The Portuguese: Masters of Park Design

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So Ive shifted a country to the West, and have been in Portugal since the 1st. Lisbon was really cool. For some reason I didnt have that great of a first impression, but it quickly moved onto my good side after a night of going out. It was a Sunday night and the neighborhood where all the bars are was PACKED. Everyone drinking in the street-tourists and locals mixed. Literally all of the bars were dives, big enough for just the bar and a line for people to wait to order (because everyone drank outside). A lot of live music too. That night was also a blast because I joined worldly bunch from the hostel: 1 german, 2 Vascos, 3 from Valencia, 1 Greek, 1 Brazilian, 1 Argentine, and me. (Spanish was the common denominator.)

Now Im in Porto. I dont think Ive ever been as giddy walking through city streets as I was today. The old quarter of Porto is hands down the sweetest city-scape I have EVER seen. EVER. Windy, narrow streets with houses on top of each other, medieval tunnels going under houses that are filled with vendors and restaurants and cafes. I had a great dinner for cheap and yes of course drank Port Wine.

But the strongest impression that Portugal has left me with is its craftiness with parks. Every park I go to I want to stay for hours. And most of the parks are ones I just stumble upon or look at a green blob on the city map. But the one that stands out is the park around the Palacio da Pena in Sintra, Portugal. Its this really cool small town built on a mountain outside Lisbon and the Palace is on top of the mountain. But the park around it was awesome. Apparently the king who built it wanted to have his land be exotic and also look like the forests of his home country GErmany. So he imported trees and plants from all over the world, including Sequoias from North America. And there are all these ponds and nooks and there was a throne carved into a boulder at this one spot that was the queens favorite lookout point. So cool!

Love to everyone!

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