Unforgettable Portugal
Surprisingly, despite the fact that the decision to travel was made long ago, then (in November) bought tickets, watched movies and read reviews of tourists, still Portugal became a completely unexpected country, very colorful, with amazing and hospitable people , the richest history and incredible soul… She is not like the neighbors… Absolutely original and impossible native…
Travel time: 2.06 - 16.06.
The route was Vasily: Kyiv - Lisbon - Braga - Guimaraes - Porto - Madeira (4 days) - Lisbon (6 days) - Kyiv.
(More about prices, housing and organizations http://www.turpravda.ua/forums/ discussion / comment / 174779 / # Comment_174779 )
Evening arrival in Lisbon, overnight stay and morning train transfer to Braga . In fact, we start our acquaintance with the country not from the capital, but from the center of Catholicism in Portugal. The city (by our standards) is small, although the hostess proudly announced that she took the honorable third place!
Beautifully flowering gardens and parks that harmonize with Baroque churches and buildings. Cathedrals, bell towers, monuments, towers, mansions… A very cozy and quiet place, where you instantly switch from the usual Kyiv state of "gallop" to a peaceful pastime)))
We traveled to Guimaraes by bus full of students who hurried to class and arrived in an hour in a fun, noisy, sunny town with the richest history. This is where the history of Portugal as an independent state began. The first king was born here; here he was baptized; here the fourteen-year-old knight defeated his mother and freed the county from dependence on the kingdoms of Leon and Castile; and immediately after the victory over the Moors in 1139, Afonso Enriquez proclaimed himself king of independent Portugal, not defending himself to Afonso I.
We spent most of our time in a well-preserved castle and adjacent to the Palace of the Dukes of Braganç a with the richest collection of tapestries, paintings, weapons, fireplaces, etc.
And although I would like to get to know the city in more detail, wander the ancient streets, visit churches and museums, but follow our route and move to Porto - the northern capital of Portugal, a city of charming, amazing and awakening variety feelings and sensations…
He is not at all like the calm and peaceful, "positive" Braga and Guimaraes. He is defiantly careless and touchingly neat, bright, honest, cheerful and contrasting.
The acquaintance begins with a tasting of port wine under the pleasant voices of the Fadists, a walk on the bridge of Louis I, admire the amazing views of the central historic district of Ribeira and the town of Vila Nova de Gaia (where the famous wine cellars). and then long walks through the bright and unforgettable Port!
Two days fly by unnoticed, and now we have promised to return and fly to Madeira via Lisbon.
First feeling: "Incredible! The ocean is everywhere! ".
We immediately get to the fireworks festival - a fabulous beauty event. No wonder these shows on the island are listed in the Guinness Book of Records.
In the morning, getting acquainted with the capital Funchal, we notice groups of people anxiously carrying some bags, boxes of flowers, sprayers. Then we find them near the church, laying out a path of petals and inflorescences.
After going through almost the whole city, we return and see a kilometer of flower road (specially looked at the distance on the map)! Soon the folk-religious procession begins - this is how the Ascension of the Holy Spirit is celebrated here!
In fact, Funchal is a forest city. There is a botanical garden, beautiful parks and a gardens.
Magnificent palaces and churches, cable cars and walking paths along the levadas - unique irrigation facilities, their "gondoliers" - toboggans))))
Nowhere have I descended 3 km on a completely straight street with an angle of at least 45%. And nowhere did you go up the same straight street but even steeper road. It is a separate bright, picturesque and colorful world, which is only administratively part of Portugal.
One day we spent a trip to Porto Monis - a tiny town with fabulous water, incredibly blue and lava natural pools, very comfortable for swimming!
We took a bus, and we had a full tour of the island, because the road there went around the west coast, climbed to the top of the mountains, looked at the relict forests (it seems to me that even in a biology textbook was such a photo), and returned by a completely different route, through the middle of the island.
Four days flew by in one breath and we returned to Lisbon to spend the rest of the time calmly and carefully exploring the capital. Excursions, museums, aquarium, fortress, churches, monasteries, funiculars ...Everything here is unique, incredible and very beautiful!
Unfortunately, we have to admit that six days is not enough for Lisbon!
Southern color and calm grandeur, wealth and cheapness, reconstruction and ruins - again, as in all of Portugal, a surprisingly harmonious combination of completely opposite things!
We dedicated one of them to a classic mini-tour: Sintra (a city of fabulous beauty and rich history) ...
...
- Cape Cabo de Roca (the westernmost Cape of Eurasia) -
Cascais (beach town).
Impressions I will carefully describe in a long story about a trip on the branch Excursion tours)))
After reviewing many reviews, I agree with the majority: Portugal is nothing like that! She's the only one! And you get used to it quickly and not just take it in passing, but it penetrates the heart and takes a certain place in it, without pushing anything.
I want to return here like home and feel the grandeur and beauty of this unusual country!
