of attention moves to clubs, clumped together around the neighbourhood known as Galerias.

They have a funny system of entry fees here. You don't pay at the entry, instead you receive a consumption ticket and when you buy a drink, you get a stamp. Without stamps, the neck-less guys at the entrance don't let you out.

In winter, there is a lot of windy rain, so an umbrella is a must have. But the wind is sometimes so strong that it breaks the umbrellas. So one of the symbols of Porto for me is many broken umbrellas in public trashbins, especially after a weekend.

Porto = Gotham City?

The old UNESCO protected historical part near to the river is called Baixa and its tall, narrow houses are an amazing sight. But what gets me every time is the famous bridge of Ponte Dom Luís I. Walking below its construction, I always get the feeling I am in one of the Tim Burton's fantasy movies. The dark tone of the Baixa only supports this feeling.

The style of the bridge is very different from the medieval look of Baixa, but they complement each other extraordinarily. The inhabitants of Porto weren't pussies and were not afraid to mix architectural styles (unlike recently, people from Prague with the library of J. Kaplický) and it paid off.

Ribeira—the old port

Ponte Domn Luís I. in the background

Kids often jump from the bridge for tourists' money

Cheap Center, Expensive Outskirts

Flats in the historical core are much cheaper than the ones further away. The restorations might be costly, because of the laws for monument protection. But it is not just that. There is a law limiting the rents in the centre. As a result, there centre is inhabited with people with low-end income. Right next to the cathedral, you see clothes hanging of the balconies. It gives a completely different feeling than the traditional commercialized centres (Prague, Vienna etc.), where there are only offices and shops.

Baixa

Many houses would need restoration

Micro-tourist-guide

Let's say you have only half a day for Porto. What should you see? Start from Jardim da Cordoaria, pass through Avenida dos Aliados (the most important square), walk through the old town towards Ribeira (the part adjacent to the river) and then take a historical tram that goes to Foz—a pictoresque quarter at the mouth of the river. You can have a walk under the palms, check out the lighthouses, listen to the waves and sit down in some of the many small cafes there.

If you have more time, there is a museum of modern art and gardens Serralvez, bookshop just like the one from Harry Potter, Garden of Palácio de Cristal, with its spectacular view and a big city park and a possibility to try out surfing. Come visit, it's definitely worth it ;)

Townhall

Tram to Foz

Foz

Portugal—10 Things That You Absolutely Positively Cannot Live Without Knowing

1. In the Winter, It Is Warmer Outside than Inside

Yep, I shit you not. The winters are "quite" mild, russian gas far away, electricity expensive, so they don't really use heating. Inside you have to be dressed more than outside. Outside, you have the sun and you are moving.

2. Stone Fences, Stone Fences Everywhere

Stone is probably cheap here. Portugal has mountains, so it makes sense. Everything is made of stone. I think I saw only one building here made of bricks. The dirtiest pubs have sinks made of marble. Public benches are from polished granite. Even the rural fences of the agricultural land are made of... stone.

Field-delimiting fences

3. Traffic Lights for Pedestrians Are Just a Decoration

Green means "Go", red means "Go, but hurry". I can understand why pedestrians ignore them, they seem to be really badly set and one must wait long minutes for the green light to come. Interesting enough, the cars are quite patient with them, even if they are crossing at the red light and rarely honk.

4. Student Initiation Rituals

In Portuguese, they are called praxe and they are spectacular. Google it. College freshmen have to dress up, swear, bow, fulfill tasks, be humiliated. And all of it in the streets. The organizing students take it so seriously that they usually don't let tourists make pictures of these events.

Praxe - Student initiation rituals

5. Half-portions Are More than What You Can Eat

I came to Porto, saw menus and thought: "Damn, these people are expensive, wasn't it supposed be one of the poorer EU countries?" Only later I discovered that I should look at Half-portion-prices. Half portion means a plate for one person, full portion is for two. Often, even the half portion is too much for one person to eat.

6. Codfish

The 11. commandment of the Portuguese is: "Thou shall eat Cod". Eventhough it is an imported fish, Portuguese have probably the biggest number of recipes with Codfish. Pataniscas, bacalhau com natas and many more.

Salt-conserved cod

Bacalhau com natas

Pataniscas

7. The Smell of Eucalyptus Trees in the Morning

Eucalyptus, a non-original and invasive kind was introduced because of its fast growth and value for the wood-processing industry. Now Eucalyptus makes up a major part of Portuguese forests and gives them a specific menthol-fresh smell.

Eucalyptus, a common tree kind in Portugal

8. Friday, 9:00 PM—Time to Go Out? Relax...

11:00 PM is the time to go to the bar. 1:00 AM is the soonest when the clubs start getting full.

9. Coffe

One my friend said: "You know you are in Portugal when people are drinking coffee at 11:30 PM". But basically after every meal. The quantity is smaller than one mouthfull, but it's so strong that I need 5 minutes at least to drink it all.

