Portugal Highlights. Day 1

I'm really enjoying this autumn - somehow I finally have a bit of free time, which wasn't the case in the summer. The summer was too hectic to be able to keep up with everything which was going on - travel for work, travel for pleasure, work back in Gdansk and catching up to do... and all the people visiting here in Gdansk... plus of course blogging :) Good times, but very very busy... Now I think I'm in a calm phase of reflection and am very much enjoying the slower pace of life.

I have finally found the time to start going through all the pictures brought from this summer travels - and there are a lot of amazing places to talk about. I already have some posts about Portugal - and it deserves even more attention - as it was a real discovery for me. Definitely a place to go back to and explore in every detail!

If you are in Lisbon one of the great places to go to enjoy some sea food is Cervejaria Trindade - a historical traditional beer house with lovely interiors and even better food.


Image by Arek

And afterwards a perfect place to go to enjoy a cup of coffee or ginginha - the tasty Portuguese liqueur - is the famous literary cafe A Brasileira.


Image by Arek

Don't forget to pace the streets of Lisbon by night to indulge in the cosy atmosphere of this historical city and taste some grilled sardines prepared right on the streets - they are too good to pass by without trying!


Image by Arek

You can start your morning from a trip to Mafra - a beautiful town 28 km North-West from the center of Lisbon. A must see there is the Baroque Mafra Palace with its fabulous interiors and artifacts.


Image by Arek

The building also includes a major library, with about 40,000 rare books.


Image by Arek

After that take a trip to a little town of Ericeira - previously a fishermen village, which later on developed into a picturesque summer resort.


Image by Arek


Image by Olga


Image by Olga


Image by Arek


Image by Arek

Beautiful beaches, tiny restaurants with fresh and delicious typical food, lots of blue-white coloured fishermen houses and azulejos all around - a perfect retreat from the busy life of a big city!


Image by Arek


Image by Arek


Image by Olga

On the way back from Ericeira to Lisbon you need to make a stop to visit a tiny city - an imitation of real rural houses created by a Portuguese enthusiast on his own property (unfortunately I can't remember either the name of the architect or even how the place is called :( ...) Can you please help me out? :)


Image by Arek

And finally spend a nice evening back in Lisbon itself enjoying beautifully illuminated historical sights.


Image by Arek


Image by Arek


Image by Arek


Image by Arek

Take a metro on the way back - every station is skillfully decorated with modern azulejos and the metropolitain itself is very modern and not crowded.


Image by Olga

On the final note of this post - very warm greetings to dear friends TI and Ze without whom this great trip wouldn't be possible!

Colours of Óbidos

It seems that summer and busy time at work are a really bad combination for blogging :( . And unfortunately it doesn't seem to be getting any better for me... I'm not sleeping much these days. I was in Warsaw this week and the next one I am going to be in the UK - also for work. So today after such a long absence I'm back with some colourful memories of our trip to Portugal. There are so many things to mention about this trip... I just wish I had enough time!

Image by TI

We were lucky to visit a small town called Óbidos. It is located on a hill and is encircled by a fortified wall and has an ancient Moorish castle. The well-preserved medieval look of its streets, squares, walls and its massive castle make the town a very picturesque place to visit. And when visiting, it is compulsory to try the local cherry liquor called ginjinha. But what struck me most about Óbidos was how colourful the place looked. And here is the reason why - the town was literally drowning in flowers! (and I couldn't stop taking pictures)





The colours are so bright, that sometimes it is hard to believe from the distance all these flowers are real. But when you come closer...

Images by TI, Arek, Olga

Portuguese Impressions

I am finally back, trying to find the suitable words to express the incredible experience of visiting Portugal. Portugal definitely is a whole world to discover..!

...We wake up in Ericeira to the sound of the birds welcoming the new day, open the door and see the bright sun's glittering light reflecting in the ocean, which spreads right in front of us.

