After spending vacations on Madeira I could say that I've visited Portugal before what was half a lie because Madeira is nowhere near the mainland. But this time I have really visited Portugal! With friends from my hometown Philipp and Andi we met in Porto for a couple of days and traveled over to Lisbon. We were lucky with the weather in October because it was not freaking hot but still enough to just wear a shirt and sometimes a second layer. Porto itself is not that of a big city but the it's a very beautiful one. After discovering everything around the main train station such as the streets going up and down and the beautiful views over the city the highlight is waiting when entering the iron bridge. The bridge is still used for trams but on the sides of the bridge passengers can walk through with a stunning view to the river flowing through the city. And there beside the river left and right the city was full of living. Music, small shops, restaurants, drinks! Just walking next to the river with a snack like a Pasteis de Nata or a Pasteis de Bacalhau with a drink like a Brisa and a sunset was enough to have a lovely evening in Porto. Imagine having the vintage filter with the 80s feeling and some acoustic music. That describes my feeling in Porto quite well.
During our stay in Porto we also took a trip to the inner main land for wine tasting, lol. Me who rarely drinks wine or even alcohol joined a full day tour for wine tasting haha. But it was not as bad as I imagined even though drinking so many glasses of wine made me dizzy for the whole day. From the ship drive we took we could see impressive grape fields. We also got insights into different wine companies and how they produce the wine, years before and now. All in all I have to say I just enjoyed the time not to worry or to plan anything haha. For wine though I have a reluctance for the rest of my life though hahaha.
We then took a 3 hour train to Lisbon. And olá Lisbon, it felt like a summer weather confronting us when we exit the train. Our accommodation was a little far from the city so every evening we walked exhausted uphill. And now that I remember, Lisbon had even more differences in altitude. That's why there are also known for a tram which just goes up and down at a gradient of about 30%. It felt like 45% though. Lisbon is big and felt definitely like a capital city with influences from other cities like SF with the Golden Bridge or Rio de Janeiro with its Christ statue. It has a lot of sightseeing spots like Castelo de S. Jorge, Belem Tower but just walking around is an adventure by itself. It has beautiful buildings, great views and a coast. The city is definitely big enough that every day our feet hurt. I was impressed that Pasteis is even a bigger topic in here but can't deny the fact that I took every opportunity to eat one. We also had a Pasteis in one of the most famous one, Pasteis de Belem. The waiter said there is a big difference between Pasteis de Belem and Pasteis de Nata, I for sure didn't notice it. All in all I felt like Lisbon is a great city to spend some days but to busy and crowded for me to live there. Oh man, I really am spoiled with small cities. During our stay at the Lisbon we also spend one in Cascais which we reached by train for a small amount of money. There was still so much to do in Lisbon but we wanted to have a chill last day for our trip and so we spontaneously traveled to Cascais where the Boca do Inferno waited for us. Really great place to visit with its lovely downtown and worth it for a day.
All in all I can say that we 3 had a great time together. I really enjoyed that we didn't plan too much and just kept exploring around. Portugal is a great place to visit in autumn with great drinks, great food, lovely people. Porto was beautiful, Lisbon was big and exciting and I definitely can say that Pasteis de Nata is the snack I will miss the most from Portugal. Adeus Portugal!