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Published: March 25th 2008
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Yes, the two weeks I've spent in Lisbon have been quite diverse! I've met up with the Portuguese guys Pedro, Antonio and Marco, who I first met in El Chorro a couple of months ago and I've had a great time from climbing to kayaking, from exploring an underground gallery to doing a bit of sightseeing in Lisbon... Only Zé was missing, but he will certainly feature on my next blog.
Pedro was a great host, providing me with lots of useful information and taking me to most of the climbing areas around Lisbon: Guia and Mexilhoeiro in Cascais, Fenda in Serra da Arrábida and Penedo da Amizade in Sintra.
Sintra is truly a very charming historic town with its old mansions and castles. The granite crag at the foot of Castelo dos Mouros is awesome, with beautiful routes above a mature, exuberant pine forest. Pedro and I climbed there and ate 'travesseiros' - a fine Portuguese pastry in the village. Back to Sintra another day on my own I really enjoyed the delicate routes which require a lot of balance and concentration. Amongst the trees on the bottom of the crag I lost track of time taking pictures
of plants and likens.
The day I met Antonio was unfortunately raining, so climbing had to be cancelled. Instead, we spent the day looking around the Expo 98 complex and Convento dos Jerônimos, with its amazing interior architecture. It was a good chance to go around with someone who knew the surroundings. Despite the occasional rain spell we had a great time walking around, going to the cinema and having lunch together. Antonio also took me to Belém to eat the famous and delicious pasteis de nata. Hmmm... Of course I went back for more!
Marco took me to Mexilhoeiro where the routes, right on the sea cliffs, are steep and strenuous - even the easy ones made me realise how quickly I get out of shape! While I'm not at ease with overhanging rock and get anxious with the sight of the smallest roofs, see how Marco happily tackle a route that has 4 massive roofs and an overhanging blank face.... Believe me, Marco is no taller than 1,7m. Down the plughole goes my favourite excuse that this and that route is hard because I lack a few more inches in height! A great spiderman he is,
and an awfully nice guy as well.
With Pedro, Thiago and another friend Pedro, we set out kayaking from Portinho da Arrábida in the blue, crystal-clear waters. We basked in the sun and paddled in and out of canals formed by rocks. Then we got to Caverna dos Morcegos, the Bat Cave. A long walk inside a subterranean gallery with only Pedro's weak headlamp to guide us through the pitch-dark, muddy, cold and silent cave. Fearing claustrophobia I had promised myself never go into a cave, but the adventure sounded exciting, so there we went! The most challenging part was to go through an inundated section: water up to our waists, balancing on submerged stones, waiting for Pedro to direct the light bean where we needed it and hear him saying we shouldn't go this or that side because it was too deep! It was mixed disappointment and relief not to spot a single bat when we were expecting hundreds of them flying and screeching all around us. For some reason they were away. Thanks to Pedro we too found our way out, stumbling and slipping on guano and I'm not virgin in speleology anymore!
I went back
to Arrábida with Pedro and Marco. The beach views from the top of the routes are amazing! Colourful paraglides coming down the beach from the mountain top decorated the blue skies. How cool it must be to fly over mountains having the ocean on the horizon and white sandy beach stretching underneath your feet (I can't wait to jump at the chance of taking up paragliding myself)! I didn't quite appreciate my first climb at Fenda but the slaby routes were a joy! Also pleasant was to encounter the friendly robin which dwells in the woods at the bottom of the crag and is well known for coming to people's hand to eat bread. At Fenda we met a nice group of guys who were trekking in the area: Pedro Veludo, Rô and Tania. Together we climbed the positive routes while Marco and Pedro had fun on the overhanging ones. Our mate robin probably had a siesta after eating so much bread out of everybody's hands!
It was very pleasant to stay in Oeiras, a short ride from Lisbon. The youth hostel is right on the beach and provides easy access to many places of interest. I spent a
couple of days sightseeing in Lisbon, mainly walking around Alfama and Bairro Alto. Those are two old bohemian neighbourhoods with their attractive narrow streets full of traditional Portuguese ceramics, restaurants, pastry shops and a multitude of bars which only open from 11pm! Torre de Belém and Monumento aos Descobrimentos are a must-see.
Sitting ashore besides Torre de Belem, overlooking the elegant red bridge over the mystical waters of Rio Tejo I went back five centuries imagining the brave Portuguese sailors returning home from the new found land far across the Atlantic. They had reached Terra de Santa Cruz, which later would be named Brazil after the abundant red wood trees. That's where my mother Clelinha is right now, possibly reading my latest blog at this very minute. I look forward to returning home as well, to her warm arms and beautiful smile. But for the time being the road stretches far before me with her sensuous curves, unveiling other fascinating places, vast landscapes, mysterious sunsets... and the unexpected. Navegar e' preciso!
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José Santos
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Até que enfim..
Ate que enfim o nosso Amigo Zé actualiza o Blog , que passagem por Lisboa!? Hem!? Já estou curioso para vêr a passgem por Proença a Nova!Abraço Grande Amigão e continuação de boas Viagens e Aventuras. Zé ,Cati e Miguel.