Travel diaries 2: Portugal

For anyone thinking of making a trip to Europe, Portugal is one of the most exotic and unique tourist locations I have visited (to date).

Lisbon, the capital of Portugal

I personally thought it was one of the most well-rounded trips I've ever been to, meaning I could experience nature and sightseeing, Portuguese cuisine (and their famous egg tarts!), cultural locations and beautiful city landscapes. The landscape was not what you'd expect in a calm and peaceful countryside or a bustling city. :)

Transport
Getting around was easy because the transport system was easy to follow (a Metro system, which is akin to Singapore's MRT or the London Tube). The Lisbon card (which is a tourist card for a duration of 48 hours) allows free access on all modes of transport and I really recommend that for anyone who doesn't wanna fumble with coins in a bus queue or try to decipher the Portuguese instructions :D

It was walking to our place of accommodation with our heavy luggage that was such a painful process!

Our handsome friend posing for the camera

This is what the roads in Lisbon are like. They are tiled with rough tiles and lined with steps and slopes...almost impossible to walk with a luggage. We were pretty unfortunate to have booked our airbnb apartment at the top of a hill when all our attractions were at the bottom, so returning home every night was a pain (literally).

A tram trying not to fall to its death on a road

Trams and buses take a long time to arrive, the frequency being about half an hour. Honestly, we lost out on quite a few attractions waiting for transport. Walking was impossible.

Sightseeing

That said, Lisbon, Sintra and Porto were utterly amazing in terms of their architecture and landscape! Lisbon gives a very old school, fun little town kind of feeling with a relaxed atmosphere and little cafes around the corner to rest your feet. (though Portuguese coffee really isn't my kind of thing tbh)

Sintra is a historical, cultural site with lots of natural scenery (for people who are into that) and castles. We climbed the Castello do Mouros (mind you it was no mean feat) to catch a view of the city of Sintra from the top. This is what uhm, scaling the gigantic building looks like:

We got up here with much pain, and no I have no idea who the girl in the photo is

Porto is a city near the river, and has an active pub culture around the river (from what I observed). 

Language

The official language in Portugal is Portuguese (lol, obviously!). I initially thought nobody there spoke English and I'd just be so lost around all the Portuguese signs and instructions, but it turned out most people spoke at least a bit of English there. And my self-taught Portuguese was practically useless there because I remembered almost nothing, I'm just so bad with languages like that. :(

Me speaking to Portuguese ice-cream seller: "Ola, uno... this... uhm"
Portuguese ice-cream seller: "biu3bgichwojpwi[okicdslvnljfsnlvfpmp,kewkmcpefiswqkdpwjpcferjl hvruo dcnbkdbnkncl ,dnkwjvnrjn ljjoejoemlskmckl" *while signalling with random hand gestures
Friend who does not speak Portuguese: "She's telling you that it's sold out."
Me: ...
Me: ORH. Obrigado.

Yup, I'd be better off picking up sign language actually.

Food
I thought I wouldn't be able to eat anything there and would probably wind up with indigestion at the end of the trip, but Portuguese cuisine turned out to be amazing!

Dish of pan friend scallops with sweet potato

I noticed that many of their dishes had scallops. Yay, I loved scallops, they are practically like gold here in London (and back in Singapore).

Anyone who visits Portugal should definitely try Portuguese egg tarts! They differ from conventional Hong Kong eggs tarts in the sense that they are less egg, more custard, creamier in the inside and sweeter. (My friend found it too sweet so it really depends on the individual's taste buds) They are rather filling, so buy them to eat over the course of a few days!

Ripped off pininterest HAHA

There was a slight glitch though: I was at a bar with my friends for dinner and there was something on the menu called "Nata Cod" or "Nata de Cod". I can't remember. I thought it was literally a cod, and I felt having a fish for dinner wasn't enough so I ordered an additional pot of sauteed spinach. It turned out to be a tart with vegetables, so when my additional pot of spinach came, I ended up with a tart and a truckload of vegetables for dinner. My friends are still laughing at me today :((((((

All in all I'd recommend Portugal as a tourist destination, mainly because I'm not really one for romance and castles but I'm one for exotic stuff :) It is also an affordable location unlike stupid Paris that burned more than 100 GBP from my pocket for a single day trip there (including return Eurostar tickets) :(

Verdict: Portugal is amazing, even for suakus.