People
I like to think I’ve learned some European practices and courtesies
that smooth my way during foreign travels, but I’m clear that nobody is
mistaking me for anything but an American tourist. I just try to avoid the ‘ugly’
part.
Most of my experiences with the people of Portugal were curated by the tour company’s arrangements as well as filtered through our guides.Yet I was on my own for a few days in Lisbon where I appreciated everyone’s courteous and pleasant demeanor and their patience with English speakers.*
Having written previously about the eager-to-help
Irish, the resigned-to-help Italians, and the no, that’s not possible
French, I’d place my limited interactions with the Portuguese somewhere
close to the Irish. It’s got to be tiresome to live in a city so thoroughly infiltrated
by tourists but from what I experienced, the Portuguese are bearing up well.
* Just about everyone I interacted
with spoke fluent English – one of our guides told me that English is mandatory
in school from 5th grade on and parents can elect to start their
children in English even earlier.
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It's hard to overstate the abundance and variety of wildflowers we rode and hiked through. It was amazing and my photos don't do them justice. Most of them were familiar to me, but one surprise is that rock rose grows wild all over the place and there were acres and acres of blooming white rock rose alongside the highways.
back to the same nests year after year.
Prices
I was pleasantly surprised by low costs, even in Lisbon. A glass
of nice wine in my four-star hotel restaurant cost 5 Euro and, these days,
would have cost $12 -$15 in an equivalent American setting. One night I had a
very nice meal of fresh salads and mushrooms and lean-cut meat with wine for
something like 12 Euro.
Food
During the tours, most of our meals were included and
orchestrated by our guides. They made sure we were served many traditional
dishes including octopus salad, bacalhau
(salted cod in many forms), porto
preto (black pig), arroz
de pato (duck rice, often topped with chorizo), bochechas
de porco (pork cheeks which, I know --- ewww, but they were delicious), chanfana
(goat stew), and the famous pastel de nata (custard tart). After a few glasses
of wine, I also sampled beef tartar (a tiny portion) and another time,
carpaccio (not so tiny). Tempura’d green beans has become a popular appetizer,
so we had that often alongside bread, olives, and olive oil. Breakfasts were
had at our various hotels and featured the typical enormous buffet spreads which
include scrambled eggs, mushrooms, deli meats, cheeses, fruit, pastries, Nutella,
juices, and coffee.
Overall
When Americans visit Portugal, my sense is that they stay
mostly near the coast: Lisbon, Sintra, Porto,
The Fisherman’s hiking
trail (which looks awesome). I missed some of that experience which is all
the more reason to go back. But I’m
grateful for the experience I had. Both of these tours took us inland to remote
areas, through barely inhabited tiny
towns, past marble quarries and majestic mountainous terrain, through countless
castles, and on hiking paths partly defined by ancient Roman roads. We rarely
saw other tourists and it was a treat to have these areas mainly to
ourselves. I compliment both Trek Travel
and MT Sobek for devising routes that gave us a broader view of Portugal’s
variety.
A few final photos:
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| Our biking group |
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| Our biking group soaking wet! |
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| Riding through a cork forest in the rain |
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| Happiness |
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| Typical hiking view |
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| One of many hiking trails |
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| Pedro, one of our hiking guides |
