13/8 Porto
The next day we left Spain crossing the border into Portugal where our first stop was Porto. After discovering the first campsite we went to had disappeared we headed to a campsite on the other side of time near the beach at Saligouous in Gaia. The campsite was quite different from some of the previous ones so far. This looked as though it was full of permanent residents complete with their own gardens on some pitches. Later though we decided that this may be their alternative to a holiday home as many of the homely looking pitches were closed up. We caught the bus into Porto and after the journey we were feeling a bit peckish. We had read that there is a sandwich (francesionos) that Porto is famous for so we thought we would give it a try. Basically it is an assortment of meat (at least 4 types I think) in between bread with a fried egg on top all smothered in grilled cheese and a special sauce. If that wasn't enough calories it also comes with a huge bowl of fries. This is one of those times that when the food arrived we wondered why we didn't decide just to share one. I don't think I'll be having one of these again but I could imagine it would be a good alternative to a Full English to help a hangover. Feeling full but a little ill we headed to Torredos Denigos - Portugals highest tower. We climbed the 225 steps up the tower which was built between 1754 and 1763 and were rewarded with a good view of the city. Marcus' top travelling tip: Always climb the highest building you can find. We then went to a port shop where we decided to buy a few bottles of white and tawny. We then looked at a little market before heading to a book shop. It wasn't any ordinary bookshop it was actually rather spectacular with a very grand staircase and glass ceiling. I think there were more tourists than patrons in there though. Next we walked around the town and looked at the cathedral & the palace de Bolsa, along the waterfront and back to the campsite as the mist returned. We had our first port in Porto, a white port with Lemon and Tonic Water, our new favourite hot weather drink.
14/8 Porto Day 2
We decided to stay 2 nights in Porto (even better when we discovered that the campsite was only
€20 for both nights). So on our second day we decided to go to one of the port caves for a taste of the local tipple. Porto is situated either side of a river with steep hills on either side so there are caves all along the south side. We wandered up the river looking at all the port houses until we found one that had a tour leaving, The tour was well done and not too long or touristy and we learnt a lot about port before sampling a few. We even brought a bottle of tawny. Not just white port on this trip. We thought about taking a ride in one of the boats they used to use to transport the port barrels but with the tourists all clamoring aboard we decided it was not our scene Back to the campsite to chill out and another night at Uno (although Marcus hadn't been as willing to play as Jess had hoped so far throughout the trip).
15/8 Bussaco Forest
Today we headed away from Porto further south into Portugal to the Bussaco Forest which is a walled forest where monks used to live tending the trees. We walked through the forest and saw many buildings and Jesus related statues as well as the Palace hotel where you could stay, although it was out of budget for this trip. It was nice and relaxing and although the town was a bit touristy it was not rushed and busy like it had been in many of the other places we had visited so far. After deciding we had done well walking up and down the hilly tracks we slowly wandered back to the van. Along the way we picked up some fresh (and yummy) coconut bread from a local stall and filled up our bottles with fresh spring water from the fountain at the town of Luso before finding another roadside rest stop for the night.
16/8 Lisbon
The following day we drove to Lisbon and stayed at a cool campsite with lots of trees and we were able to park where ever we chose (not like camping in the UK where the demand exactly where you park - apparently due to fire safety). We had a quiet afternoon of doing chores and a swim at the campsite pool before venturing into town for dinner. We heard that Bairo Alto was the place to be at night so thought we would check it out. It was definitely the place to go out, with lots of trendy bars tucked into the streets. We stopped for a drink in a place with random decorations and cool looking people hanging out before moving on to dinner. Unfortunately we weren't too impressed with the food. We made the mistake of going where the people were rather than with the menu and unfortunately the people were all tourists. Got to help an English family who were more lost than we were orient themselves in the city though . Lisbon is built on a series of hills and Bario Alto is up on one of them so after dinner we went for a walk and found a square overlooking the main city where we got to see the pretty lights of night time Lisbon.
17/8 Lisbon day 2
We planned to stay two nights in Lisbon so today we headed off to see the sights. First up we went to Belem, which is an old area on the way to the main city. There we had their special custard tarts, Pastrjese of Belem, which were first made in 1837 although ours were much fresher. Yum! We had seen the queue going right down the road the night before so were lucky to time it a bit better and not have to wait long. Unfortunately we were not so lucky about seeing the monastery across the road. We stood in a very long and hot queue for about 45 minutes. However, it was a very pretty building with lots of parlours - typically portuguese gothic which is called Manueline. Then we headed into town and made use of our daily travel pass by using the elevador (the first elevator originally run by steam but now by electricity). It takes you up the hill we were at the night before. It is supposed to be a tourist attraction but considering it goes so fast you can't see anything it was probably one worth missing. After walking back down again we then headed up the hill on the other side of the city centre (a rather hot and sweaty walk) to see the fortress/palace which overlooked the city. We saw both baby peacocks and baby kittens at the archaeological site and we enjoyed good views across the harbour. Not the best castle we have seen but certainly worth a visit if you are in town. We then wandered back down the hill and to the large square in front of the Portguese Parliament at the waterfront before jumping on the bus and heading back to the campsite sufficiently walked out for the day.
18/8 Olhao (near Faro)
It was an unscheduled stop in Portugal today but we decided we needed to break up the trip before moving into Spain. We walked around the salt flats trying to find a beach, but the beach was a bit muddy and yuck so we ended up chilling out in the sun at the campsite for a much needed rest day. We knew we were getting further south, It was HOT!
https://picasaweb.google.com/JessicaLMcMillan/August2011VanTourPortugal
Today we headed away from Porto further south into Portugal to the Bussaco Forest which is a walled forest where monks used to live tending the trees. We walked through the forest and saw many buildings and Jesus related statues as well as the Palace hotel where you could stay, although it was out of budget for this trip. It was nice and relaxing and although the town was a bit touristy it was not rushed and busy like it had been in many of the other places we had visited so far. After deciding we had done well walking up and down the hilly tracks we slowly wandered back to the van. Along the way we picked up some fresh (and yummy) coconut bread from a local stall and filled up our bottles with fresh spring water from the fountain at the town of Luso before finding another roadside rest stop for the night.
We planned to stay two nights in Lisbon so today we headed off to see the sights. First up we went to Belem, which is an old area on the way to the main city. There we had their special custard tarts, Pastrjese of Belem, which were first made in 1837 although ours were much fresher. Yum! We had seen the queue going right down the road the night before so were lucky to time it a bit better and not have to wait long. Unfortunately we were not so lucky about seeing the monastery across the road. We stood in a very long and hot queue for about 45 minutes. However, it was a very pretty building with lots of parlours - typically portuguese gothic which is called Manueline. Then we headed into town and made use of our daily travel pass by using the elevador (the first elevator originally run by steam but now by electricity). It takes you up the hill we were at the night before. It is supposed to be a tourist attraction but considering it goes so fast you can't see anything it was probably one worth missing. After walking back down again we then headed up the hill on the other side of the city centre (a rather hot and sweaty walk) to see the fortress/palace which overlooked the city. We saw both baby peacocks and baby kittens at the archaeological site and we enjoyed good views across the harbour. Not the best castle we have seen but certainly worth a visit if you are in town. We then wandered back down the hill and to the large square in front of the Portguese Parliament at the waterfront before jumping on the bus and heading back to the campsite sufficiently walked out for the day.
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