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.
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