Blogs from Portugal, Europe - page 149

Waking up to a gloomy morning was not what we ordered but we need not have worried. It wasn’t long before the sun came out and all looked good for the day. We decided on the Metro as a way into the city and the nearest station was only about five to ten minutes away. A 24 hour ticket was our best bet as it gave us travel on metro, bus and tram. The metro looks quite new, probably had a good facelift in preparation for their Expo 98. Within 10 minutes we were in the centre of Lisbon and ready to start the day. By the number of tourists around there must have been have been some cruise ships in town. After a wander around downtown Lisbon and a chance to look down the harbour ... read more

Numa amena madrugada de Maio, dia 6, 2011, lá partiu do Porto um grupo de 20 “jovens”, vindos de Lisboa, Coimbra e Porto, a caminho do sonho do fim de semana em Kent. Porque todos os participantes tiveram em devida conta os incontornáveis limites de bagagem da Ryanair, lá embarcamos sem incidentes e chegámos a Stansted à hora prevista. Após o pequeno almoço no aeroporto, a viagem de autocarro em direcção a “Chartwell House and Gardens” mostrou-nos uma Inglaterra intensamente verde e amarela, com flores e mais flores e um céu muito azul. A visita a Chartwell House, residência de Sir Winston Churchill durante muito tempo da sua longa vida, acrescentou pormenores desconhecidos por alguns de nós sobre os seus hobbies, o seu génio artístico e em particular sobre o aconchego de uma família que se ... read more

Two things have struck me in nine years traveling to Madeira: 1) how amazing the roads are and 2) how few visitors take advantage of them. Some of the roads are quite epic, whether sweeping clifftop coastal roads or traversing the steep valley walls of the interior and, outside of the main towns, you have these roads largely to yourself. Both the quality of the roads and the scenery that surrounds them make Madeira a driving destination in its own right. Yes, Madeira for a fly-drive holiday First thing to mention are the highways or 'Auto-estrada'. Huge sums of public money have been spent making more of the island accessible, and the only way to put expressways through such difficult terrain (Madeira is essentially a mountain serrated by valleys) is bridge-tunnel-bridge-tunnel. Each and every metre of ... read more

Crossing the border from Spain into Portugal is rather a non-event. Driving south you suddenly come across the EU symbol of yellow stars on a blue background with the name Portugal written across it. We gave a great whoop and then carried on as if nothing had happened. Really we were quite excited because we were driving into the unknown, and that proved to be just the case. After leaving Santiago de Compostela everything seemed straight forward, just follow N550 south. The scenery was quite picturesque with small agricultural plots on whatever land was able to be cultivated, or coastal scenery. There was still a lot of hill driving. The coffee stop at a roadside cafe was a welcome break and even more welcome was the 1.20euro price for the coffee and complimentary slice. This might ... read more

Dia 15 - O regresso sem vontade Pois é, chegou o dia do regresso. Tinha combinado com o Pedro acordarmos às 07:00. Ele levava a Desirée ao trabalho e depois íamos às compras (mais compras). Tal como previsto, o Pedro ficou na cama. A Desirée não foi trabalhar e foi connosco ao Mercado Central. Comprámos tudo o que tínhamos a comprar. Fomos "almoçar" ao shopping e fomos assinar a parede do Spranger's in the night. Seguimos para o aeroporto, para o "pesadelo" do regresso. O vôo para Madrid teve paragem em Recife. Tivémos uma espera de 2 horas em Recife. Seguimos para Madrid e esperámos mais 1:30 para regressar a Lisboa. Mas correu bem (com excepção das minhas 3 idas ao wc do avião, outra em Fortaleza, outra em Madrid). Enfim. Chegámos, fui comer um bitoque ... read more