Portugal – A road trip back in history

Portugal is a wonderful country! (if you have been there jump to the next paragraph). It’s my feeling that Portugal is a little bit like Switzerland. Americans go to Europe and visit London, France and Italy. They don’t go to Switzerland or Portugal. I wonder why, because both countries offer such a variety of landscapes and experiences in short distances. To give you an idea of sizes for comparison – the area of Switzerland is 42,000 km2 (16,000 sq mi); Portugal 92,00 km2 (36,000sq mi); New York State 141,000 km2 (55,000 sq mi)

The best way into Portugal is through Lisbon. We flew nonstop with TAP the National Airline in a brand new Airbus 330. In less than 6 hours, with a strong tailwind, we landed in Lisbon and spent a few days in this incredible interesting city ( I will write a separate blog about Lisbon). To see the south of the country, we rented a car directly through Sixt and explored Alentejo and the Algarve. Knowing how narrow the roads can be in Portugal and in some of the smaller towns, I made sure we had a small car. 90 degree corners are hard to take even with small cars.

Landscape
The moment you leave Lisbon you are transported into deep countryside. We took side roads and entered another world of the Alentejo (the region from the Targus south to the Algarve). The Alentejo has rolling hills and a lot of mountain forts and whitewashed villages. The roads are virtually traffic-free. On the left and right you could see dense rows of cork oaks. Every 10 years the trees are hand-harvested of its bark. 60% of the global cork trade originates in Portugal.
Besides the cork trees, we passed twisted olive trees as far as the eye can see. The vineyards are very tidy and quite appealing to the eye.

Via Sines. the birthplace of Vasca da Gama, we arrived at our final destination of the day in the charming town Vila Nova de Milfontes. Our wonderful hotel overlooked the small town square. If you feel like having the best seafood and spectacular views, the place to eat “A Choupana”. This restaurant overlooks the Atlantic. The sunsets are spectacular and the local wines are very fine.

The following day we took to the road again and drove to the Algarve. The Algarve is most famous its stunning coastline. It was the Algarve that shot Portugal to prominence in the 15th century when Henry the Navigator opened up a school of navigation at Sagres. We enjoyed a few wonderful days in the Algarve and explored the coast line, beaches, small fishing villages and good food.

On our way back to Lisbon we were amazed by the beauty of the towns and the Alentejo landscape. This time we drove close along the Spanish border.

Small towns history
Walking around in some of those old towns you are transformed back in history. When you walk on the cobblestone streets, a peaceful feeling overcomes you. The Romans set their signature as early as the second century B.C. on the Alentejo. In the following centuries the Moors (refers to the Muslims of the Maghreb, North Africa, Sicily, Malta), Christians, and others battled over the region.
Towns like Monsaraz, Évora, Marvão. Obidos and Sintra are jewels to explore. Monsaraz and Marvão were originally built as forts against invasion from nearby Spain. Évora is an UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Everywhere you go you see that the people of Portugal are proud of their history and it is in their heart to keep it that way. When you get out early morning you hear a familiar sound in the small streets. The owners and their brooms in front of their homes keeping it clean.

Food & Wine
The cooking of Portugal is very different from that of Spain. The Portuguese sailors discovered the routes to India, Asia and the Americas. The Portuguese cuisine can be divided into the North and South. The South, with its gently rolling, wheat-producing southern provinces, bread is all-important. The south is a land where the cuisine speaks of the sun. Olive trees grow widely. Faldo Verde, literally “green soup” is delicious. With the long coastline, seafood is dominant with its well known Sardines.. The seafood comes in a big variety, broiled, stewed ,baked, or steamed. And just in case you love coffee, this is an other great reason to visit Portugal.

The culinary highlight on this trip was an extraordinary dinner at “Momentos” in Evora. Joana Marques at the reception of our “Vitória Stone Hotel” suggested this insider restaurant. Le chef showed us different meat, fish and vegetables. He then cooked the food with all those wonderful flavors you can find in Portugal. A delight. Paired with a local red wine …… 🙂

As you can read and see with these few pictures, Portugal is inviting you. It will be a trip you will never forget. There might be a “danger” that you want to return. If so, maybe we’ll meet each other at one of the many coffee houses, siping a creamy double espresso.

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