A very long time ago I traveled with my father to Portugal. We spent most of our time in Lisbon (Lisboa), but my dad had arranged for us to spend Christmas Eve at a castle outside the capital. The only other guests were an older couple – originally from Estonia (although they didn’t meet until they moved to their new homeland) – that lived in Faro. They invited us to follow them the next day down south – we had drinks at their home and dinner at a local gem.
More years (than I like to admit) have gone by, and I decided it was time to re-visit the oldest country in Europe.
After some weirdly routed flights (going through Dublin just seems puzzling), I was happy to hop on the super-easy-to-navigate subway and drag my luggage and exhausted self to the historic Corpo Santo hotel. Part of the claim to historic-ness is that it’s built on top of a piece of wall from the 14th century. In addition to having notable ties to the past, the hotel prides itself on special amenities. They sent up a welcome gift (wine and snacks), there’s an included minibar (Coke Zero!) and the lobby hosts unlimited soft serve ice cream along with several jars of gummy candy and mixed nuts with paper bags waiting to be filled. Plus, there’s daily happy hour wine / food tastings and walking tours.
One other cool thing is that the shower has ‘mood’ options. Hitting different buttons on a keypad prompts various music and lighting to fill the stall.
My arrival day was spent checking out the neighborhood – we’re near the river Tagus which is fun to stroll by, complete with a man creating rock sculptures.
Day 2, I decided to check out the offered escorted jaunt. This is not for the slow-poke meanderer – it’s a 2 hour outing with lots of knowledge and lots of hills.
First, we saw the famous aforementioned 14th century wall (with a fun etching in the stone) and learned about the 1755 disaster. On November 1st, while many were celebrating All Saints’ Day, with candles alit across the city, a major earthquake hit. Candles toppled, buildings caught fire and to make things worse, a tsunami struck. After that somber story, we headed out into the sunshine to see and learn more.
One stop was to the Church of St. Anthony. The church is constructed on top of his birthplace – that’s the second building I’d heard about in the span of an hour that was erected on top of another structure….
The story goes that St. Anthony was known for fulfilling miracle love connections. I had a little mental conversation with him inside the church. We’ll see if he listened…
Day 3, I grabbed an easy train to Sintra, a cute town that used to be a summer resort for kings in the 14th century (references to that century seem to pop up a decent amount).
Having only spent a few hours there, I just scratched the surface, but it had great views and lot of nature.
On Wednesday, it was time to head back to the airport – but not to leave this beautiful land, rather to explore even more. After a 2ish hour flight, I landed on São Miguel, the largest of 9 islands that make up the Azores (Açores).
Staying in the most populated area, Ponta Delgada (the island holds about 140,000 residents, with approximately 47,000 of them in this main city), there were many quaint, narrow streets to wander, with plenty of exposure to the Atlantic Ocean. But the island holds many treasures outside of the bustling metropolis. Today, I took a small-group tour, and the majestic scenery and fascinating facts were peppered throughout the experience.
We started at the pineapple plantation. Pineapples wouldn’t normally flourish in this climate but when the main crop, oranges, were no longer viable due to an orange-attacking-disease, the locals needed to come up with a solution. These completely organic pineapples are grown in greenhouses helping them to thrive via the manmade humid/hot climate. I also learned that it takes about 2 years for a pineapple to be born, go through pineapple-gestation and become mature enough to be eaten.
After gaining a lot more respect for the fruit I’ve been devouring here, it was time to visit the 7 cities (Sete Cidades) which is in the center of a volcanic crater. Oh right, São Miguel is the most volcanically active land mass in the Azores. Yikes! But, it’s also the only island with a hospital. Corvo, the smallest islet, with a population of 324 people (according to Wikipedia), has only 1 police officer (according to the guide)… so each area in this archipelago has its quirks.
We went way high up in the mountains and saw gorgeous lake after gorgeous lake.
Seriously not a bad looking lago in the bunch!
After a break for a delicious meal (most everything came from the land or nearby waters), the expedition continued to Caldeira Velha, with lush greenery, a waterfall and thermal pools. While there, a rooster ambled by, which was exciting because the crowing birds symbolize good luck in Portugal.
The last location on the agenda was the liquor factory “Mulher de Capote”. One of the owners provided a little background and a lot of samples. The blackberry liqueur was quite pleasant. A nice way to say “saúde” to a fantastic excursion!