Portugal Pops the Cork

We’ve had buses stop to get gas a few times, randomly stop for cigarette/bathroom breaks or to drop off or pick up someone in the middle of nowhere, but our trip out of Santiago de Compostela to Porto had a first - a stop for the bus to get an automated bus wash while we sat in the bus, waiting.  

The  upside and downside of traveling is obviously the unknown. You get to experience the surprise bus wash, but everyday is a crap shoot.  Simple actions usually done without consideration can turn into a hurdle.  Making the mistake of drinking lots of tea in the morning then going on our usual walking tour of the area can be painful when you can’t find a restroom.  (The joys of owning a 1958 model bladder.)

We usually don't know the language, how to get around, what’s safe to eat, when we can do laundry or how our lodging will be.   We have to blindly book, days to weeks in advance.  We have learned that the pictures online aren’t always representative of the area or the quality of the apartment.  

Bookings.com listings have a number of "bait and switch" listings (more so then Air B&B or Hotels.com).  In Porto, we had our third experience (the first two in Cyprus). We met our host at the apartment we chose on a very picturesque street across from a Bingo hall only to be driven to a a street across from a highway over-pass.  The apartment was not bad except that the shower flooded the entire tiny apartment each time you showered (cork pipes? yes, the apartment was that small), requiring a 10:30 pm visit from a plumber. While this did not need to color our time in Porto, it did.  Since  in our present homeless state, where we stay is our "home"  so our lodging seems to have a greater influence perhaps then it should (especially for Patricia).

But we did recover and walked out to where the Douro river meets the Atlantic, wandering through big squares bordered by grand buildings, large parks with wild chickens and splendid tile buildings.  

Walking through any Portuguese town feels like entering a magnificent tile showroom. Many of the old tile houses are  being re-tiled with subway tiles.

Amazing tile inside some of the buildings as well, this is one of the train stations.

We ended our walk with  our first Portuguese meal; legendary sardines, sautéed mushrooms and black risotto with squid which we finished before the ink dried.

One thing we have noticed everywhere we have gone, is the themed souvenir.  In Santiago de Compostela, it was a seashell everything since the shell is the symbol of the Camino.  Ireland has it's sheep and Guinness, Cyprus had Aphrodite and Portugal has everything made of cork

and ... Sardines.

On to Lisbon we were finally able to complete our quest to finish the Game Of Thrones final season.  Our viewing sites covered most of the Westeros Hemisphere, as we watched the first episode in Portland, the second in New York, the third (amazon prime online) and forth in Saarbrucken, and finally the last two on itunes in Lisbon staying up until 2 am to finish.  The most memorable viewing was number 4 as we watched it on the University of Saarland campus in the computer science department with 15-20 computer science international students/fans.  We thoroughly enjoyed that the feed kept needing computer attention and that no one interacted with each other. 

This time we took another risk on our accommodations in Lisbon, no reviews, we were the first guests and although the front did not look promising, it was one of the nicest we had stayed in. A day and a half of a broken refrigerator (thermostat) requiring yet another repairman visit did not diminish our enthusiasm and it got points for good internet to finish GOT.

 

Lisbon looked like San Francisco but with Los Angeles's foliage. There is almost an exact replica of the Golden Gate Bridge (actually built by the company that constructed  the Oakland Bay Bridge-so even they liked GG Bridge better than their own) spanning the Tagus river just before it empties into the Atlantic Ocean.

There were cable cars and a MUNI like tram line (probably also locally hated).   Lisbon also has steep hills and we traversed every hill without seemingly the corresponding downhill.  Lisbon however (sorry BART) had an excellent, clean, easy-to-use (even for non-native speakers), and very extensive subway system.  

In Lisbon, the city felt vibrant just like San Francisco. We started to see the summer tourist season crowds form, but it was worth it, plus the neighborhood we stayed in was just outside of the tourist area. While at some level it is convenient to stay in the thick of things, but that can limit how you experience the city. If you have to get somewhere, you have to walk through somewhere.  Walking different routes to see the sites led us past  big, glorious buildings around open squares, side streets  lined with buildings ranging from shabby chic (a generous description sometimes) to breath-taking beauties.  Buildings from almost every century, within blocks of each other.

We marveled at Lisbon's sidewalks, along busy streets and serene urban pathways.

and continued viewing of spectacular tile.

We wandered through very distinct neighborhoods

Called the Brooklyn of Lisboa

    

In the Alfama section, old women selling cherry liqueur shots for 1 Euro just like a lemonade stand (disclosure, took pic from internet, did not want to ask an old lady if we could take her picture). 

and found the square in our neighborhood where we stumbled on a poetry reading followed by first an elderly couple dancing, who were joined by others in the audience and then joined by a bunch of graduates dancing in their graduation gowns.

Ubiquitous old men at tables in the park

Dancing after poetry reading

A poem we were given

Usually, we find, that a lot of the standard tourist attractions are over-hyped which often leaves us underwhelmed after visiting but not so in Lisbon. The tourist attractions were actually attractions. Tomb of Vasco de Gamma! Monasteries! Churches! Museums!

                                                                                

If Lisbon was not special enough, so were the surrounding areas. We first went to Sintra, a town with medieval ruins and 19th century vacation estates and palaces built by the Royals, each with their own hunting grounds and gardens.   It really felt like a magical place.

We also went to nearby Cascais, a touristy beach town but with a very dramatic shoreline.

This week's photo of  topless old man looking out window contemplating his life ..."Damn, the pavement is always grayer on the other side of the fence."