A Portuguesa
The title, translated into English means, the Portuguese. It also happens to be the title of the Portuguese national anthem. As I’m writing this, I’m on my flight home from Madrid, via a stop in Lisbon after spending the last ten days in Portugal. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
The first time that Portugal came to my attention was in October of 2016. At the time, I was on a tour of Spain. On the Tuesday morning of that week, our group was joined by a group of travelers from Portugal for the optional excursion to the monastery of Montserrat outside of Barcelona. I had visited the Iberian peninsula previously with France in 2012 and Spain in 2015. As I had Ireland in the cards for my next trip in 2017, returning to Iberia would have to wait.
Not long after the Ireland trip ended, I would begin to search for the next destination. But I wasn’t sure about where I should go next.I needed a sign and I got it via the Visit Lisboa Facebook page. Every post increased my desire to visit the city and the country. And it was decided that Portugal would be the next destination for 2018. I just needed to decide when the trip would be.
On the first work day of 2018, it was my midmorning break. I happened to be on the website of Gate 1 Travel looking at their newsletter, The Deal and the weekly specials contained within it. And by chance, the 10 Day Classic Portugal tour was on sale until that night. I made a judgement call and booked the trip. I settled upon 9/22 as the departure date as summer officially turned into fall. If waited until 8pm that night or later, the trip would’ve been $350 more. For a solo traveler, that money makes a lot of difference.
The hardest part of these trips is the waiting.It would be eight months between the reservation being confirmed and the departure date. But this year went by quickly. I blinked and the trip was paid for in May, blinked again and I got my travel documents in July and one more blink and it was already September. I made it through a short, but rough work week and it was finally time to get the trip started.
On Saturday night the 22nd, I would take the drive with my dad to JFK Airport. We arrived at terminal 7 and he parked the car. The trouble was finding where Iberia’s terminal was. I saw a lot of British Airways signage and nothing else.I would eventually find a small Iberia Airlines sign at the front of the terminal as the building was undergoing a renovation. I took a sigh of relief when I reached security and boarded the flight to Madrid. It was a turbulent flight but I woke up on Sunday morning and made the connecting flight to our first stop in Porto.
After going through baggage claim, it was time to transfer to the hotel, the NH Collection Bathala Square.I didn’t know it yet but the group of five women from New York that I shared the transfer with were part of our group. It was after 2pm when we got to the hotel and met our tour manager, Carlos. With the formalities and lunch completed, I explored what I could of the city before we met later that night. I stuck close to the hotel and visited the Se do Porto and the Sao Vento railway station. The latter is patterned with azulejho tiles wrapped around the building to complement the architecture of the building. It was a long hike up hills and uneven ground but worth it for both buildings beauty. That night we met for the first time and I realized that holding doors with a glass of wine in hand was a bad idea as it spilled over my clothes. I made my introduction to everyone. One of the group I knew prior to the trip, Fran as she answered my post when I asked if anyone in the Gate 1 Travel Facebook group was going.The dinner After the meeting we went to dinner in the hotel’s restaurant and as the night went on, the start of many a friendship would take hold.
The next morning began with a city tour of Porto by bus and with the help of a local guide, Antonia. Our bus wound its way through the city before reaching the first stop, the Palacio da Bolsa. The building was the city’s former stock market but it’s now the headquarters of the chamber of commerce. The building is a wonder by itself with its combination of tiles, glass windows and the coats of arms of multiple countries in the main hall. The next stop would be a familiar sight during the trip, a church visit to the Church of San Francisco. The day would wrap up across the river in the town of Villa Nova de Gaia. This town is famous for having every major producer of port wine being located here. We visited the Crofts winery for a tour and wine tasting. Of the there wines tasted, the tawny port was my favorite. But tonight, we had one more moment to do. It was the first optional excursion, a cruise down river Douro river follow by a tapas dinner with Portuguese specialties. Between the bliss of the cruise with a beautiful sunset, and the dinner with the moon in the night’s sky, it was a great end to the first full day together.
