28 February 2015

PORTUGAL - 2014

It's 2015 and I'm talking about a holiday I took in the beginning of September 2014. Almost 8 months to bring my lazy ass to write this post. In my defense, my friend did take these 8 months to give me back my damn memory card so yeah lol but anyways!!

Portugal was absolutely extraordinary. Like I'm not even exaggerating I loved EVERYTHING about this country. The food, the friendly people, the weather, the atmosphere, ... I have rarely felt to welcome when I went abroad! 

My friends and I decided to go on a vacation together. We've known each other since high school but we never had that kind of "bonding" experiment so we were like "why not" and we did have a good time together! We first went to Lisbon (Alfama) for three days, then Pataias (between Lisbon and Porto, very close to the seaside) for 6 days and came back to Lisbon for a last night in the city before taking the plane back to Brussels.

It was kind of a long time ago so I can't tell you precisely what went on and that's not like it's necessary information anyways lmao. But there were lots of highlights, especially the food!! If you know me a bit you know that I am obsessed with food. It's actually a wonder I haven't turned this blog into a food blog but I have considered it many times -__- The thing is, the food in Portugal is very simple yet so good. All the ingredients are fresh and local and the prices are so cheap I couldn't believe the waiter when he told me that my entire meal (two courses + a drink + a coffee at the end) was 5€. Five. Euros. In total. In Belgium I'd have paid 20€++ at the very least. We kept asking him "are you serious? is it for real? you are sure we don't have to pay more??" and we were so astonished that we kept on tipping our waiters and waitresses very well lmao but they deserved it because the service was always faultless. Every service was faultless thanks to the Portuguese people's friendliness! We avoided touristy spots like the plague which is why we found so many nice restaurants. We of course went to BelĂ©m and had pasteis de nata :) it was very good!! But after two I was ready to explode lmao it's too sweet for my taste buds but an excellent treat anyway!

Another highlight was the flat we rented on our first couple of days in Lisbon. It was in Alfama, one of the oldest areas of the city if my memory serves right. Every street was a sinuous mountain to climb and it was a bitch the first day with our luggages but it was just so... PORTUGUESE. I'm sorry I can't find another word to describe this neighborhood. The houses were old but well kept, the streets, as I said, were a bitch to climb but it was always fun to watch my friends drag their asses up the street to the flat lmao. The man who rented us his flat was also extremely nice, to the point where he let us pay the rest of our fee at the end of our stay. "Just leave the money on the table it's not a problem!!" what kind of trustful man!! We also tipped him LMAO we tipped everybody because they all were so nice we felt compelled to give them extra money for their niceness :( Belgium has this reputation of being a friendly country but let me tell you: we, as a people, are rude as fuck and disgustingly cold compared to the people of Portugal.

The same can be said about Pataias, the little village we stayed in. My friend's dad had a flat there which is why we stayed in the village for so long. We had to bike for 16 kilometers a day to go to the beach but it was worth it. It was like a slice of heaven!! Very little people visited this beach, the sea was cold and moody but there was like this little "swimming pool" formed by the tide which was very warm and deep enough to just sit there in the water and relax. The restaurants were equally cheap and good. 

Anyways let the photo dump begin!!


Happy feet 
I wanted to dive into the water and hug him :(



Tiny shark

The fuck is this?? I called him Big Stone Fish





The Tiny Aquatic Buddies





















I was stuck at home on that day cuz I managed to fall into a bush full of thorns :( but the sky was magnificent







I will definitely go back there as soon as possible and maybe visit Algarve if I am able to!!

1 comment:

  1. I think the big stone fish is called an ocean sunfish? I saw something that looked like it in Animal Crossing, haha.

    Anyway, I'm glad you had a blast! Portugal looks great.

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