Wednesday, September 14, 2011

FOND FAREWELL...





Lisbon


Cabo Espichel
Jeronimos
Obidos
Peniche
I'll just keep posting pictures of Portugal here forever shall I? OK, good. No, these will probably be the  last, though I'm sure I could keep going for another 5 posts or so. The Portuguese don't seem to be given to shameless self-promotion, so I'll do it for them. I would like to return to Portugal asap and I encourage everyone to go to Lisbon who hasn't been.  Things I remember fondly are: the food - bolinhos de bacalhau (salted cod fishcakes), allll the different little cakes and pastries, the wine, the cheese - who knew Portugal has amazing cheese? Export that cheese, people! Being able to go out to a reasonably fancy restaurant for a good meal with wine and dessert, without getting indigestion from fear of the bill was... refreshing! I loved the dignity and faded grandeur of Lisbon, the Fado music wafting out of windows and down steep wobbly streets. We had a pitstop in Peniche to walk along the beach, watching the surfers. Driving through the countryside every last piece of land was carefully cultivated farmland, on the way to Obidos where we drank ginja (much nicer than in Lisbon where it tasted like out of date Benylin). Having dinner at the brass band HQ in Tomar, our charming B&B there which cost us €16 each including a beautiful home made breakfast. (There was some kind of lemon fromage frais type thing that I wish I'd at least asked for the name of, so I might have had a chance of ever having it again.) Also in Tomar, the sleek art deco Cafe Paraiso and visiting the Convent of the Order of Christ, which is a World Heritage site and I think it costs €3.50 to visit - the souvenir hawkers outside were two ladies selling beautifully displayed fresh fruit and bunches of herbs by the exit.

Portugal, don't you ever change (well, maybe put your prices up a bit for visitors and export more of your bounteous goods.)


16 comments:

Anonymous said...

i considered portugal for my august holiday and now i wish i had done it! fantastic photos, claire -- and your descriptions of the things you enjoyed are incredible.

Anonymous said...

speaking of bounteous goods, at the airport gate in Porto, managed to grab a bottle of Ginja de Obidos,which is already half finished. Yum.
xo
Mia

P R I M O E Z A said...

i need to go somewhere like this soon. i can smell the air from your images.

Claire said...

Brian - thanks! You'd love it there I'm sure. I happened to see that it was 31 degrees celsius in Lisbon yesterday - you still have time to experience sunshine in Europe!

Mia - save me a drop! I'll bring my own chocolate cup...xx

Primoeza - It was very inspiring, and very different to anywhere else in Europe, which surprised me as I assumed it would be *kind of like Spain*!

BB said...

fantastic, sounds just perfect... xo bb

Hila said...

just soaking in the words and images here and thinking that maybe you should post about portugal forever - where's the harm?

p.s. if you can feel something when reading my comment, that's probably just me dripping with envy :)

SmitoniusAndSonata said...

Go again soon ... we're all eager to see more.
Meanwhile , do show the rest of your photos . We're obviously not ready to say goodbye yet !

Cheryl said...

so amazing!

Inddu said...

wow....beautiful!

gracia said...

Portugal! Portugal! My first real overseas jaunt many many years ago was to Portugal. I knew only of its cork trees, painted tiles and Fado. It was enough to sway me.

Thanks for sharing these photos. Beautiful.

Meinasblues said...

STUNNING.
thank you so much for sharing your time and memories.

Maria João said...

Hello I am portuguese and I leave in a small village near Santarém, and I´m so happy that you loved my country,thank you very much for the promotion.

Claire said...

Maria - that makes me so happy!

claudiatd said...

Haha! I'm portuguese too and your post made me very proud :D thank you*

la femme said...

Wow... bounteous indeed.

Nancy Wilde said...

I'm Portuguese, live in Lagos and I loved your post! Funny you comparing ginjinha with Benylin - I actually LOVE Benylin :X