The second day in Porto was one at leisure. But in my case, I joined the trip to discover the country’s medieval past. We first started in the city of Guimares, the original capital of Portugal. From the castle at the top of the hill, we walked downhill to the city center. There was free time before continuing on and I walked to the cathedral with its garden zig zagging up to the entrance. I took a moment of quiet solemnity with another group member, Debbie before the bus arrived. After a sumptuous lunch with meat and copious amounts of vinho verde, we arrived in Braga where we’d complete a waking tour of the city in the heat of the day. We arrived back in Porto late in the day and with fellow travelers Jeanie and Mary, we took a walk that ended up with us at a gelato shop on the Rua Santa Catarina watching the sunset as we talked. The three of us would cross paths quite a bit as the week went on.
As we got to mid week, it was time to say goodbye to Porto. But first, we made a stop in the university town of Coimbra. As our bus pulled in, three girls in all black capes came to our bus selling pencils for their particular school. Those capes were the inspiration for the costumes used at Hogwarts in the Harry Potter series of books. We walked around the campus before visiting the sanctuary of the Bom Jesus, taking a group photo and having time for lunch. There would be a place in the city that Carlos recommended, Joao Dos Leites that made a really good suckling pig and about half of the group followed him to a crowded eatery. The pig was as good as advertised and crispy too as I ate the sandwich. We made one more stop at the holy shrine at Fatima. The shrine commemorates the series of apparitions that appeared in the location in 1917. It’s now a place of pilgrimage. With an hour and change to ourselves, I did something I’d not done in over 20 years, go to mass in the basilica. I didn’t understand Portuguese as much but the Lord’s prayer and the offerings of peace came in loud and clear. By nightfall, we made it to our hotel in Tomar and had dinner together.
As Thursday dawned from the balcony of my hotel room, it was time to hit the road again. The first stop of the day was a short trip to the convent of Christ. The convent belonged to the religious order, the Templar Knights. After walking around the length of the convent, we arrived in the town of Castell de Vide for lunch. We had a choice of shopping or taking the walking tour up to the castle and I chose the latter. It was the steepest uphill climb faced all week and the downhill was so steep that I needed the arms of my fellow travelers Jeanie and Laura to get me down the hill before reaching a solid path. With the arms of a gym teacher and physical therapist guiding me downhill, I was in good hands.Later in the day, we would arrive at the next stop of Evora and as the Sun set over the pool, we had dinner together.
The week would come to an end with a walking tour of the city of Evora. The city first came together d during Roman times as we came across ruins at the start of the tour before visiting the cathedral. We made our way to the town square where a surprise awaited us, the flaky pastry known as Quijoda. The downhill walk leads us to the bone chapel and it’s exactly as it sounds like with it being used as a burial site. After lunch, it was time for the drive to Lisbon.
We arrived in the capital city late in the day but my room wasn’t ready and Mary’s wasn’t clean. At her urging, we went to the reception desk and got the situation straightened out with free drink vouchers included. That night, we arrived in the Alfama district of the city at casa de Linhares for the dinner and fado show. Behind the blue doors we were treated to a sumptuous three course dinner of codfish for the majority of the group and turkey for me. A bit after 9pm, the first of four fado singers began to sing and though none of us knew the words, we felt the emotional impact of the songs for the rest of the night. The last singer was engaging with the audience to the point that her scales practice was being repeated by everyone in the audience. As the show ended, Lisbon glistened in the night’s sky on the drive back to the hotel.
