Portugal Part II

This post continues the one I published some days ago about my journey to Portugal in mid-February. It was an excellent choice to travel there in February, by the way. There aren’t many tourists, and you meet a lot of locals. The temperature (around 15 to 20 degrees Celsius) is perfect for walking around, but there is a good chance of rain. So that’s a bit of a risk. Although I was in the sea for a couple of minutes (I promised it to a friend), in general, I can’t recommend going for a swim in winter 😉 Unless maybe you are Russian and practice one of these crazy winter swims being shown on TV. Anyway, the water was darn freezing.

So maybe it is better to look at the sea, for example, from the Tower of Belém. You get a great view, and the architecture of the tower, built in the 16th century, is fascinating by itself. Actually, this isn’t the Atlantic but the Tejo River. Unfortunately, it was pretty foggy this morning, and you can’t see Almada, the city on the river bank’s other side.

I liked these small grocery stores very much. Sadly, you don’t see them very often in Vienna anymore. We had a funny experience in a small shop selling handcrafted ceramics. The old lady spoke Portuguese even after I signaled that I didn’t understand it. But she realized I didn’t get the price, so the old lady showed it to me with her hands, teaching me how to count in Portuguese. Then the charming woman said something like “Good Schoolboy,” and we laughed. And in case you wonder about the odd sign of the above shop. I wonder, too 😉

The “waterfront” of Porto is definitely the most AWE-inspiring part of the city. We joined a free walking tour in this town due to our short stay (just one day). A young teacher showed us her city with much dedication. There was an old women’s monastery out of pure gold. Replying to my question about protection measures, she just said, “These kind of things don’t happen here.” Her love for Porto was inspiring and uplifting. But she also talked about the hard times Portugal faces due to the financial crisis. There are many young people without jobs, and it looks grim, unfortunately.

A narrow street in Porto. The Portuguese are fond of cute dogs (I don’t think I saw any big ones). They are everywhere! This particular one followed me for a while but lost interest in me after seeing a cat and chasing the poor little thing.

In the background, you see the Cathedral of Lisboa in a similar style as Notre Dame  (I guess at this point, architecture lovers will shout uncontrollably). The picture was taken from one of many viewing points, miradouros. You see the Baixa (downtown) and parts of Alfama, the higher part on the eastern side of the old town. Needless to say, the red rooftops are magnificent.

Portuguese are definitely keen on urban art. I didn’t like everything, but this piece was excellent. Maybe you would think the tiles are unusual and relatively modern here. But in fact, the Portuguese use tiles a lot. They are called Azulejos and have a centuries-old tradition in Portugal. Wanna know more about them? Well, I guess then you have to tune in for Part III in a couple of days ;)*

* or you read the Wikipedia article, but please don’t tell anyone.