Portugal travel log

[BehindBlueI's]

I know you have!
I imagine that church is less claustrophobic.
All your European trips must include some bone seeing.

I think other than London and Cyprus, yes. At least a reliquary with a saint's bone in some cathedral or another. Of course a finger bone or piece of shin doesn't have the same gravity.

Portugal has been a great trip. Heading to Sintra in the morning. I always recommend Paris as a first European trip to Americans, but I think I'll add Lisbon as an option now as well. English is very widely spoken, no crime issues I can see*, friendly people, good public transport that's easy to learn and navigate, etc.


*there are scammers in touristy areas of Lisbon in the form of fake drug dealers. I've been offered "Marijuana, hashish, Coke?" maybe 2 dozens time. I'm sure they are either taking money and running or giving look-alike substitutes and not real drugs. Dealing is still illegal here, but this scam is apparently in a legal gray area.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

After nearly 40 years in healthcare I am way too used to death and corpses, but human bones still creep me out! And bones recovered from the Baumeister estate (not far from my home) have been in the local news this week.

Only thing that gets me still is eyeball injuries. Oddly if it's ejected from the head it doesn't bother me, but penetrating injuries to the eye are gross...

 

[BehindBlueI's]

We are in early tonight. Rainy evening and we are all ready for some extra rest after multiple days of 22k-ish steps a day in very hilly terrain. We bought a bunch of local pastries (with the help of an English speaking customer) and retired to the hotel coffee shop.

English is very widely spoken as I mentioned, especially in the cities and by anyone roughly 40 or under. I've had to use Spanish once and a translator once, both times with women in their mid-60s.

 

[Sylvain]

Well, look who is alive!

Hope you are doing well.

I think other than London and Cyprus, yes. At least a reliquary with a saint's bone in some cathedral or another. Of course a finger bone or piece of shin doesn't have the same gravity.

Portugal has been a great trip. Heading to Sintra in the morning. I always recommend Paris as a first European trip to Americans, but I think I'll add Lisbon as an option now as well. English is very widely spoken, no crime issues I can see*, friendly people, good public transport that's easy to learn and navigate, etc.


*there are scammers in touristy areas of Lisbon in the form of fake drug dealers. I've been offered "Marijuana, hashish, Coke?" maybe 2 dozens time. I'm sure they are either taking money and running or giving look-alike substitutes and not real drugs. Dealing is still illegal here, but this scam is apparently in a legal gray area.

Scammers are everywhere it seems.
You find people playing "find the lady" few feet from the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

People offering tourists to exchange their US dollars for fake Euro bills is also pretty common.

I have seen that fake drug scam in Paris. A few cops even checked what the guy was selling.
They laughed and let him go (just told him to leave the area) when they saw it was apparently not real drugs.

I think here it's still illegal to sell icing sugar pretending it's coke, but cops won't bother arresting and charging anyone over this.

Those scammers are not good at spotting off-duty (even foreign) cops. It would have been funny if you pulled your badge.

 

[MindfulMan]

I had no preconceived notions of Portugal, but still found your photos to not be what I expected. The antiquity is stunning.
To me, the 'bones' display in the church is odd .... not creepy, but odd.
The sentiment that was / is attached to the display of bones is understandable, but I find Eastern practices (Buddhism, etc.) to be more inline with my perspectives of life & death.

Still .... very interesting photos, BBI. Thanks for posting them.

 

[Born2vette]

We are in early tonight. Rainy evening and we are all ready for some extra rest after multiple days of 22k-ish steps a day in very hilly terrain. We bought a bunch of local pastries (with the help of an English speaking customer) and retired to the hotel coffee shop.

English is very widely spoken as I mentioned, especially in the cities and by anyone roughly 40 or under. I've had to use Spanish once and a translator once, both times with women in their mid-60s.

We were told by a guide that all schools have required students to be bilingual for the last 25 years or so and to look for a young person of we needed translation help.

Are you planning on spending any time in Porto or the Douro valley?


@MindfulMan when they talk about old in Europe they are referencing Roman times or earlier. When we talk old, we are referencing revolutionary times!

