Portugal, magnet for travellers

On plastic chairs with a bag instead of a pillow, and a hand on the suitcase; the night at the Lisbon airport turned into morning I son longed for. Quickly brushing my teeth and armpits at the airport loo I made my way into the crowd at the subway of one of the oldest towns in Europe. Houses, decorated with blue and white tiles, with small balconies full of blooming flowers and souvenir shops, which lead you straight to the Baix – or the lower town. Blue sky, covered with fluffy white clouds, lots of sunshine around the arch de triumph. Just entering the historical centre of the city is a great experience in itself. But it wasn’t always like that. The large part of the city was demolished in the earthquake in 1755 and had to be rebuilt. The Baix was, ever since, organized as a network, where the main street – Rua Augusta – pierces straight through the heart of the city. It resembles the famous Rambla in Barcelona. Both are similarly wide, with street art being the main attraction. You can find many actors dressed as mythical creatures, film or book characters etc. Most of these statues will only move, when a few coins fall into their hats. The naughtier of the statuses might hug you and not let you go, until some more cash is being paid.

There are also many cafes at Rua Augusta, so typical for large city streets, which offer snacks, warm beverages and souvenirs. And you can, on the street, also get hashish. There will be many men whispering “hash, hash” if you want to buy it. Some will even offer and show you the bar of this brown substance made from Cannabis. Smuggling is pretty easy, due to the compressed form of marihuana, so the hashish route from Morocco over the Gibraltar to Portugal brings in quite a profit. Rua Augusta is also known as a shopping street. Clothes stores are similar as back home, but are between boutiques with exquisite lingerie, superb socks and stores with unique gifts.

Following the street we arrive to the Rossio Square, which is the most vivid square in the city. It’s paved with grey and black granite cubes, which form two coloured waves and mimic the sea. In the middle is a huge baroque fountain with a statue, which is dedicated to Dom Pedro IV – one of the Portuguese kings of the past. The city also features seven hills (like ancient Rome) and has steep narrow streets. There are three lift carts to help you negotiate the altitude and one public elevator “Elevator de Santa Justa”, constructed by Ponsard, the understudy of the famous Gustaf Eiffel.

The hills are not the symbol of Lisbon alone, but they are also the symbol of Viseu. A slow 300 kilometre ride from the capitol will show you the beautiful landscape. Autumn colours will decorate the low wine grapes, fogs will cover rivers, lakes and swamps, horses and donkeys will graze in their corrals… Once the road starts ascending, vegetation will change. The smell of earth and moist will get stronger and rivers will be narrower and the water more rapid. Wine grapes, olive trees and pine trees will be replaced by slender eucalyptus. The whole atmosphere became surreal like in the “evening fairy-tale” by Strniša.

After a large breakfast we took the rented car and head for Porto. The city stretches on both sides of the Douro river, connected by the Ponte Luís I bridge. Colourful houses along the river remind me of beehives and the swinging boats give the feeling time stood still. In the past, the boats – named barcos rabelos – were used to transport barrels from wine cellars. In them port – which is today transported by trucks – was moved around. The intoxicating beverage which usually has between 18 and 21 % of alcohol is renowned all around the world. On the other river bank, in the town of Vila Nova de Gaia, are some 60 wine cellars, all full of port. We tried some of the sweet red wine, which ripened in bottles. It tasted of plumbs, raisins, cherries and had the fragrance of fruit spirits.

You can also order – and they go great along with tasty wine – toast or various sandwiches, and those with more experience – or simply hungrier – can go for francesinha (or the calorie bomb, as we named it). Francesinha is a sandwich that originates from Port and was supposed to be made by a Frenchmen who came to town. Made from two toasted bread-pieces with sliced ham and baked, cut pork sausages, along with beef tongue. It’s all covered with melted cheese and served in tomato sauce along with beer. Every restaurant has its own secret recepy, so the sauces and some other herbs and spices, may vary. Francesinha especial also has an egg – sunny side up – on top of the cheese and is served with a side order of fries. It has around 1.200 calories. Since we needed to get our strength up for the rest of our exploration, we decided to get our dose of calories, and headed back to Viseu.

Before leaving, we decided to try out the night life of the city. Our host took us to centre – to the hill with the Viseu cathedral. We stopped at the Boquinhas, where all the local students come to get drunk for the first time in the city. It accepts around 20 people at once – including both barmen. The older waitress gave us sweet wall nut spirit. We toasted with it, with a loud »Oooopa.« Students usually drink their drinks in front of the entrance and those inside play various instruments. With mandolins and guitars, drums and singing vocals, they perform quick rhythms not quite unlike our Balkan beats. Behind a three foot bar there are shelves full of nuts, chips, gum and small glasses for strong liquors. Walls are full of old and yellowish photos, old calendars and leaves torn from books. And a sticker of Obama with a short dring in his hand decorates the tiles behind the bar.

Students, dressed in black capes, went up from Boquinhasa to pubs uphill. And we followed them. It felt like walking into a Harry Potter movie. The long capes were swaying in the wind along the walls of the old city. The freshman have to compete severely to earn the right to wear the cape. One of such trials is to spend a day with the student who bought you at the auction and becomes your master for 24 hours straight. If you can cope with that and get a heavily overpriced cape and some other clothes – which a freshman can wear only on special occasion – you might earn the right. If you break the rules though, you might end up on a special honour court.

But there is no court to punish you for the drunken vodka with absinth, which the locals drink like water. They splash the drink down their throat, shake it off and bit into a lemon. They also love to order plates with snacks along with drinks. They only cost a few euros, but the beefed jerky in sauce with olives and soft bread is the perfect choice.

Great food and drinks, hospitable hosts, various cultural influence, Mediterranean climate and charming landscape will leave their mark on a traveller. The present is strongly connected with the past and gives a person the feeling of timelessness.