Portuguese are big lovers of strong coffe

10. Partying Outside

So the following happened to me: My friends and me were trying to get through a huge number of people standing on the street with beers in their hands, until we finally came to the pub where they sell it. We bought beer and... went to sit. To the only table they had. And this only table was empty. People here just rather hang out outside, than sit inside the pubs.

Another thing worth mentioning is that even with such a huge number of drinking people, squeezed on a small place in front of a pub, I have never seen any fight. And they are so quiet. Might be because drinking of spirits doesn't have a tradition here, or because I have seen only places where university students go. But still, this experience tells me the Portuguese are really non-violent.

Portuguese nightlife

***

Standard disclaimer: The observations here might be really central-europe-centric, so if you get yourself thinking "Wait, this is not unusual, here it's like that too", it might be that it's just unusual for me.

Feeling good about yourself

Sometimes, you feel down. Sometimes you feel like despite all your effort, you are not achieving your goal. You learn every day and still you sound like an idiot. But then you go to a party and you realize you not only can make yourself understood, but actually have fun, talking to both Portuguese and Brazilians.

Sometimes, it is good to look behind at what you have achieved, in order to encourage yourself and pat yourself on the shoulder. Do you know the movie "Love Actually"? I remember watching it like 5 years ago, not understanding a word from the scene in Portuguese. Now? Piece of cake.

Sometimes, it's the little things :)

Good Night? Already Going to Sleep?

I'll take a break from the travel posts and the next one will be again linguistical.

One of the fascinating things is how different nations perceive time. Here is a small infogprahics of the greetings throughout the day in the languages I speak:

Portuguese is for me the most interesting case. They do greet each other with "Good day", but only in the morning. Then the afternoon is "tarde" (= "late"). And they strictly keep to this distinction. If you say "Bom dia" after 2 pm, they look at you very strangely. Evening greeting is "Boa noite" (= "Good night"), but they use it only after dark, i.e. a bit later than afore mentioned languages. And yes, it is a greeting :) This one is the hardest to get used to, I feel like I am sending the people to sleep already. Generally, all the portuguese greetings from the picture above can also be used when saying goodbye.

Why the difference? Well, the Portuguese do have it a bit shifted. They get up a bit later and also the best time to go out on Friday is 11 pm. That is the time of leaving for a pub, not of the subsequent way to a club. Another example: The Portuguese word for lunch is "almoço" and the breakfast does not even have a proper name of its own, it is just "pequeno almoço". On the other hand, they have a special word for late dinner.

Blue: Greewich Time, Red: Central European Time

Spain is also famous for its shifted biorythm. But there it has more reasons. Except for the heat during the noon, it is also their "wrong" time zone. Spain uses the central-european time, even though it lies way more to the west. Franco wanted to please Hitler and that is why the sun sets quite soon in Spain. Portugal is more realistic when it comes to timezones. I just need to get used to "Boa noite".

Any thoughts on this? Leave a comment.

Three Trips and One Jump

At first I though the autumn belongs to one of the things that have been cancelled here because of the crisis, but now I am slowly getting used to the fact that it will come later. In the meantime, I am enjoying 25 °C in October. Not complaining, just bragging.

There are four events I would like to talk about. Of course, they are all connected to the very special community: couchsurfing.com

Trip to Drave: The Abandoned Village

My first trip with a bunch of couchsurfers. The Portuguese have an interesting habbit of building a house and then abandoning it, so we went for an entirely abandoned village in the mountains, with the name Drave. This one had a good reason to be abandoned: Unless you have transport beam available, it is unusually hard to get there. To give you an example: The telephone came there in 1993.

We left the cars several kilometers away in the neighbouring village and hiked through the mountains to get there. After we were satisfied with the number of pictures that we had taken, we went for a small bath in the ponds around. Cool!

A cork oaktree after the harvest

The village where we left the cars

Drave, the abandoned village 

My shadow jumping in the water

Nature around Drave

Trip to the Vineyards at the River Douro

If you like Porto Wine, you would have loved the trip up the river Douro to the Quintas—vineyards, where this delicious wine is made. We went most of the way by a packed train that looked more like subway. A boat took us then directly to the vineyards. The rocky soil of the hills around Douro together with the abundance of the sunlight and scarcity of rainfall forces the vineplants to try hard to reach the water and to grow long roots. This gives the grapes such high content of sugar. So we walked among the plants, tasted some wine and on the way back we even ha time for some barbecue—sardines on a grill.

Marketing is important

The view from our quinta

Cheers!

Trip to the National Park Peneda-Gerês

This one was a true hike. The park lies on the northern border with Spain. There was a beautiful waterfall with a refreshing (a diplomatic way of saying freezing) water. And so we did not come up with a better idea than to swim in it :)

On the way back, we made a short trip to Spain for hot springs. Paulo, the leader of our expedition had a plan to spit on the Spanish side (you know, the Portuguese-Spanish brother rivalry). But then, we were in Galicia which is something like Spanish part of Portugal (or a Portuguese part of Spain?), so he left the spitting for another time and place. The warm water made my feet feel happy and me sleepy.

This water was actually warm,
you can tell by the happy faces

The Jump

https://vimeo.com/75728260 ;)