Portugal May 2006
Panther
Registered Users Posts: 3,658 Major grins
Howdy All,
My Wonderful Wife and I will be going to Portugal the middle of May 2006 and was wondering if anyone had any hints or tips. We will be staying in Cascais, which is below Lisbon on the Atlantic Coast. We will be there for about 2 weeks and would love to hear of any experiences, places to eat, places to not miss, things we have to do, and even places to avoid.
Warmest Regards, and Thanks in Advance
My Wonderful Wife and I will be going to Portugal the middle of May 2006 and was wondering if anyone had any hints or tips. We will be staying in Cascais, which is below Lisbon on the Atlantic Coast. We will be there for about 2 weeks and would love to hear of any experiences, places to eat, places to not miss, things we have to do, and even places to avoid.
Warmest Regards, and Thanks in Advance
Take care,
Craig
Burleson, Texas
Craig
Burleson, Texas
0
Comments
Hi Criag,
I will also be in Portugal in May. I go there twice per year and I love it. I would definetly spend one full day in Obidos, which is only a 15 minute ride from where you will be staying. Obidos is my favorite town in Portugal. Look at some of my photos of Portugal athttp://www.oldworldphoto.com.
Spend one day at Nazare, one day at Sintra, one day in Evora, one day in Lisbon and if you have the time, travel up North to Porto.
Hopefully this helps.
David....
Strange, I am going to Porto for my nephew's 1st communion in May. I'll be there from the 26th to June 4th.
I second the earlier poster's comments about Obidos. It's a must see. One of the few walled cities left in europe where the city never really outgrew the walls. It's about as close to a "pure" medieval city as exists in the world today. The castle has a lovely restaurant as well.
The south is nice, although in may it may be crowded. If you go south, then check out Sagres- its the cape on the extreme southwest of the Atlantic coast. Near there at, I believe, Cabo Sao Vicente, there is a small castle that sits on 100 ft cliffs that go directly into the sea. It has two bedrooms that cost (in the late 90s) around $40 US per night. Lovely vantage point for photos. Sagres itself has a nice museum at the old navigational school.
If you travel along the southern coast, I would recommend avoiding the really touristy places like Albufeira or Faro- unless you want to go to the beach. I prefer towns more populated by locals (relatively speaking) like Olhao, or Fuseta. Olhao has some interesting islamic architecture, and Tavira has a roman bridge that is quite nice- particularly at night. Lagos has some excellent cliffs with beaches at the bottom of them. All of these are relatively close.
If you are returning to the North from the South, an interesting way to do it is to travel a little while up the border between spain and portugal, until you get to a town called Mértola. From Mértola you can turn west and get back to Lisbon, or North and continue on to Elvas. (not much to recommend Elvas except for a nice town square and a HUGE aquduct. The biggest I have ever seen).
Mértola is really, really, worth visiting. I will post a few pictures if I can. It used to be an important stronghold of the Banu Qasi, a band of Visigoths who converted to islam and basically ruled the area from their stronghold at Mértola, which sits, heavily fortified, on top of a steep mountain almost entirely circumallated by a river. It's an incredible natural defence position, and the Banu Qasi where one of the last of the portuguese Taifa states to go down. After the reconquest, Mértola lost its importance as a fortress, as it wasn't really suited for defending against spain (it couldn't compete with the gargantuan fortresses at Badajoz and Elvas). As a result, the town remains small (16,000 inhabitants) and preserves a great deal of islamic character. I will try to post some photos of Mértola tonight on smugmug.
even more cool for you, is that there is an "islamic festival" in Mértola from the 19th to the 22nd of may, which I will miss, but you may not.
I don't know how much time you have, so if you have to choose between different sections of the country, I would recommend the following.
1. Of course you must visit Lisbon. but once you have seen the square and the funicular, as well as bairro Alto, I would take off. Outside Lisbon is better.
2. For the Islamic experience, and a real "mediterranean" style portugal, after lisbon visit Sintra (with a faux moorish palace that is outstanding) a kind of Portuguese Cannes, then head down to Sagres, across the Algarve to Lagos, then Portimao, Then Olhao, Then Tavira at Night for a coffee on the river. Get up the next morning an drive to Castro Mourim, then head up to Mertola. This is very cool, but its a lot like Spanish "mouravia", but with less tourists and friendlier locals. If you are going to go to Granada or the Alhambra, then save your time in Portugal for more "portuguese" stuff (keep in mind, my wife is from
the North, so I am biased about "real" portuguese.)
After you finihs with the islamic south and Mértola, you can head back west to Evora, which is one of the top 5 places to see. It has a nice temple of Diana from Roman times, and good places to eat.
