Checking out, getting lost, glass museum & sleeping in a cell.

Tuesday 12 August

Started the day with a pleasant walk into Rato for coffee and then back to the hotel to check out.

We decided to try and find a building q had seen on the Dezeen website but the navigation app sent us in the totally wrong direction… Leaving us not much time to visit Lost In before leaving Lisbon for now.

Lost In sells mostly silk clothing and other items from India as well as having a cafe attached to it (which we will have to try when we return to Lisbon next week) that over looks the Botanic Garden and the Avenida da Liberdade.

By 1pm we were on our way north.

First stop was for lunch in the medieval town of Obidos. This old walled town has an annual Mediaval Faire in July – they were still in the process of taking down some of the temporary stalls that are set up in a special market section of the town.

After lunch we walked almost all around the town taking photos and peeking over garden walls.

Heading up the A8 to Marinha Grande we arrived just in time to gain last entry to the glass museum there. Stunning examples of blown, cut and ground glass are displayed in what used to be the grand house of William Stephens.

 

Next we drove up the A1 to Ega and our next bed at Paço de Ega. A very pleasant place to stay with a very helpful owner. The building dates from the medieval period and was once a Templar Monastery. Added to in the 17th Century it has recently been further renovated and made into a guest house hotel. Period style furniture mixed with modern bathing conveniences and a fine dining room give an understated elegance to the venue.

We arrived late during the dinner hour and she was gracious and welcoming. Her recommendation of a restaurant in Coimbra where Fado is sung was welcome. And we enjoyed some lovely food and coffee as we listened to local Fado.

On the drive back to Ega we passed through Corto’s home village and he pointed out local landmarks.

Our first night in peaceful Ega was ended in the morning by being awakened by the sound of explosions…. It turns out that Wednesday was a Festival day in Ega and the small mortars set off are traditional methods to mark the start of a festival day.

Modern Art, Belém & Cascais

Sunday 10 August

We walked and bused to Belém to spend the morning wandering through the huge modern art collection of Museu Coleção Berardo. In 2 hours we covered 110 years of art history… and got to take photos!

q studied many of the artists represented in this collection so it was at times a small thrill to stand in front of works that until now had only been known from reproductions.

There are many artists in the collection whom q had never encountered before, mostly Portuguese, but also a number of other European 20thC artists.

The image above is part of an installation by Portuguese artist; João Maria Palva Horizonte de Acontecimentos (2008) involving a huge camera obscura that projected an image of this rock onto a wooden screen. Rope Trick!

After feasting on so much art we needed some sustenance so had a late lunch at a local cafe in Belém and then met up with one of Corto´s friends near the Belém tower. Laura found a bronze tower nearby that she claimed was just right.

Corto´s friend, T, took us by car to Cascais for coffee and wine. Whilst there q got to walk in the Atlantic Ocean for the first time in over 40 years. Laura decided staying on the sand was more comfortable.

Dinner in Cascais was some excellent Portuguese Chicken accompanied by Sangria then we watched the full August moon rise over the mouth of the Tagus River on our way back to the hotel.

One rather full day!

How many hair pin turns does it take….

To have Corto’s hands shake…. The answer is about 8 km short of the 29km of mountain roads between Coja and Piódâo.

Beautiful scenery with deep valleys and impressive rock outcrops topped with majestic tall slowly turning wind turbines along the ridge. All of which were lost to Corto as he concentrated on the twisting road.

This view from the hotel is worth it… 1km stroll to the village.

More pics from today on Instagram.

#lusitanianvampireadventure

the hashtag used for this holiday and this blog is #lusitanianvampireadventure

why?

because lusitania is the old roman name for the region we are visiting,
Laura is a vampire (and when Corto & q were active in Secondlife they role played vampires) 
and we are going on an adventure together! 

Photos and short comments can be found:

quad on Instagram

quad’s Twitter account
(if you follow quad on twitter please reply to a tweet first saying hi otherwise you may get blocked)

to find out more about q please see quadrapop on about.me

Saturday August 9

(My apologies for the postings getting out of chronological order)

First morning in a new city and what did I do?

I lay in bed reading my twitter stream!

Jet lag will do that to you.

Eventually we went in search of coffee and a supermarket to stock up on gluten free goodies, water and other things we would need on the road. I spent time (possibly a bit too much according to Corto) comparing foods and prices in the supermarket.

