Portugal!

For a long weekend in November I went with my friend Julia to Portugal! I was really excited to get to visit another country that my ancestors are from and learn a little more about it's history. I flew into Lisbon and headed to my hostel, and immediately went on the walking tour with the hostel! Have to make every second count! 

One of the amazing things about Portugal is all of the tile. The ground is tiled, the buildings are tiled, the walls are tiled, everything is tiled and it's absolutely beautiful! Here is some representing all of the Portuguese explorers. 

 These trams are very famous in Lisbon and were actually imported from America. They climb up and down the extremely steep hills and are from the 19th century.

 Amazing tile! I couldn't get over it.

 Lisbon is the capital of Portugal and is considered the oldest city in Western Europe and one of the oldest in the world. It was previously ruled by Germanic tribes in the 5th century, captured by the Moors in the 8th century, and was recaptured by crusaders in the 12th century. 

 We tried famous Portuguese cheese and mulled wine at a Christmas market! 

 We traveled to the nearby city of Belem to see the coast! About 20-30 minutes from the center of Lisbon.

 This is the symbol of Portugal! Any country that has been colonized by Portugal in the world, has this ground.  Crazy!

 Look what I found! The Golden Gate Bridge! It is actually the "25th of April Bridge", named after the revolution of April 25, 1974. It was built in 1966 and is actually longer than the Golden Gate at around 1.5 miles. Coincidentally, it was built by the American Bridge Company who built the Bay Bridge! (not the GG, though) Interesting, eh?

 This is the "Monument to the Discoveries," commemorating where the ships used to go up the Tagus River to explore and trade with India and other parts of Asia during the 15th and 16th centuries.

 Oh gosh, so I am writing this about two months after being in Portugal and let me tell you, I was so naive about the cold that I was going to experience...In Spain before I left for Portugal it was in the 40s-50s and I was dyinggg. When we got to Portugal and it was in the 60s-70s, sun shining, only one layer on, I was living my best life. Little did I know what REAL cold I was about to experience just a month later in Eastern Europe. Ugh. More to come on that later.

 Loving that Atlantic Ocean!

 This is why we came to Belem! The "Pastel de Nata" or egg tart pastry! You might have seen these in other countries, Brazil, places with heavy Portuguese influence, etc. I had them in Hong Kong, but they were created right here in a Monastery by Catholic monks in the 18th century! The monks used the egg whites to clean their clothes and used the leftover yolks to make these cakes. During the Liberal Revolution of 1820 the monks started selling the pastries for revenue and in 1834 the monastery was closed and they sold the recipe to a sugar refinery. The owners of the refinery opened the Fabrica de Pasteis de Belem in 1837 and their descendants still own the business to this day. The story today is there are two men who know the original recipe and they are never allowed to be together at any time, just in case something happens to one of them and they switch off coming in to make the pastries. That's some serious business!

 Lisbon!

We took the train to Porto! The train station's name was Apolonia, like from Godfather!

 Porto was beautiful and very untouched!

 Boas Festas!

 Some of my favorite tiles that I saw! The train station in Porto. Love this. 

 A pano of the inside of the train station and it's tile.

 The Douro River on such a beautiful day!

 Walking along the River and loving the buildings!

 This is the famous dish of Porto...It is called Francesinha and is a sandwich of a sort. It is said that they tried to adapt the Croque-Monsieur to Portuguese taste. It consists of bread stuffed with ham, sausage, steak, etc., and then covered in cheese. The important part is the sauce, made of tomatoes and beer. This can make or break this sandwich and people have very strong opinions about it all around Portugal, but especially in Porto. Like in Belem, it is a secret sauce and must be done right! It is also served with french fries, just in case your arteries weren't clogged enough.

 Julia and I enjoying Porto!

 Going Port tasting at Taylor Fladgate's, one of the oldest suppliers of Port in the world! Fun fact: Even though Port is from Portugal and can only be called Port if it's from Porto, it is not a Portuguese export but, British! In the 1800s the British came over, and liked the taste of this wine and that it could last the whole journey home, so they got involved in the trade and it soon became a gentleman's club. Most people from Porto don't drink Port and it's not as big of a deal to them as it is to the British.

 Famous white Port!

 Another cool thing about Porto is that JK Rowling taught English here for some years. She married a Portuguese man, had a kid, got divorced from him and apparently Portugal is not letting this go! Lol. There are many rumors and she has mentioned that she either got the idea for Harry Potter or an idea or two or wrote some of it in the bookstore. Who really knows? But I had to go, obvi. It is called the Livraria Lello  and was also named one of the most beautiful bookstores in the world! I must say, it didn't disappoint! 

She got the idea for the moving staircases from this here staircase!

 If only I had extra time to just hang out here!

 One last tile wall for the road!

Portugal did not disappoint! I heard it was great but had no expectations and was extremely surprised and loved to learn a little about where I sorta kinda come from! It was really nice and I hope I can go back one day and learn more.

"Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, if only one remembers to turn on the light." -Albus Dumbledore