Portugal, a Hidden Gem

For some reason Portugal is not on may people's bucket lists of places to visit, and I can't see why after spending some time there. It is easily one of the most charming places I have ever visited, with wonderful people and beautiful sights at great prices there are few places I have enjoyed more.

My mom and I took a bus from Santiago into Portugal and stayed at a beach resort in Figueira da Foz on Portugal's northern coast. Getting into town we took a cab to the resort and had the most amazing cab driver I have ever met. As he drove us through town he gave us a mini history lesson of the town and was full of great suggestions. He gave us his card and ended up being our pseudo chauffeur for the week. My mom even left her cell phone in the cab at one point and he was so nice when he brought it back. Everyone we met was so nice and really did their best to be helpful, so amazing when Portuguese is not even remotely something you understand.

Although the beach there was cold, it was really beautiful and it was nice to get away from cities for a little while. The sand was strangely coarse compared to any other beach I've ever been too, and it was full of the most perfect shells I have ever seen. The rocks on the beach were odd, they went straight out into the ocean like little fingers, I've never seen anything like it before.

All of the places I saw in Portugal had a very distinctive charm that I haven't experienced anywhere else. Everything seems oddly run down, but in a beautiful way. Most of the time when I see empty buildings in disrepair it seems depressing, but in Portugal even the most dilapidated houses and parks give you this feeling of being well worn and well loved. It almost felt like everyone living there was too busy enjoying life to care what the outside of a building looked like, which is very refreshing. Plus the Portuguese style was evident every where. The tiled building façades and cobbled sidewalks were evident in smaller places like Figueira and big cities like Lisbon, I love how the whole country really embraces the same look. If you find yourself in Portugal take some time to admire the beautiful tile work and the interesting designs on many of the sidewalks, they add so much character and charm it is ridiculous.

At the beach my mom and I mostly just took time to relax and really vacation- walking on the beach, eating some good food, and letting our blisters heal. It was nice to just stay in one spot for a while and not have to worry about switching hostels or booking train tickets. From the beach we headed to Lisbon because I thought it would be a shame to go to Portugal and not see one of the big cities, and it was not disappointing. Lisbon is by far my favorite city in Europe so far. Along with the enchanting atmosphere I already described, the people in Lisbon really took my heart. Everyone just seemed so happy that we were there, and they made a point of expressing it. Walking down one of the more touristy restaurant streets every single café had a person out front trying to lure in customers, which I would normally find annoying, but each person was so earnest and had their own creative story that it was actually really amusing. Waiters would shake your hand when you left a restaurant, people on the street called us darling, overall it was just an incredibly welcoming city. I felt like I was home while I was there.

Since we were short on time, we were only spending two nights in Lisbon, my mom and I decided to try one of the hop-on hop-off bus tours in the city and unfortunately it was kind of a bust. Although we did get to pass by a lot of cool sites, we didn't end up getting to visit many of them and spent most of our first day waiting around for a trolley that never came. The second day we were determined to take the trolley and did do some more waiting, but it was worth it in the end. The ride around town was lovely and when we got off we saw the most amazing view of the city with the ocean in the background. Personally I live for a view like that, and as we worked our way back into the city center there were more pretty views and charming little streets than I could have dreamed of.

Lisbon was so amazing, I hope someday I find myself back there.

The El Camino de Santiago de Compostela

The El Camino is a series pilgrimage routes in Europe that people have been walking for centuries, and after completing the last leg of the trail into Santiago, Spain, I can definitely see why. There is nothing like walking for 5 days carrying all of your belongings to help you see what is important in life and realize what you are truly capable of accomplishing. After doing the last 115km of the trail I know I will be back to do all 800km one day.

My mom and I started the trek in Sarria, Spain, and fought through insane blisters and sore bodies to make it to the end. I am not going to lie and say it was easy, I definitely had a moment or two where I questioned why any sane person would do this to themselves, but there is no way to describe when you put your bags down and walk into the Cathedral de Santiago and see that beautiful place for the first time.

