"Would You Like Smashed Spinach With That?" -- My Portugal Trip

So my 9 day excursion through Portugal began in Lisbon, then through the Algarve-many beaches-, up to Porto, spent Easter in the holy city of Fatima before leaving Lisbon back home to Barca.

My Interpretation of Portugal
It seems to me that if Barcelona was New York, Lisbon would be New Jersey. Just the trees, the infrastructure, reminded me of Jersey. Friends spoke of Eastern Europe even. Portugal, despite it's dreary, mournful feel (maybe because it was just raining a lot when I was there), has a type of longing about it that draws me in a deeper sense. I can definitely see myself retiring in a place like Cascais.

I think the most notable quality of Portugal is how giving, sincere, and wonderful the people are. It seems as if most are small-town folk, uncorrupted & innocent. I love that. The service everywhere was so genuine and attentive. If the way to a man's heart is his stomach, the way to my heart is good customer service.

The Algarve
This beautiful region to the South of Portugal is home to a multitude of beaches.














Lagos Marina:


Twin Peaks:


Yeah, I'm going to say this picture is blurry because I'd been drinking.


Where babies come from:

(Storks, not Portugal)

When I get bored during drives between beaches I like to put bugles on my fingers and pretend they're witch nails...






Cataplana:


At peace



Lisbon + Surrounding Area
Lisbon:Sintra:Palacio da Pena, SintraBelem:






Cabo da Roca (Most Western Point of Europe):


One of my favorite memories of Lisbon is dancing the night away in Barrio Alto with a Brazilian samba teacher to a live samba band and sipping caiparihas all night... The floor cleared just for us to dance.... There was also a very nice bartender Claudio giving us all these shots. All in all, the people were very welcoming to us, and very friendly.

Perhaps my favorite memory was visiting Nuno's villa in Cascais:


And cooking dinner there:


And generally the customer service at Lisbon may be even better than the United States (because it seems more genuine, not like they are tip-hungry). Maybe because the service in Barcelona is horrible. The service at some Lisbon restaurants almost made me cry. And when one waiter said "Would you like smashed spinach with that?" it almost made me cry from laughing so hard.

Porto
It seemed to me that Porto was trapped in the 80s - about 20 years behind schedule. I took the time to explore this city solo, but some of my favorite memories of Portugal came from this city. The Palacio do Porto (Stock Exchange):


A beautiful view from a street in the Ribeira:


Recap:
I think what most represents the Portugal that I see can be summarized by the atmosphere of this song "Kiss Me" by David Fonseca, a native Portuguese singer: Romantic, simple, genuine, wholesome, beautiful, peaceful.