3. North of Lisbon to the "real" Portugal, where the only tourists are Portuguese. For people in the North, everyone south of Lisbon is a "mouro" (moor) and everyone in Lisbone works for the government, which is even worse.
Of course, the coolest city in Portugal to live in is Porto. So this should be your ultimate destination. This is where Port wine comes from, and everything else not from the Douro Valley is a cheap imitation. The Portuguese, normally peaceful and affable when not on crusade, or talking about Spain, may become exceedingly unpleasent and possibly violent if you remark that "we have port wine in california too, it's called Gallo", so be forewarned. Only wine from Porto is port wine. This is as true as the real presence of christ in the bread and wine, and should similarly not be discussed in polite company.
Porto is a commercial city with its heart in the 19th century, unlike the rest of the country that saw its golden age in the 16th. It looks to the sea, and to commerce, and to the grand. Thnik Granite and monumental, with a portuguese Flair. it has a lovely bridge by Eiffel, and terraces of old buildins that lead down to the Douro river. Google some images and I guarantee you that you'll want to go.
on the Lisbon-Porto road , to the South of Porto, is Coimbra. Coimbra is the University town of Portugal, where the country's oldest university (founded in 1290) currently resides. You may see folks in wierd black robes and hats running around town, partuclarly in may. do not be alarmed. They are generally harmless, can be appeased with beer, and will be driven back by brandishing holy objects such as textbooks, pay stubs, or anything related to work- these are the local students.
North of Porto is a nice little town called "Guimaraes"- which has an old castle and is where the 1st King of Portugal lived. It is from here that the reconquista was launched.
Also North of Porto is the holiest city in Portugal- Braga. The bishop of Braga is the top cleric of the country, and there are more churches than you night imagine for a relatively smal city. The old saying goes:
Porto Works
Braga Prays
Coimbra Studies,
and Lisbon gets the money.
The extreme North of the country is very cool. Green, Misty, kind of like a latin Ireland, with a bunch of celtic stone circles around. There is an old celtic hilltop fort called "cidade dos Briteiros" that you might want to check out. Very very few folks go up here. In General, the region known as Tras-os-Montes is a lovely place to visit. You will find more than a few blonde haired, green eyed portuguese here. Very strange.
Feel free to PM me with specific questions.
And have fun!
Howdy David,
Thanks so much for the ideas and the link to your pictures. I really appreicate your time and thoughtfullness.
Maybe we can get together in Portugal and shoot some?
Thanks again, Take care,
Craig
Craig
Burleson, Texas
Howdy,
Thanks so much for all your ideas and tips, and for your thoughtfullness. I can see this is really going to be a special Vacation. I will try and find out particulars this evening and who know's maybe we can all meet up someplace.
Thanks again, Warmest Regards,
Craig
Burleson, Texas
If you and retagger want to get together in Porto, let me know. I know some cool spots in the city. I will be in Porto from may 26th until June 4th, with side trips to Santiago de Compostela and Portugal dos Pequininos. Too bad there isn't a dgrin shootout in Europe! (for some folks it's all birds and death valley, isn't it
Howdy,
Oh :cry , we are arriving in Portugal the 10th of May, and departing the 24th. So, unfortunately that isn't going to work for either one of us, RATS!!!!
I have been looking at the map this evening, checking out where you and Dave are recommending, and it really looks close to where we are staying.
I am getting excited already, it's seems that we enjoy the planning and learning all about the places we are getting ready to visit.
All for now, take care, and thanks again,
Craig
Burleson, Texas
I was searching about portuguese in SmugMug and I fall on this post.
Can you please explain me what is the meaning of "Too bad there isn't a dgrin shootout in Europe!".
I do not know what a shootout is. Sorry.
i am very sorry I missed these posts of you comming to my country.
I would like to have met you ...
Obrigado.
Howdy Antonio,
So sorry you didn't see this post before we left, hopefully next time we go we can come down and visit and shoot some with you.
We were staying in Cascais, and my Wife's Cousin and Her Husband (Who is from Ribalonga) had an apartment there. We really loved your Country and can't wait to get back. The People were so friendly everywhere we went, and the history and architecture was simply incredible.
We traveled mostly in the Northern Part this time, spending about 4 days up around Ribalonga at his home place and Porto, then day tripped to Sintra, Obidos, Peniche, and Guarda from Cascais.
Here's some of the 4,072 images we took:D
http://www.pbase.com/ckirk/portugal_may_11th__24th_2006
Kindest Regards!!
Craig
Burleson, Texas
Let me know.
You have nice pictures of this country.