Next stop Sintra! The plan had been to go see the inverted tower but we got distracted by the wonderful gardens beneath the castle and spent 3 hours walking up and down taking photos.

We took the long route out walking against the one way traffic of cars and many tourist buses.

A very late lunch in Sintra – starting at 3pm (thank goodness the Portuguese eat later than Aussies…) at Dona Maria was baked fish, cooked beans, carrots and whole baked baby potatoes accompanied by white wine. The whole baked sea bass and vegetables were perfectly cooked. The house white was young but eminently quaffable. The view on the terrace was stunning.

We returned to Lisbon via the coast and river road and rested for a short while in the hotel.

Having made a reservation for Chapito the night before we headed over on foot at 8pm to see if Corto’s brother’s recommendation was any good. Down the hill and back up the other side of the valley in under 25 minutes on steep winding cobbled streets after having spent the large part of the afternoon on foot. We were glad to be shown to an outdoor table with a view over the rooftops of the Alafama towards the river Tagus.

Hot pork strips served with asparagus, mushrooms and sliced potato and a garden salad disappeared quickly – only just staying around long enough to be photographed.

The walk home to the hotel… was uphill!

A day of mostly rest

Breakfast at the hotel followed by a gentle stroll around the western side of the old town of Guimarães.

The streets are narrow, winding and the small shops on the ground floor surprising. Everything from souvenirs to tools to original fashion and newsagents bursting out onto the meagre pavement.

Today is a religious holiday and festival so the church bells (and I counted 10 churches in this town) were busy sounding our musical carillons at various intervals.

Lunch was down the hill at Continente’s food hall – yummy basic Portuguese chicken, rice, beans and salad. While exploring the mall we found a display of old photos from the 1920s in Guimaråes. This crew of workers were the happiest bunch in the display.

In the afternoon we wandered back up the hill to the palace and the castle but had taken so long both were shut by the time we arrived. Long summer afternoons!

Time for dinner now and then to catch up on posting about the first few days of this holiday.

More Guimarães

I think this is the prettiest town I have seen so far. Amazing mix of the very old (well maintained) next to the very new next to the old and run down (but a lot less than in some other towns we have been through so far).

Guimarães – bells

Laura is enjoying the sounds of the Guimarães evening, punctuated by the sounds of church bells from one or more of the four seen from the hotel window!

Finally having a decent net connection we will play catch up on the blog posts.

Porto – performance art

Lisbon at last!

8 August

The second leg of my journey began in what felt more like an upper class mega mall…. The Dubai airport terminal we arrived at is 3km long strip of duty free shops and cafés! A multitude of aircraft boarding lounges on the edges…. All with stunning views over the flat desert landscape.

Watched the sun rise, or more accurately emerge from behind the misty haze of the desert horizon. Something I have not seen since the 1990s when I was travelling in the North Western Australian deserts. The flat glowing orange disk contrasted nicely with the pale blue grey of the haze and clouds. The nearby towers of Dubai apartments and offices gradually resolved out of the predawn.

The flight left only a little delayed, the food was not quite as excellent as the first leg, but as it was daytime the stewards brought orange juice or water frequently.

I tried dozing and I think I did sleep for an hour or two between playing a game on my iPhone and watching episodes of the Musketeers on the seat back screen (this one was an older model and did not have all the same movies as the first airplane). Sadly I was unable to watch the fourth Pirates of the Carribean movie as I had hoped to.

This shorter flight was over Egypt, Mediterranean, Spain and finally! Portugal… We swung south and out to sea to come in from the west… Providing an excellent first sight of the white walled, red roofed apartments and buildings of greater Lisbon.

Lisbon airport is within the city to the East of the centre. While the wait in the passport line was quite long the checking of my UK passport was quick. However the same could not be said for the baggage collection! Thankfully the local phone sim worked well and Corto and I were able to talk while I waited for my bag. Some 15 – 20 mins later I was able to proceed with my two bags. As I had nothing to declare I was not impeded further at customs.

Then came the moment we had all been waiting for.. Walking down the arrivals ramp and into a welcoming hug from Corto. He was accompanied by a nephew who had also just arrived by ‘plane from elsewhere in Europe. After finding the car and dropping said nephew off as his apartment we carried on to the hotel.

The rest of the afternoon was spent unpacking and enjoying the very large comfortable bed!