Day 42 Friday 27 September

The sun is certainly out in force this week; not that it is a complaint – its just a fair bit warmer than what one would expect for this time of year. Given the sun and our need to escape the confines of the crowded city today we headed west out to the seaside town of Cascais which is a half an hour train ride for one zip zap of our card – not even €2. The western line is down the hill from our accommodation, and an easy 10 minute walk.

Before the Algarve became popular, Cascais was the haunt of Portugals rich and beautiful, made popular by a Portuguese queen in the early 1900’s. Today its an easy and inviting escape from the city with pleasant beaches, cooling breezes and a relaxing seaside ambience. The town has a small fishing industry, a long palm lined promenade and lots of shops and accommodation for local and further afield tourists.

After our 30 minute pleasant train ride, we set off along the attractive if not a bit trippy wave motif cobbled town streets. It seemed time for a cuppa and snack so we settled on a cafe, shared a too sweet cake and attended to the obligatory free comfort stop. We browsed shops but couldn’t find anything suitable for gifts or ourselves, including sardines of which I refuse to pay €8-14 a can for…. I did sit on the sardine throne for fun though.

We had hoped for fewer crowds but as it happens there was a big international iron man competition on. It was a bustling event atmosphere with bronzed and lean muscled competitors with serious faces and expensive kitted out bikes being supported by even more people also enjoying the sun, sea and restaurants.

As we were strolling a policeman stopped us and gave us a brochure and some neat ring tags that are pick pocket deterrents. He apologised for stopping us, said he had nothing to sell but wanted us to be very careful of pick pockets and enjoy our stay. Rather nice touch, but sad reality of the world over here. So far so good – no losses to light fingered opportunists yet.

Further on in our exploring we stopped at a sushi place for lunch where there was actually some chicken on the menu for Vern. He has teased me that there are no chickens in Portugal as we have seen none of the famous Portuguese chicken on the menu yet. Lunch was pleasant but nowhere near the standard of what you get at home. Cascais was pretty, but not of the caliber of other western Europe beaches like San Sebastian that we have been to.

On the way back home we stopped at Belém to do a few of the points of interest there. Belém is about 5 miles west of downtown Lisbon and has a few good sights from Portugals Golden Age when Vasco da Gama and his supporters turned the country into Europes wealthiest power.

Belém was the sending off point for voyages in the Age of Discovery as it is positioned along the wide river, close to where it meets the sea. The other notable fact about Belém is that it survived the 1755 earthquake, so it has more of the original buildings than the flatter parts of downtown.

We spent a pleasant if not very hot few hours wandering along the river bank, marvelling at the big fish in the marina, the huge Monument to Discoveries and Belém tower. The tower was the first and last sight that sailors saw, and modern day travellers would see when entering the harbour/river. A few words on the river – it is large, long, deep and clean and a really scenic border to the city. There are a few park areas, but really a bit scrubby and not that flash except one in front of the monastery in Belém. Compared to other riviera we have seen, they are missing a lot of potential for lovely places for people to relax – especially for a hot, stoney city.

The Monument to Discoveries was first built in 1940 but was rebuilt in 1960 to honour the 500th anniversary of the death of Prince Henry the Navigator. You can go up the elevator for a view – which we passed on, or simply admire its 170ft splendour. It depicts that exploring the world was a team effort with the Prince at the lead with his brave supporters following. On the other sides are Vasco and King Manuel.

On the way home we decided to stop in at the markets for dinner, and enjoyed another one of those steak sandwiches and Iberian Pork Cheeks with cabbage and creamy mashed potato before making our way slowly but surely up the hill home. Nomy nom nom dinner award. Around 16,000 steps today I guess – my exercise watch was flat so stopped reading half way. Regardless of what a watch tells me, this city is hard exercise work – lots of steep (and I mean steep) hills, lots of people, hard and uneven cobbled roads that require effort and concentration, and very warm weather. Just as well for all the food once consumes!

Lisbon’s people are nice, and it certainly is attractive in its own way – the river accounting for a lot of the charm especially with its red look alike Golden Gate Bridge spanning across its blue waters and the hilly city framing its banks. However, in comparison I personally prefer Porto – it just seemed ‘easier’ and more Portuguese. It certainly was easier to find a local corner and locals living ordinary lives. Lisbon is so busy, overrun with tourists, and is a lot bigger. So those little local corners are harder to find. I am sure they exist, but one may need more time and have to go further afield to discover and experience them. I also felt Porto had more charm, with its shabby chic historic old town as alive today as it was hundred of years ago. All of this reflection of course after I have moved on from my initial impressions and shock of the seedy side of Porto.