Ginja, Pastis de Nata and Saudade.....

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Which country are we in? It must be Portugal. Ginja is the cherry liqueur that everyone has to try - there is a shop near one of the squares in Lisbon where they serve it up in disposable plastic cups - always lottsa people hanging around there and it is not a bad drop. Pastis de Nata are the famous custard tarts which we tried in a few places in Portugal but the best ones were purported to be in Belem - we tried them and to me they were just the same as the others we had tried but that is just moi. Saudade is what every Portuguese is born with - its a kind of sadness for times past and comes out in the famous Fado music. Lyn and I went scouring the Lisbon streets for Fado but as they dont start singing until well after midnight we never managed to find it.

We started our periple in Portugal up in the mountains in a place called Penhaus de Saude. There was a hostel there - what they call a Pousada - right next to the National Park so we booked in there for a few nights so we could do some hiking. It was a nice hostel and the park and surroundings were lovely. We had to catch a taxi up there as buses only ran at weekends until their winter season starts and that is not until December. We kept hearing the sound of bells - turned out to be goats rather than cows - found them under a tree munching their lunch.

From Penhaus we wanted to get to Pocinho to do a scenic railway journey which goes along the Doumo river. We spent the night in Foz Coa in another Pousada then caught the train. It really was a lovely trip with beautiful scenery along the way. The journey ended in Porto where we decided to spend a couple of days - once again we chose a Pousada though this one was a little way out of the city and we did get sort of stranded the first night when we discovered the last bus was at 9.10pm and it was already 10pm. We managed to find another bus but had to walk quite a way to the hostel - we organised ourselves better the next night. Porto was great but a lot of up and downhill walking - we really should have had one of those pedometers - what a tale that would have told. We visited the oldest port winery in Porto - Croft - and got a potted history of how they make port and a little sample at the end. We decided to treat ourselves to a bottle of the stuff and took it with us to Lisbon where we managed to polish off the bottle in a couple of nights. We also tried the grilled sardines and Sangria down in the Riberia district by the river - delish.

From Porto we headed to Lisbon but decided on a beach stop in Fighuera da Foz - its about halfway between Porto and Lisbon. Stayed in a nice Hostel - The Paintshop - though we were a bit concerned when we arrived as the temperature went down one degree with every station stop - ended up at 24 degrees I think and it was really foggy - we decided the Foz must mean fog. We did get to go swimming one day but I swear it was the coldest water I have ever been in and I am from the NE of England and have swum in the North Sea. Lyn did not agree and said she has swum in colder water - not sure where though.

From Fig da Foz we headed to Lisbon and stayed in the Poets hostel which was really central and a really nice friendly hostel with free internet - yay!! However because it is free there always seems to be someone using it - aint that always the way. We checked out the various districts in Lisbon and also did a few side trips. We caught the train out to Estoril which is a fave holiday destination for the poms - lovely beach and beautiful water but we didnt get to swim in it unfortunately. From Estoril we headed again on the train to Cascais which was a bit more upmarket than Estoril but very nice all the same. After that we headed to Sintra and while Lyn went out to check the inside of the Palace, I decided to head uphill and do a little bit of a Camino trail - cant remember which one it was now and I only managed a small bit of it but it was all uphill. We also tasted the Ginja again, this time it was served in a little cup made of chocolate - very delish!!

From Sintra we wanted to visit Capo de Rocca which is the westernmost point of Europe - we caught the bus there but had we got off the bus we had another hour to wait for the next bus and there was nothing there - it was also cold so between us we made the decision to stay on the bus - sensible decision methinks. Actually, we could have hopped off the bus, got the photo of us standing there and then hopped back on the bus again as there was a queue of people waiting to get on. Never mind, next time..............

After Lisbon we had to head back to Barcelona for another one of our 'cheap' flights (once you add on taxes etc they turn out to be not quite so cheap) to Pisa. That, however is another adventure for another blog. That's yer lot for now - tune in for the next episode, Pisa, Cinque Terre and Lucca.

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Photos

Walking in wilderness
Penhaus de Saude

Drnking the local drop
Port from Crofts in Porto

Pastis de Nata
best custard tarts ever