Portugal
At the beginning of my trip in Paris, I tried to cram in so much that I was exhausted. Also, the last night I spend in Paris at the Aloha Hostel, which was terrible. The place itself was so so and not super conveniently located. The worst thing was that the people there were so noisy! The music was blasting at the downstairs "bar" and people were running around, banging doors and talking loudly up til the wee hours (i stopped bothering to check the time after 3am). Unfortunately, all the loud obnoxious people I heard were American. No wonder why we have a bad reputation abroad, especially among the other young European travellers! At least my 3 other roommates were very nice.
My last day in Paris I went to the Pompidou Center and the Les Halles area. I wasn't so taken in by the area since I've visited more interesting, charming areas earlier. I don't understand much about art, particularly modern art, so the Pompidou was more of a must do touristy thing than something I really wanted to see. I returned to Notre Dame and toured the inside of the church. I have a feeling that 'll be visiting more churches these weeks of this Europe trip than I will or ever have throughout my lifetime.
Once I got to Portugal, it was very relaxing. I arrived in Porto, where I met up w my friend E. After having to figure out my itinerary and plan how to get from A to B in Paris, it was so relaxing to not have to worry about any of that. I had a tour guide, translator and chauffeur! Makes a huge difference when you're visiting friends vs. travelling on your own. Porto was very charming, esp. the Douro wine area. I did a tour of theFerreira house and sampled some port. The tour wasn't terribly informative but I did learn that there is a white port (aperitif) in addition to the tawnies and rubies (digestif).
ok, i'll have to continue about Portugal later as I've got a train to catch.
6/30/07
Rewind to Portugal...
I'm so glad I was w E the first day or so because when I was in Lisbon I was able to understand some words based on listening to his conversations. Whereas in France I could get by w my French, in Porto E was there, in Lisbon it was more difficult. I should've gotten Portugese, Italian and German phrase books before I left for my trip. Just knowing the basics would've really helped. Damn.
the train ride to Lisbon was long and boring. made me wish A could've come on this trip with me. too bad timing didn't work out for her. traveling is fun but it's so much better with friends. it sometimes gets lonely when you're traveling by yourself - esp. during train rides or flights. i've spent a small fortune on english language magazines to pass the time already... another advantage of traveling with friends is that you can wander off to places late at night and not worry as much. another thing is that you can try nicer restaurants or share dishes you wouldn't order on your own. so glad i'm meeting up with friends throughout different legs of my trip!!!
Lisbon reminds me a lot of San Fran. It's a rather hilly city and they also have cable cars! They even have a bridge that looks almost exactly like ours (I don't know what it's called). Some of the streets are really narrow. When you're riding the cable car, you can see buildings on either side of the street practically a foot away from either side of the car. It's a little scary, actually. When you're high up in the hills, you can look across and see the coastline below. They have some nice beaches there, which unfortunately I didn't have a chance to visit. I actually did pack a swimsuit but I doubt I'll actually get to use it.
I went to Belem, where the Jeronimos monastery was located. It is a beautiful building, all white with elaborate carvings throughout. The Portugese explorer Vasco da Gama's tomb is there. I visited the cafe where the famous Pasteis de Belem is sold too! That was one of the food places I was really looking forward to visiting. And yes, their pasteis de nata is the best I've had (not that I'm an expert or anything). On the subject of food, I also tried a Francezinha for dinner while in Lisbon. It's a Porto speciality I think but we didn't have enough time to try it in Porto. Since E mentioned it, I figured it was worth trying and my curiosity promped me to order it. It's like a sandwich, which looks like a lasagna when it's served and to me, tastes almost like a pizza. The sandwich part is chorizo and steak between grilled pieces of bread. The whole thing is covered with a layer of cheese and topped with a tomato based sauce. It was similar to what I had tried at E's place which was a sandwich of steak between pieces of fried bread, topped with a fried egg and some sauce (made of butter, port and worcestershire sauce). And E's family were amused when they heard about him attempting to cook. He claims he does from time to time...I have only witnessed it once. =)
It's too bad I didn't have time to visit Sintra, a world heritage site. Hopefully I will be able to do so in the future, when I visit M in Portugal when she's back.
