Portugal

Visited: July 1992, October 2021

Duration of visit: 13 days

Capital city: Lisbon

Population: 10.3 million (2021)

Estimated reading time: 11 minutes

• Lisbon – monuments, gastronomy, history, spectacular sunset views and tasting delicious pastel de nata on Rua Augusta sweet shops.
• An important pilgrimage center for the Catholic faith in Fatima.
• Coimbra – the city of students famous for one of the best Universities in Europe.
• Sunset cruising around water channels on a moliceiro boat in Aveiro.
• Porto – view from Mosteiro da Serra do Pilar, watching surfers in the ocean and exploring Bolsa Palace.
• Spectacular views over Douro Wine Region Valley.
• Tasting delicious Portuguese food: bacalao in all forms and tastes: from starters, main dish and desert.

Portugal is one of the oldest countries in Europe, with its borders practically unchanged since 1297. What used to be a colonial power, conquering overseas territories in America, Africa and Asia, is now a country of innovation, delicious food based on fresh seafood and tasty pastry, that welcomes millions of visitors every year.

Pilgrims, surfers, backpackers, culinary lovers, start-up entrepreneurs and mild climate lovers have turned around the direction of Portuguese explorers, who used to conquer the world sailing the sea, to visitors who travel around the country all-year around.

I visited the main city of Lisbon, Porto and Coimbra in 1992, as a part of Western European trip by Interrail. My memories of that times are not recorded in a dairy, nor digital format. It was only a quick stop that couldn’t be compared with experience of Olympic Barcelona or splendor of Paris at my first real trip to Western Europe.

Especially the city of Porto at that time had nothing to do with a charm of the old town, impressive bridges and nice beach, full of surfers that I perceived in 2021.

Therefore, my fresh impressions from 2021, when I travelled around the country with my family are much more representative of how I experienced Portugal.

On the morning of All-Saint’s Day, November 1, 1755, one of the deadliest earthquakes in history struck Lisbon. The Great Lisbon Earthquake almost completely destroyed the city and adjoining areas. This natural disaster then set off a series of deadly fires and a tsunami.

The death toll was estimated to between 12,000 and 50,000 people. Lisbon’s population at the time was of approximately 200,000 people, making it one of the deadliest earthquakes in history.

Lisbon could easily be a destination for a week, if I wanted to get a closer look at all monuments, historical sights, parks, wide urban areas and local culture. Lisbon only became the capital of Portugal in 19^th century, after Guimares and Coimbra.

These days Lisbon is a hilly, coastal capital, that inspired me with its historic landmarks from imposing Sao Jorge Castle, old city’s tiles facades and quaint yellow trams to more recent monuments Cristo Rey or Padrão dos Descobrimentos, celebrating the Portuguese era of discovery during the 15^th and 16^th centuries.

Wonderful sunsets at the beginning of mild winter, when the temperature was still hitting 25°C marked every day of my stay in the city.

A ride on a tram number 28 is supposed to be one of the highlights, taking passenger from Martin Moniz, passing through the popular historical districts on winding rails. Narrow streets, steep gradients and numerous tight turns make the route impossible to navigate on modern trams. For this reason, tram number 28 is not only a tourist attraction, but it is also part of a city transport network, used by locals that live in the areas close to the route.

It was a great experience observing Basilica da Estrella, different plazas, churches, Castle Sao George and many interesting old buildings covered with colorful tiles. Tram 28 is famous for pickpockets, so the best way to avoid any problems is boarding at the first stop Martim Moniz, getting a good seat and being careful with your belongings. However, during the ride, I didn’t have any bad experiences.

Padrão dos Descobrimentos (The Monument to the Discoveries) was first erected as a temporary monument in World Exhibition in 1940, and later reconstructed in 1960 to mark 500 years since the death of the Infante Dom Henrique (Henry the Navigator). Its unique location on the edge of breakwater on the bank of the Tagus river, evokes the Portuguese overseas expansion, recalls the country’s glorious past and symbolizes vast performance of Portuguese conquistadores, while exploring new territories around the World.