Saturday began with a city tour of Lisbon with our local guide, Pedro. The tour started with a short walking tour of the Alfama section of the city. It’s here with its narrow streets and sweeping climbs that fado began. We even went through the narrowest street in the city on the way back to the bus. The next stop took us to a sight I wanted to see, the Torre de Belem. The thing about the tower is that it juts out into the river with a few of the riverfront to die for as you see the suspension bridge and the statue of Christ in the horizon. We then arrived at the Parc of Discoveries, a monument to the exploration of Portuguese seafaring put up during the Salazar dictatorship. The tour ended at the monastery of St Jerome where in the time we walked around it, Carlos had a surprise waiting for us, the custard tart desert known as Pasteis de Natal. As the rest of the bus visited the palace of Sintra, I visited the unorthodox church that’s home to the second religion of Lisbon, the Estadio da Luz, home to the football club, Sport e Lisboa Benfica. Between the museum and the stadium visit, I was wiped out for the day. I would take a walk into Rossio Square for an early dinner as I caught the sunset.
For our last full day together, we’d venture out into the countryside of Lisbon. Our first stop was the town of Obidos. I noticed that the buildings were whitewashed to keep the summer beat away and we had time to explore the town ourselves. At the end of the tour, we had another surprise, the local delicacy, a cherry liquor called, ginjha served in chocolate cups. You drink the liquor in the middle and eat the chocolate cup. You couldn’t get five feet in the town with someone selling it by the bottle. We arrived at the seaside town of Nazare in time for lunch. The sea, beach and the breeze made me so happy as I soaked it all in for the brief time we were there. But we weren’t done yet as we had one more cathedral to visit in Alcobasa. This church looks austere inside but inside you have the tombs of three kings, two queens and a mistress to complement the massive size of the building. On the road back to Lisbon, reality set in as we were given a gift and our departure letters. All that was left was the farewell dinner.
A quick change of outfit and a glass of tawny port later, I met up with the rest of the group for the last supper. We didn’t have to go very far as the restaurant, the king of codfish was nearby. The dinner was a lively one with us occupying the back tables of the place. After the main course, the toasts began with Carlos toasting all of us, then the only other solo traveler, Peter returned the favor. But as he ended his toast, I get up and deliver a toast of my own. I would be the last person who was leaving the hotel, so I felt the need to say my piece to the group. I thanked everyone for making me feel like I wasn’t alone though I was a solo traveler before toasting Carlos myself. As we all got off the bus, we said our goodbyes to each other in the lobby.
As I woke up this morning, I was in tears. I’ve taken four tours with Gate 1 Travel but you bond with everyone you meet. It makes the departure a painful experience.But I was able to see everyone before I left and with our specific group, the connections and blossoming friendships made over the last ten days will hopefully be kept.At 9:35 this morning, I said my goodbye to Carlos and made my way to the airport. It would be a day where my patience would be tested between the mad dash to reach my flights gate in Lisbon, and the transition from terminal 4 and 4S in Madrid with stops along the way to check my passport and exchange my Euros for U.S. Dollars. I would take a bus to reach my plane but here I am in my seat on the way back home to New York City.
I had a great time in Portugal, even through the cobblestones, hills and uneven ground. The eight months wait was worth every penny to see such a beautiful country. If you can go, do so as it’s an unforgettable experience. I hope to visit the country again in the future as part of an extended tour of the entire Iberian peninsula.But I’m ready to go home and see my family as I’ve missed them so much.
I have to say a big Obrigado to our tour manager Carlos, our drivers Miguel and Fernando, our local guides in Porto and Lisboa, Antonia and Pedro and our guide for the visit to the Crofts winery visit in Villa Nova de Gaia, Vivianna. All of you made this trip such an incredible experience. And of course, I want to thank the 40 fellow travelers that made up our group. Each one of them embraced me with open ears, eyes and open arms. I hope this is just goodbye for now and that we meet again on some sunny day.
As I say adeus to Portugal, the next adventure is waiting in the wings. I’ll likely be back in Europe next May on a river cruise down the Rhine with my sister from Amsterdam to Frankfurt. Where will my next group tour take me and it will be my fifth, that’s still to be determined. But now begins the mad dash to New Year’s Eve with 60 days to go. In an already eventful year, I still have a lot to look forward to!
