Portugal - Final Impressions

 Sebastian Will Come - In 1578, age 24, Sebastian, king of Portugal, led a military campaign into north Africa. The Portuguese troops were soundly defeated, and Sebastian was never seen again. This led to a crisis in the monarchy as he had no heirs. Unfortunately, the next in line for the throne was the king of Spain (because of alliances through marriages). Portugal was under Spanish rule for the next 60 years. Sebastian's disappearance, but not confirmed death, left hope when life was particularly bad under the Spanish. Sebastian will one day appear and save the people. "Sebastian will come again." It is still a hope that someone will one day make a better life for the people 

King Sebastian 

Wine - The Portuguese drink more wine per capital than any other nation, and the wine is very good. Portuguese wines are a blend of grapes from individual regions, so the wines are identified by region, not by grape. Because the wines are so good, it's typical to order the house wine at restaurants. Most wines are also very affordable.

Water - Water is never provided free. Water at restaurants comes in bottles, still or sparkling. We were even charged separately for the scotch and the water (don't judge) at a bar. In our hotels, we drank tap water although bottle water was offered.

Pastries/Bread - The Portuguese love their baked goods. They have a wide variety of styles, all very tasty, and we enjoyed a good many of them. Pastel de nata is a small custard tart which seemed to be made everywhere, and there is an ongoing competition to determine who makes the best one.

Olives - Olives are grown through the country and are offered at every lunch and dinner. Laurel also are olive bread at breakfast. While you wouldn't call an olive "fresh" they are not canned. You buy them loose in the brine, not in a jar.

Streets - The streets in the older parts of the cities are extremely narrow, usually made of cobblestones in various states of disrepair, and often very steep. Several times our drivers had to "thread the needle" to get through, with the modern electronics in the vehicles warning of impending scrapes with the walls. While walking, we occasionally had to move into a recessed doorway to let a car pass. So glad we were not driving.

People - It seemed like all of the people were very friendly, natives and tourists alike. We had virtually no language barriers, as almost everyone was quite fluent in English.

Our Trip - We were very glad to have two days in Èvora between Lisbon and Porto, just to have a break from the crowds. We were not there during the high season, but we often felt overwhelmed by the number of tourists in Lisbon, Sintra and Porto. 

The trains are fantastic. Several of the tourists we met rented cars to travel between cities, but we found the trains comfortable, on time and stress free. Trains seem the better way to get between cities for us.

There are regions of Portugal that we couldn't fit in this trip and would like to explore. Next time...