Oh Portugal, Portugal

If you follow this blog, you should be very well aware by now that I am in love with Portugal and the Portuguese. I (finally) had the chance to go and visit the country, enjoying it with the best of the companies...

I flew from Madrid to Porto on the 2nd of January. It was a sunny day :) They told me it was raining in Porto, but I do not remember any rainy day while I was there! I had lunch in an "esplanada" and I had some time in the afternoon to taste Porto wine...


View of Porto from Gaia

After a couple of days I left Porto to visit Costa in his hometown (grande Costa!!), a little village halfways between Porto and Lisbon called Minde. If you ever have the chance to go there, do not forget to visit a bar called "Tony Anjos"... get in there, ask for coffee, meet Costa's family and let them welcome you. You will never regret it!


Just to make sure you find it

Before heading to Lisbon, we visited Nazare (a very nice town next to the sea) and Fatima. I liked Nazare better than Fatima... but I come from an island, what can I say!


Glória a Deus nas alturas!

We finally arrived in Lisbon. This city has nothing to do with Porto, I do not even dare to compare them. It seems another country, it is much bigger, people speak differently, it has a very modern part (Expo98, remember?) and the old city center.


Costa's ability to take pictures

I cannot say which one I like better, I think I like them differently, there is something in Porto's air that makes me feel comfortable, protected :)


Lisbon

Time to go back to the north. Northern Portugal is very, very green and it has many small villages that are worth visiting. On our way up to the "Minho" river we stopped for breakfast in a town called "Viana do Castelo", which has a lovely city center. We arrived in "Mindelo" just on time for lunch, where Luis was waiting for us. Mindelo is a town in the Minho river, right opposite Spain; if you stand on one side of the river, that's Portugal, if you swim a little bit and go to the other side... you're in Spain!


Gonçalo and Mafalda. The mountain in the back is Spain

Last night in Porto (que saudades...). We went out for dinner and after to a disco called "Triplex". I will not say much about it, I think pictures speak by themselves.


Mais uma grande noite


Sorry for the image, but it was so crowded in there that it was impossible to take a decent picture

Before visiting any country, I usually "surf" in the internet for a while looking for information, pictures or anything that can be relevant or worth knowing. I never did so for Portugal, so I really did not know what to expect or what to look for. I think that is the reason why I enjoyed it so much, because I wasn't expecting anything at all... I just liked the moment, my moment, with all the people I wanted there to be!

I will always remember Portugal as the country that doesn't have lost its identity. I doesn't matter how many things we have in Spain, or how typical they are... You can find "paella" or "tortilla" almost everywhere you go in Europe. On the other hand, Portugal is authentic... the way of life, how crazy they drive around, food you can only find there, those breakfasts with special cakes, coffees with friends, narrow streets... I never felt as a foreigner... I loved it!

Costa, Luís, Pedro, Gonçalo, Mafalda, Pestana, Sucena, Lazarao, Boas, Filipa e todos aqueles que foram parte disto... Muito obrigada!!! Já sabem... a minha casa é e será sempre vossa!!