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From Setúbal To The Algarve
When we stumble more by luck than judgment on a tourist information office near the ferry point, the lady is more than eager to present us with a glossy booklet entitled “Setúbal, Portugal’s Best Kept Secret”. Well, there’s enough people here for it not to be called a secret, but, given how lovely the city and surrounding area is, it’s definitely surprising that Setúbal wouldn’t appear on most people’s list of favourite destinations in Portugal. It’s on ours, for sure. Setúbal has an old city centre of atmospheric narrow streets and alleys which open every now and again into exciting plazas (pracas) of varying sizes, each one buzzing with chatter…
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Continuing South: Sintra, Lisbon & Setubal
Obviously we can’t risk having the documents – you know, those documents which were in my wallet when some light fingered asshole lifted it from my pocket on the Porto metro – delivered to an airbnb apartment, especially when our stays are so short. No need to worry, DHL’s website says it’s incredibly simple to have your package delivered to one of their “Service Centres” where they will hold it for collection. Our friend Jason back home is now in possession of my replacement documents, so we send him, as instructed on said website, to his local DHL man, who refuses to help Jason and tells him it can only…
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Through Two Tourist Hotspots: Obidos & Sintra
Portugal is on fire. TV screens are filled with graphic footage of firefighters tackling any number of wildfire blazes throughout the interior and a state of emergency has been declared in some areas. Eyes in bars are glued to the screen, with much shaking of heads. On the train journey south from Braga, we pass under a gigantic smoke cloud drifting from some of those fires towards the coast, blocking out the sun for nearly an hour of the journey. After three changes and four trains – one of them unplanned as train number three unexpectedly aborts at Leiria – we alight at the rather remote station at Obidos which…
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Around Northern Portugal: Lamego-Amarante-Braga
As you approach Amarante by the road from the main A4 motorway, you could be forgiven for wondering what all the fuss is about, for at this point the absolutely lovely old town is hidden behind an array of modern structures, traffic islands, concrete and steel. Walk no more than 200 yards from the bus station, turn in to Rua 31 Janeiro, pass the lively traditional tabernas and head towards the São Gonçalo Bridge, and yet another enchanting town quickly reveals itself. And oh wow is it lovely. Almost impossibly lovely. The Rio Tamega flows slowly through the centre – serenely slowly, except now and again when it skips over…
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From Pinhão To Lamego Via The Police
I am, admittedly, a bit obsessive about checking my belongings – is the wallet still there? Is my phone safe? The bad side of doing this is that it’s obvious now that an adept pickpocket watches such things and therefore knows exactly where to pounce. The good side is, I knew within seconds that my wallet was gone, quickly enough to cancel the debit and credit cards before the scoundrel could do any damage. Plus of course, we didn’t have everything in one place, so the disaster of a stolen wallet is not total. We lost a handful of euros and those two cards, but our other cards and cash…
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Into The Douro Valley: Porto To Pinhāo And Back
“Philip, Michaela, welcome”, calls the beaming guy on the narrow pavement, all broad smiles and outstretched hand, “I am Luis, welcome to Pinhāo”. The fact that the owner of the hotel is out in the street to meet us, in this picturesque riverside town dwarfed by vine clad hillsides, ready with information about his town scribbled on a Post-It note, is the most perfect of welcomes. “Pinhāo, the authentic heart of the Douro Valley” reads a sign by the water. “The birthplace of port wine”, boasts a weathered awning above a shop window. Pinhāo sits tucked into the offside of a sweeping bend in the Douro where a tributary enters…
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Porto: Too Many Reasons To Be Cheerful
As twilight descends on the wide Douro river, the roof mounted lettering on the tops of buildings on the opposite bank light up to reveal Company names advertising their famous wares. Some of them are familiar – Sandemans, Cockburn’s, Taylor’s, Dow’s – others less so, but regardless of whether we know them or not, they are all big names in the business which is literally synonymous with this city. Porto isn’t just cheerful, it’s also full of cheer, contributing significantly to our and every other visitor’s alcoholic intake with its proud history of wine production relentlessly pushed at every corner. Reds, whites and vinho verde from the Douro Valley, port…
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A Tale Of Two Cities And A Kebab
It went something like this, you see. When we arrived home from the Philippines in late March, it meant that I would be spending my birthday at home instead of abroad for the first time since COVID (remember that?). So we looked at a quick city break, homing in on either of two European cities which had been on the wish list since ever, Porto and Mostar. But neither was straightforward. Easter airline prices were inflated enough to take Porto out of the equation, simply too many sovereigns for a quick city break. For Mostar, it was more a case of logistics, it’s too time consuming to get to for…
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Samaipata: Finding Our Happy Place
You know how it works. Places are never quite how you picture them to be: some places exceed expectations, some don’t quite get there, some turn out to be completely different from how you imagine, one way or another. It’s quite rare that somewhere is precisely what you were hoping for, and is the perfect setting for the next part of your travel plan. Samaipata is exactly that. We pictured as our last destination on this fabulous journey a quiet, peaceful village surrounded by beautiful scenery, maybe an apartment with fabulous views, where we could relax and enjoy our last few days, maybe meet a few people, become, albeit briefly,…
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Sucre: In The Footsteps Of Dinosaurs
No doubt about it, the centre of the city of Sucre is beautiful. Picture a city brimming with grandiose white buildings, each looking as if they’ve had a recent paint job from top to bottom, where armies of street cleaners are busy sweeping the sidewalks, where a battalion of gardeners are tending to every ornate corner of each smart plaza. Sucre is a city with all the grandeur of a Spanish gem, all the majesty of Vienna, but on a much smaller scale than either. Add a calm, relaxed atmosphere and one of the lowest crime rates of all South American cities and you have a very pleasing and welcoming…