52-meters high monuments sounded with statues of Portuguese great explorers, dominating the shorelines of Belem, shines in splendor at its best late in the afternoon, when also a wonderful view to bridge Ponte 25 de Abril opens. Wonderful sunset was finished at yet other landmarks of the city – Belem tower – built as military fortification, used as a political prison and these days a perfect spot for sunset photos.

One of the highlights of Lisbon and all Portugal is famous pastéis da nata, loved by locals and tourists for their flaky crust and creamy, sweet egg filling. I tried it at many different locations and it always tasted the same: delicious. They are made all over the country and found in nearly every pastry shop, however officially only 3 people in the world know the original recipe: the same one that is sold in Belém at Pasteis de Belém.

The most famous dish of Portuguese cuisine is bacalao – cod fish. Bacalao fish is usually dried and bathed in salt before stored at natural conditions.

It is no wonder why the best method for soaking bacalao is to submerge it in cold water in the refrigerator for up to three days. From there on there are many different recipes and forms for bacalao dishes. I tasted some of the best: pastel de bacalao (patanicas de bacalhau), fried bacalao, bacalao at horno, bacalao guizado and bacalao a la Vizcaina.

La Casa Portuguesa do pastel de bacalhau, founded in 1904, is arguably the best place where you can enjoy eating its famous bacalhau cakes. These fritters have the peculiarity of being additionally filled with a creamy cheese. The restaurant walls contain paintings by well-known Portuguese artists and I was able to follow the process of making the cheese-filled cod cake live.

After visiting Medjugorje in Bosnia and Hercegovina earlier in 2021 it was logical to make a stop in Fatima – an important pilgrimage center for the Catholic faith.

It all started in religious visions which took place here in 1917. Local children Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta experienced six monthly visions of Our Lady, during which three secrets of mankind were revealed to them.

They were considered to be prophesies regarding the Second World War, the rise and fall of communism and the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II. The final apparition was accompanied by a miracle witnessed by 70,000 people involving strange light emanating from a dancing sun.

A massive religious complex was constructed later. Millions of pilgrims from all over the World visit Fatima every year, however during my visit in early November I had the place pretty much for myself. Capelinha das Aparicioes is now surrounded by a huge plaza that can host over 100.000 pilgrims, Basilica de Nossa Senhora do Rosario and underground praying centers.

The whole city is dedicated to the pilgrims; numerous gift shops, candle industry and specific name of the hotels. Peaceful and reflective atmosphere with devout pilgrims attending church services at the chapel or crawling on their knees make Fatima a soothing experience in today’s fast-paced world.

Porto is Portugal second biggest city and in my memories from the early 1990s a dump, with many bridges. I am really glad that I visited it again in 2021, because it is a wonderful place with good atmosphere, located next to the Atlantic Ocean.

Apart from churches and cathedral, the only museum or palace that I visited was The Palácio da Bolsa (Stock Exchange Palace). The building was constructed in a neoclassical style in the mid-nineteenth century. Large central courtyard with detailed mosaic decoration on the ground, marble and granite staircase, Golden Room, covered with gold-leaf, and some other splendid rooms that lead to the Palace’s highlight – the Arab Room.

This room is decorated in Moorish style, inspired by the Alhambra in Spain and these days used as a concert hall and ballroom for official receptions of foreign royalties or political chiefs. It is interesting that half of the palace is stull in use today and there is a restaurant in the ground floor.

Cais da Ribeira is a lively riverfront promenade along the Douro river, where beautiful views to Ponte Luis I bridge opens. Neatly stacked pastel-colored houses facing the water are in good shape, while overpriced, touristy restaurants with nice terraces are comfortable to observe the coastline, architecture and bridges over Douro river.

These days the bridge is closed for traffic and you can walk to the other side and climb up to Mosteiro da Serra do Pilar, where the best viewpoint over Porto opens in front of you.