My last day in Paris I went to the Pompidou Center and the Les Halles area. I wasn't so taken in by the area since I've visited more interesting, charming areas earlier. I don't understand much about art, particularly modern art, so the Pompidou was more of a must do touristy thing than something I really wanted to see. I returned to Notre Dame and toured the inside of the church. I have a feeling that 'll be visiting more churches these weeks of this Europe trip than I will or ever have throughout my lifetime.
Once I got to Portugal, it was very relaxing. I arrived in Porto, where I met up w my friend E. After having to figure out my itinerary and plan how to get from A to B in Paris, it was so relaxing to not have to worry about any of that. I had a tour guide, translator and chauffeur! Makes a huge difference when you're visiting friends vs. travelling on your own. Porto was very charming, esp. the Douro wine area. I did a tour of theFerreira house and sampled some port. The tour wasn't terribly informative but I did learn that there is a white port (aperitif) in addition to the tawnies and rubies (digestif).
ok, i'll have to continue about Portugal later as I've got a train to catch.
6/30/07
Rewind to Portugal...
I'm so glad I was w E the first day or so because when I was in Lisbon I was able to understand some words based on listening to his conversations. Whereas in France I could get by w my French, in Porto E was there, in Lisbon it was more difficult. I should've gotten Portugese, Italian and German phrase books before I left for my trip. Just knowing the basics would've really helped. Damn.
the train ride to Lisbon was long and boring. made me wish A could've come on this trip with me. too bad timing didn't work out for her. traveling is fun but it's so much better with friends. it sometimes gets lonely when you're traveling by yourself - esp. during train rides or flights. i've spent a small fortune on english language magazines to pass the time already... another advantage of traveling with friends is that you can wander off to places late at night and not worry as much. another thing is that you can try nicer restaurants or share dishes you wouldn't order on your own. so glad i'm meeting up with friends throughout different legs of my trip!!!
Lisbon reminds me a lot of San Fran. It's a rather hilly city and they also have cable cars! They even have a bridge that looks almost exactly like ours (I don't know what it's called). Some of the streets are really narrow. When you're riding the cable car, you can see buildings on either side of the street practically a foot away from either side of the car. It's a little scary, actually. When you're high up in the hills, you can look across and see the coastline below. They have some nice beaches there, which unfortunately I didn't have a chance to visit. I actually did pack a swimsuit but I doubt I'll actually get to use it.
I went to Belem, where the Jeronimos monastery was located. It is a beautiful building, all white with elaborate carvings throughout. The Portugese explorer Vasco da Gama's tomb is there. I visited the cafe where the famous Pasteis de Belem is sold too! That was one of the food places I was really looking forward to visiting. And yes, their pasteis de nata is the best I've had (not that I'm an expert or anything). On the subject of food, I also tried a Francezinha for dinner while in Lisbon. It's a Porto speciality I think but we didn't have enough time to try it in Porto. Since E mentioned it, I figured it was worth trying and my curiosity promped me to order it. It's like a sandwich, which looks like a lasagna when it's served and to me, tastes almost like a pizza. The sandwich part is chorizo and steak between grilled pieces of bread. The whole thing is covered with a layer of cheese and topped with a tomato based sauce. It was similar to what I had tried at E's place which was a sandwich of steak between pieces of fried bread, topped with a fried egg and some sauce (made of butter, port and worcestershire sauce). And E's family were amused when they heard about him attempting to cook. He claims he does from time to time...I have only witnessed it once. =)
It's too bad I didn't have time to visit Sintra, a world heritage site. Hopefully I will be able to do so in the future, when I visit M in Portugal when she's back.
Enjoy reading about your travels. Am back in NY. =(
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