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Published: September 8th 2007
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Again, Cascais is a day trip you can do from Lisbon but I am glad I spent 3 days here. The hostel I have stayed in is unrteal and I would rank it amongst my top hostels in Europe. Along with having a room with ensuite, a great lounge room with DVD and cable telly (telly in English is such a bonus when travelling!), great kitchen and eating area and a pool complete with sun lounges, the mix of people there is really nice. I have thoroughly enjoyed staying there, altho I have been in a mixed dorm and last night it was me with 4 boys!! A bit stinky but thank goodness there was no snoring. As I have realised I am running out of money also I have been cooking (yes, I have manged to avoid this until now) and it has been nice getting back into the kitchen.
Cascais is a beautiful fishing port which has a fort overlooking the marina. There are some beaches in Cascais itself but I was dismayed to see huge jellyfish on the shore so decided not to brave the waters! It is quite a small town and it is easy to
walk everywhere and isnt super touristy. I found out that you can hire bikes for free here for the whole day (woo hoo!) so yesterday took one up the coast to the beach of Guincho. There is a bike track the entire way (about 10km) which makes it a joy to ride there! The coastal bike track takes in a number of lighthouses, the fort, and Cabo da Inferno, which is a spectacular piece of coast which I suspect gets its name from the turbluent water going in and out of a number of large caves. There was also a beautiful park along the way with lovely ceramics...it was nice to be able to potter along and stop whenever I wanted to admire the scenery and take photos.
The cycle track ends just before Guincho so I decided to go to the beach there, called Casmina. I hired a shade cloth (rigged up between 4 posts) and had a relaxing day reading and swimming. Guincho and Casmina have surf and while it wasn't particularly big it was nice to be back in the surf again! As usual, it was the Atlantic so the water was freezing again but worth
braving as it was very hot outside! Aftter a few hours of relaxation I headed back into town and dropped off my bike.
I headed to the hostel to cook dinner and got talking to an Australian guy who had just arrived. He is an osteo and I asked if he knows any osteo's in London and he said yes! So will put me in touch with someone who lives in Clapham - very handy! We chilled in the hostel last night, with the great outdoor area it is easy to stay there so we settled in with an ipod and a slab - which was only 7 euros, bargain!! There was a great mix of people, from spaniards to swiss, and also a group of young Belgian guys.
Today is the first overcast day I have seen in Portugal and I wasn't all that concerned, as I got quite a bit of sun yesterday. I also wanted to hire a bike again and so I did that and rode to Casmina again. I then had grilled had salmon for lunch - this is the perfect place to have it as it comes straight from the atlantic!!
I was a bit knackered all day after the bike ride (and probably the few beers from last night) so just took it easy. I decided to go see a movie as in Portugal they don't dub anything in Portuguese - woo hoo! It is the original english version with Portuguese subtitles. This is very unlike Spain where it is hard to get anything in english. I went to see Hairspray which was brilliant - John Travolta is soo good and the movie is totally enjoyable from start to finish. I highly recommend!
What was interesting is that they still have intermission here,and I suspect it is so people can smoke! It is a bit like being in a time warp here - you can still smoke in shopping centres and cinemas (although not in the actual room where they show the movie) and you can smoke in any bar and restaurant. Spain have started banning smoking in some restaurants and bars (much to the outrage of spaniards) but Portugal hasn't started anything like that. I wonder how long it will be before these types of regulations start to come in....
As I write I am waiting for
Main street
Tiles like these have been a feature of every place I have visited in Portugal so far. Don't look at these for too long, the locals think this design could make you sick! the DVD player to watch new episodes of Desperate Housewives & Greys Anatomy....however there is a soccer match on with Portugal and Poland and the guy who is looking after the hostel won't let me watch it until after the match!!
Tomorrow I fly to Mallorca to meet up with Mum, Eric and James for a week of sun and relaxation. Looking forward tosome of mum's cooking and spending time as a family before the parents head back to Oz. I am actually looking forward to arriving in London next Friday also - I am ready for some stability and some routine, and to be able to cook my own food and go to the gym. I am sure I won't be saying this after a couple of weeks there though! What is great is that i have so many friends in London to catch up with so that should keep me busy and occupied for the first few weeks (that, and finding a job and a house!).
I will write when there is more news!
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Tara
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Hi Anj, - great to be getting your updates again:) Love your pics and hearing what you've been up to:) Big hug xxxxx