Image by Arek

Later on when in Lisbon we hit the streets and walk on the patterned cobbles up and down - surrounded by the white, yellow or azulejos covered buildings with their beautiful big windows traditionally painted in white and dark green.

Image by Arek

We smell the old city from every nook and crack but feel that it's also as new as ever... We pass by the girl in the company of her 6 dogs (1 is sleeping in the baby carriage) on our way from a walk in Alfama.

Image by Arek

We visit a bookshop very close to Fernando Pessoa statue, and right in front of it we pass a magic place, one of the oldest and most famous cafes in Lisbon - A Brasileira.

Image by Arek

We get into the car with TI and ZÉ and set off to discover this beautiful world. After many kilometers of castles and vilas we find ourselves in a very old and picturesque town Óbidos.

Image by Arek

We stop at a little local restaurant to ask for grilled bacalhau with some fresh vinho verde and while we wait we amuse ourselves by looking at the town's narrow streets with white walls of houses covered with flowers and at the Medieval Óbidos castle. It is calm, quiet and the beauty is all around us... it seems we went back in history...

Image by Olga

We continue exploring the magnificent history of the country with a trip to Alcobaça, where our friends amaze us with the romantic story of the most famous Portuguese couple Pedro e Inês... and we make a small break to have some coffee. People here say that ever since coffee arrived in this country, it has never changed its flavour. Even if the machines change or the waiters change, the coffee is always good :)

Image by Arek

We walk along the bank of Tejo in Belém and let ourselves be carried away by the river to the ocean, where the surfers take advantage of the waves. Centuries ago, the brave Portuguese sailed off from here in caravels to conquer new territories and discover the whole new world!

Image by Arek

Is it necessary to go to touristic places? I don't think so... Maybe it's better to have a look what artists will bring to the streets today... Will it be a show of clowns, another pavement painting or the street theatre? Or just an old man singing same songs we've just heard at a cafe in Baixa?

The evening approaches, but the night is still young. The world comes together. The old people dance to disco, the young people sing fado and we are experiencing this whole new world with a huge smile on our faces - a sea of emotions and impressions... When it is almost midnight, we walk in through the Rua Augusta Arch just to find ourselves enetering MUDE - fashion and design museum and taking part in an exhibition and a live music party.

Image by Google

With a little help from white sangria

Image by Olga

or Super Bock - all the impressions would end up whirling around and a warm feeling would settle inside us... Here, in this place called Portugal we magically found so much warmness, history, beauty, great food and hospitality...

Tradizioni Culinarie Continued

Although the Mediterranean food is awesomely great I think I just can't miss out the drinks part... Although most coffee in Italy comes from South America, Italy is the first country to come to mind when you mention coffee. Although the beans are grown elsewhere, Italy is considered the home of coffee and is where many of the beans are roasted, where the espresso machines are made and where making the perfect espresso, cappuccino or latte has been elevated to a high artform.

Image by Olga

But along with coffee it is definitely worth to mention some other drinks very typical of the region. The absolute favourite I tried is called Spritz! It is a typical Veneto drink, tasty, bittersweet and wonderfully refreshing! Here is a quick recipe in case you feel you wanna try it out (I especially recommend it to all campari lovers!):

1/3 prosecco, /3 campari, 1/3 soda
Stir with ice in an old fashioned glass. Decoration: a slice of orange and a big olive.

Image by Olga

You can find a lot of sparkling wines from the family of prosecco in Venice, and along with Spritz another very popular cocktail is Bellini, which is also sold ready - in bottles. The recipe can be found here.

Image by Olga

One of the interesting experiences is bying 'vino sfuso' or 'bulk wine'. This basically means that you go to the wine shop with your own bottle and purchase wine by liter - the variety depends on the shop - usually these are local wines of course - and the quality is very good!

Image by Olga

Finally it would be totally improper not to mention Limonchello - lemon liqueur mainly produced in Southern Italy. It is bright yellow in color, sweet and lemony, but not sour since it contains no lemon juice.

Image by Olga