One of the most memorable moments in Porto was unexpected atmosphere on Matosinhos beach. We actually reached it by coincidence. The original goal was to visit Yellowood store, specialized in the manufacture of fingerboards. Innovative technologies, creative designs, personalized products and high quality are a guarantee for the best fingerboards in the world.

The store was closed, but we heard some noises inside and people working. After knocking on the door and shouting, the owner let us in and showed us around the place that still reminds more on a workshop than serious manufacturing facilities. My son was in paradise, also showing some tricks to the team in a fingerboard skatepark at the courtyard.

When asked about the nearby beach, we were directed to a beautiful sandy beach. Matosinhos beach was busy even in the beginning of November, when the sea temperatures are not suitable for swimming any more. I counted over a hundred surfers, most of them walking from nearby residential apartment building.

Exposed to the mighty Atlantic Ocean, the waters on the shores are calm, but huge waves for surfing are not far.

Walking along the promenade, surrounded with bars, cafes and restaurants was really cool. It must be a lively and vibrant atmosphere in the summer.

Classified as a World Heritage Site, Alto Douro has several viewpoints with breathtaking panoramic view over the valley, river, canyons, vineyard terraces carved or built into steep mountains. The landscape consists of terraced vineyards on large and small estates, white-walled villages, olive and almond crops; all set on the banks of the river Douro.

It was windy and cloudy, but as long as the view could reach, I observed the vineyards. Due to a hot, dry micro climate and rocky soil the growing conditions for grapes are ideal. A large number of mostly Portuguese grape varieties are grown in the Douro region. The area is very hilly, quite steep at many points. It must be hard work to access these terraces at any time of the year and it seems that most of local population is somehow involved in wine production.

More than 2,000 years of winemaking have shaped the land into a terraced countryside, that is almost fully covered with wine tress.

The Douro landscape reflects its ancient and deep connection with the wine culture, creating an amazing picture of man and nature working side by side in search of the perfect wine. Thea area is beautiful also in November, but the best time to visit Alto Douro region could be in September – October period, when the leaves change their color to yellow-reddish and brown.

Portugal is the biggest cork producer in the world and produces more than 50% of the world’s cork supply.

The cork tree is one of the few native trees still found in Portugal. I visited cork plantation in the area of Evora. It is easy to sport cork trees along the road, sometimes planted spontaneously far from each other, while new plantations are better planed in a line on a certain distance.

During a tour in Cortiçarte I got a chance to see the cork production and learn more about this important part of Portuguese economy.

It takes 25 years from planting a cork oak tree until the tree is ready for its first harvest. It actually takes 43 years from planting, before the tree produces cork that’s of a high enough quality to be used as corks.

The trees aren’t cut down or damaged when the cork is harvested. They can be harvested every 9 years for the lifetime of the tree (roughly 270 to 300 years). After they have removed the cork from the tree, the cork is left out for several months to dry in the sun. The next step is to boil it for one hour and pressed to make it flatter.

The vast majority of cork is made into wine bottle stoppers, but more and more cork is being sold to the construction and fashion industries.

The cork tree flourishes in Portugal because of the even rainfall, short dry periods, mild winters and days of sunshine the country is blessed with, which provide ideal conditions for these trees. Portugal has the worlds’ largest cork forest and it is actually illegal to cut down a cork oak tree without the government’s consent.

One of the oldest countries in Europe has offered me plenty of historical landmarks, great food and inspiration on my expedition around the world. Portuguese explorer, Ferdinand Magellan, was supposed to have led the first expedition to circumnavigate the globe.

Travelling around Portugal by car gave me a wider picture of the country in 2021. Beside big cities of Porto and Lisbon, I enjoyed the countryside and many areas I couldn´t reach in 1991.

The country has progressed a lot and with so many unique features will keep gaining in popularity: from cork to wine, football stars to surfing opportunities, focus on renewable energy and new technologies.

I could come back to Portugal only to taste delicious pastel de nata and bacalao in any form.