Each day we walked about 20- 25km and enjoyed the hospitality of many locals at different cafés and hostels. The locals along the El Camino are so wonderful, although sometimes communication was hard, they really seemed to appreciate all of the pilgrims and welcomed us with open arms. On the second, and my roughest, day we stayed at a hostel with one of the nicest owners in the world. We sat down for dinner and he made sure we never ran out of wine ( which was included in the price of the meal!) and he was deeply concerned when I couldn't finish the gigantic 3 course meal we were served. He kept offering to change out my food for anything else on the menu. This is a common theme, if I didn't finish my food somewhere there would be a lot of concern that I didn't like the food and a complicated conversation explaining that I was just full. Sometimes a little annoying but always endearing.

In another town we ate dinner at a deserted hostel with the most wonderful owner, who was also concerned I did not finish my entire meal, and who was an avid world traveler. He decide to open a hostel after he fell in love with the Camino, but before that he travel all over Spain taking amazing photographs. He showed us his photography and his camera collection- one of the most amazing collections I have ever seen. It took up an entire room and there was every type of camera imaginable, the tiny spy cameras he had were my favorite. On our second to last day we stopped for lunch at a small bar with two of the most amazing ladies I've ever met. On the trail your lunches generally consist of simple bocadillos, Spanish sandwiches, that get old after a while- but these ladies made us the most delicious bocadillo and greeted us so amazingly. Right after ordering they brought out some homemade liquor, which we do not know to this day what it was, and poured us shots. They loved my mom immediately and kept offering us shots- we had to leave pretty quickly or we may never have left. Seriously, the people you meet on the trail are some of the most wonderful people in the world.

We walked through so many amazing little villages and towns, which was a great change of pace from constantly being in cities for the last couple months, and for the most part the scenery was amazing. You do walk along the freeway quite a few times on the trail, but somehow that does not hinder the experience. One of the coolest things is that the whole trail is marked by scallop shell emblems and yellow arrows, I got so used to following those arrows I can barely function without them anymore. Not needing to use maps or pre-book accommodations was amazingly freeing, all you had to worry about each day was walking, and possibly filling your water bottle.

Walking all day every day also requires a lot of breaks, and it was always nice to sit down in a café along the route and meet all of the other people also doing the pilgrimage. The people you meet on this trek are really interesting, you will see people of all ages from all over the world going through the same struggles and sharing their personal stories. Once you get into a rhythm you find yourself running into the same groups of people every so often and you really do form a bond with them. We had a huge group of school kids who would pass us every morning, a lovely trio from Australia who we would meet over and over, and this one wonderful old lady who somehow managed to keep pace and keep going every day. It was such a cool moment when we went to the pilgrim mass at the cathedral in Santiago and looked around to see all of the people we had seen for days on the trail.

 

The mass they do for the pilgrims at the cathedral in Santiago is something you need to experience to truly understand. They do a special blessing for all of the pilgrims, offer communion, and end by burning incense in a giant botafumeiro which they swing back and forth in front of the altar. The cathedral is famous for this ceremony and they only do it for the pilgrim mass, which I think is really special. If you do the pilgrimage or find yourself in Santiago, try and see the pilgrim mass because it really is spectacular.

I do have to say, the last day on the trail when you enter into Santiago is a little anti-climactic. Early on we passed a post signaling we were entering Santiago which was very exciting, come to realize we still had to walk past the airport and through downtown to get to the historic town center. Even then, on the most boring parts of the trail, you see little monuments and markings left by other pilgrims that gives you this sense of unity. That last few kilometers were some of the hardest from the whole trip, but when we got into town we stumbled upon an amazing hotel that will probably always feel like the most luxurious place I have ever been. After sleeping in hostels with paper sheets and using duct tape to protect the blisters on our feet, having two pillows and being able to sleep as long as we wanted was the greatest thing in the entire world.

In Santiago we got our certificates for completing the pilgrimage, which was incredibly exciting and I am going to frame mine when I get home, and admired the beauty of the cathedral and the city. From there the hotel helped us make our way into Portugal and we have been relaxing in Figueroa da Foz ever since. Here are a few more shots from around Santiago.