 

[MindfulMan]

@MindfulMan when they talk about old in Europe they are referencing Roman times or earlier. When we talk old, we are referencing revolutionary times!

Oh, I know ! I was a metal-detector enthusiast for quite a while. I was always depressed, knowing that I wasn't going to find anything 'really' old.

 

[Mij]

I also would like to thank you for the pics and the whole thread. I’m very envious. Thanks.

 

[BigRed]

Great pics

Enjoy the trip

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Are you planning on spending any time in Porto or the Douro Valley

Yes, but not this trip. Lisbon, Evora, and Sintra is it for this time. Next time we will rent a car and visit Porto and some of the more northern attractions. I want to see the megalith near Evora when I have a car as well.

Hopefully we can do a Spain / Portugal combo trip next time we visit either.

 

[indyblue]

I wouldn’t say creepy I would describe it more macabre.

 

[jwamplerusa]

@BehindBlueI's thank you for the pics and commentary!

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Quick money exchange tip: ATMs used to be the cheapest way to exchange money, especially if you have a debit card with a travel friendly bank like USAA that refunds ATM fees. Now you have to watch for conversion fees on ATMs which can be 13.5% plus a flat fee. That's crazy given exchange booths will charge around 6%.

Some brands are much better. Look for "Multibanco" which is rarer that EuroNet. It will ask you twice if you want to pay to convert. Tell it no twice. It will act like it will cancel, but will not and will give you Euros but your home bank sees Dollars. No exchange fee, no ATM fee. I got within 24 cents of XE.com exchange rate for 200 Euro withdrawal.

I use my credit card for everything possible, but some places only accept cash or local network cards. It's good to have some walking around money, especially in smaller towns. Some German dude had to go ATM hunting when he found out the bone chapel was cash only... not sure why he was cashless given they are also on Euro, but he didn't seem pleased.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

National palace in Sintra.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

 

[indyblue]

They just don't build stuff like that anymore. Amazing craftsmanship without the luxury of modern power equipment.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

The mysterious inverted tower steeped in Templar myth

At the heart of Sintra's Quinta da Regaleira, a breath-taking initiation well celebrates Portugal's unique historical connection to the mysterious Knights Templar.

www.bbc.com

Is where these photos are from:

 

[Mij]

The well certainly looks Templar, thanks for showing me the extreme beauty. You can tell these peoples were great world travelers in their stone carving alone. Just terrific art.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

The well certainly looks Templar, thanks for showing me the extreme beauty. You can tell these peoples were great world travelers in their stone carving alone. Just terrific art.

It's certainly interesting, though the authenticity of Templar rituals being held there is questionable at best and would be a "revival " vs the church authorized entity it is still very intriguing.

The Islamic influence in the national palace was interesting as well, so many styles from all over as Porruguese traders brought back commercial goods from all over.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Internet says Portuguese average height is on par with American average height. Observations suggest otherwise. I'm 5'11" and I feel I'm significantly taller then way more people here then back home.

I'm also thinking I've cracked the obesity code. Cars. Like me experience in Paris, the city where cars are a PITA and people walk a lot more, the vast majority look thin or athletic. Get out in the car friendly areas and people get plumper. Food is the same, culture the same, etc. Has to be something else, and I seriously think it's routine walking more than the diet. Maybe all the coffee, too.

Cigarette machines are still a thing here. I very seldom see anyone smoke, though, and when I do it's typically people in their 50s or older.

Some things transcend culture but stick to generations. Young people use ear buds and text on their phones. If you hear a conversation or sometime watching a video or listening to music on a bus or train, it's Papaw or Nanna. 100% of the time.

Trains allow you to board then buy a ticket from the conductor. This is useful if ticket office is closed. Seat assignment is obligatory except in interurbans, which are more like above ground subways. We had someone in our seats this morning but they moved with an apology once I showed them our ticket, they hadn't bought seats yet and just grabbed some. 1st class was at maybe 10% capacity but our seats let us face each other with a table so we wanted ours over just grabbing another random row.