Morning! After we visited Northern Spain and went to Santiago de Compostela, we kept driving South to Portugal and followed this itinerary:
The first stop was Porto, the second town of the country, it was bright and sunny and we had a great lunch of pork roasted in a wooden stove with green wine, that is a young bubbly wine that as far as I know only Portuguese make, and I really like it. Porto has a beautiful historical center built on several hills overlooking the river, and by the riverside lots of small shops and restaurants. It was back to college week and lots of college students were going through hazing trying to involve the tourists in some games or magic tricks.
We spent the night in the college town of Coimbra, that is home to one of the oldest universities in Europe. It is a steep walk up hill to the old university buildings but we didn’t dare ride the bike through the narrow medieval streets.
We had a nice hotel on a lively square where they played live music at night. I had an early morning run among drunk students and empty cans of beers up the hill to the University, and got lost on the way back, while the heavy rain refreshed me and made me think about the road ahead, it is not fun to ride a bike under the rain.
Our hotel choice was not so good in Lisboa, where we ended in a pretty depressing family guest house, but it forced us to spend as much time outside as possible and we really enjoyed the city, from the panoramic views of St George castle over the Tage river to the neo classical center of town rebuilt after a big earthquake, the small fish eateries, the river walks… everything was perfect.
We took one of the longest bridges in Europe to continue South to the region of Algarve, home to beautiful cliffs and beaches nestled in between. That was the perfect setting for a run, this time with the sun,
and after having a disappointing lunch in a tourist trap, we ended in a local restaurant at night and were able to truly taste the cuisine, among which a fabulous octopus salad and grilled meat. The normal entrée in Portugal is good enough for two, but we were used to tourist portions and it was hard to leave an empty plate at that place.
Before we got to Spain, we spent the day visiting several lovely villages in the region, although Faro was not worth all the fuss in our humble opinion and we exited quickly. We found an aparthotel in a depressing little town near the border called Monte Gordo, which was long deserted by the summer tourists, so just empty streets and closed restaurants, but we were a block from the beach and the hotel was really good. You can score fabulous deals if you go off season, and at the beginning of October the weather is still great for exploring around, for example we got a couple of 25 euros hotels with breakfast included, one even had a swimming pool.
We enjoyed Portugal as it was really authentic, like the North of Spain, it is mostly a rural country and the countryside is beautiful. You can travel on a budget, and still be comfortable. BF couldn’t believe it when I bought a pound of pears at the market for $0.4. The fruits and vegetable are cheap and delicious, with a piece of ham, some cheese and a loaf of bread, you are set for a great picnic. On the bike we didn’t carry much food and generally ate a “menu del dia” or meal of the day at a restaurant, thanks to the copious portions, only a snack was needed for dinner, or we would go for ice cream.
So far, we had been on a 100 euros ($130) a day budget for the two of us, in Portugal it may have been slightly less, although the toll roads were expensive, and so was gas for some reason. Maybe it is the state’s way of getting more money they don’t get via income tax. We didn’t feel the crisis too much, Portugal is one of the looked-down PIGS (Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain) that are accused of slowing down the European Union, on the contrary, what we saw was a country full of hard working people, who may be earning less but are more resourceful, and pretty self sufficient.
That’s it! Next, we cross the Spanish border again, off to Sevilla and the ferry boat to Morocco.
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Portugal looks like an absolutely beautiful place to visit! Definitely on my “to visit” list.
Wow, that looks like a gorgeous trip. Thanks for the journal!
Wow, Portugal looks beautiful. I’ve always pictured myself really liking Portugal. I’ve never heard of green wine, it sounds like the flavors would be really crisp. Definitely on my must see list!
Thanks for the beautiful pics Pauline! I’ve always wanted to visit Portugal, even more so than Spain, as I’ve always heard wonderful things about it. I guess I’ll just have to live vicariously through your pictures for now. 😉
What an adventure. A scooter version of this trip is now on our list…I want to see Europe this way.
Thanks so much for the inspiration.
I love these updates, Pauline. I feel like I’m with you. The pictures are so gorgeous. I love the architecture. We only got to explore Barcelona during on cruise last summer and I definitely want to revisit Spain and have a chance to do more exploring.
You guys have made it far! The pictures are really beautiful. I love the one of you on the bike in front of whatever that plaza is. Very cool.
I hope there is a status of limitation because we were illegally parked to take it and may have taken a one way street as the pedestrian maze was never sending us were we wanted 🙂
I’m definitely envious! Portugal and Spain are both on my list of places to travel to some day. Enjoy!!
Thanks Dee!
Pauline, thank you for continuing to share. Who knew you would be encouraged to haze university students and run with drunks? Too funny. The meals sound amazing, and I love how you’re able to also find great deals on fruits, veggies, etc. even on the road. Truly a beautiful trip.
Thank you Tammy, it has been a really fun ride so far.
Beautiful pictures again! Portugal is another place I haven’t been and would love to visit.
Pauline the trip looks amazing. Thanks for sharing your journey here! I love your picnic suggestion.. so simple and so good. especially fresh bread and cheese. Too bad it is too cold here for picnics!
Awesome! Those are some pretty pictures. I will also have to live vicariously through you until I’m ready to embark on my own adventures in 2015!
I have a keen interest in that green wine. From young grapes, is it? Neato. May the remainder of your journey go as well as it has so far, Pauline! Thanks for sharing.
Yes, young grapes, and you have to drink it within a year of bottling. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinho_Verde thank you for the good wishes!
I am getting wanderlust reading your travel tales Pauline! Sounds fab – can’t wait for the Morocco part – a few years ago I travelled through Spain then got the boat to Morocco and travelled on down to the desert. Such strong memories still of arriving off the boat in Tangiers and stepping into another world. Best of luck with it all, x
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