Lisboa
The TAP flight booked 4 months before, Lisboa welcomed me and my Quechua backpack, I immediately reach the hostel in Rua do Bonfim to register to the reception. Spartan but cozy hostel, with a delicious local breakfast.
From the first maze of narrow streets it is clear that the roads often seem endless, and when you enter in some barrios you will get up and down continuosly.
The first hours? Visit to the very well-kept historic center, where an iron elevator (Santa Justa) leads to a terrace where you can admire the Capital. I decide to go to Museo Nacional du Portugal and give a glance to chromed tiles deriving from the Arab tradition.
Lisboa is full of attractions, in the avenidas the heartbeat of Murales. My intention is leaving the Igreja Sagra and get to Miradoura, a true point of view. The bigwig was the Castelo de Sao Jorge, an ancient fortress of the 15th century, but …sorry for the inconvenience but the castle is just close today due to a strike, c’est la vie.
Sintra
The second step is Sintra, looking for Palacio da Pena and Castelo dos Mouros. I arrived to Sintra railway station starting a real excursion in an outstanding nature with climbing plants and rocky walls.
Castelo dos Mouros highly underrated, I love it, with its catacombs, tanks and walls preserved intact.
In the evening, the return to Lisboa and the preparation of the next stages of the trip, Coimbra and Aveiro.
On my return way I decided to go to Da Luz Estadio: Benfica and Sporting, Taça du Portugal … looking for a ticket. At the box office a smiling girl told me that I had the last ticket. Hence, I’m soon catapulted in the atmosphere of the match…
Coimbra
I reach Coimbra after 2 hours and a half by train; I was enchanted admiring the left bank of the Mondego River.
Before the famous university I stopped in an original museum: the Brazilian television museum. After I visited the classic ones: the Old and New Cathedral, the San Sebastian aqueduct, the ancient tower of Antò …
Coimbra tem mais incanto na hora da despedida.
This sentence perfectly sums up what I’ve been through! Not possible to explain the fussy atmosphere of the Fado, from the explanation and the spiritual tales to the real execution of the songs.
The same night I met a local girl while I was drinking Ginjinha shorts, a cherry liqueur: she suggested me the Fado event, and I feel to thank her once again!
Coimbra’s fado is the only one in the country that can be interpreted by both men and women. In Lisboa and generally in the South this tradition is less felt and more “imported” for tourists. In North Portugal specific examples of Fado can be heard at Viana do Castelo and Barcelos, as well as of course in Porto.
Aveiro
Aveiro was the last station while the train ran from Lisboa to Porto – Campanha: an unforeseen deviation in this maritime town.
I am leaving immediately by the eye-popping breakfast of ovos moles, a sweet egg-based recipe, jealously guarded by the Franciscan Sisters of a remote location.
The other Aveiro’s specialties are boats and decorations on the bridges, as well as an endless array of waterways is flowing all over the ocean.
