Portugal was not on our radar till we decided to actually fly to Portugal. The decision was simple. With our ‘finger in the air’ decision on the date to fly being the 1st week of September, we called Singapore Airlines and tried to determine where we could use our miles to fly to in Europe. We didn’t have much choices! September was a great travel month, it turns out. One full day later, we had flights booked to Lisboa via Frankfurt.
No research or reading whatsoever! Best way to start an adventure into a land of adventurers (in the past at least!). We were completely blown away by how wonderful Portugal is. We only did Lisboa (careful about this post, you might end up booking your flights immediately!) and Canidelo and Porto (Canidelo was where we stayed and it was just 20 minutes away from Porto and right beside the Douro river).
Without any doubt, we could live in Canidelo or even Lisboa for that matter.
Natural beauty!
The country is beautiful! Just absolutely beautiful! So much natural beauty everywhere! We only scratched the tip of the ice-berg with Portugal but the beaches, the viewpoints, the hills and the river captured us already. We have not even seen the highlands! Portugal has our hearts!
Wonderful people!
The people are actually kind and friendly. We read that people in Porto are somewhat cold and brash. Did not experience that at all! Quite the opposite, all so friendly and helpful with our children! On the streets, the cars always gave way to other drivers and were never in a rush. You hardly heard the sound of the car horn.
We found it quite interesting given the history of the Portuguese and their exploration history and Malaysia actually being part of their “overseas Colonies”. To think that this country and these people here had such an adventurous soul before and now they are so chill and content with their lifestyle.
By the way, we absolutely enjoyed living with our host in Canidelo. They had a house by the beach (that was what got us!) and it was the cheapest stay in/near Porto. We completely lucked out with this very warm and loving Argentinian family. They went over and above what was required to make us comfortable, helped us with a lost parcel in the mail, shared food with us and tried the food we cooked as well, dropped us in town and at the supermarket and even offered us their car. Juan’s mum (Maria) is a real rockstar, I totally recommend staying with them for an experience unlike anything else. A mere 10 minute walk to the beach, a bus right outside their home to take you to Porto town, and a quiet and safe neighbourhood. Love, love, love! Here’s the link to their AirBnB and if you have not signed up yet, use our referral and we’ll both stand to get SGD38 in credits. (accurate at the time of writing!
Related post: Kill ‘em with Kindness! (coming)
Happy and active lifestyle!
We were out everyday and we saw the same people living the active lifestyle we like. We saw people running / jogging, cycling up and down the hills, skating and fishing. If they did it with a friend of a group, they were smiling and talking whilst exercising (such happy people)!
Our favourite activity was actually sailing up and down the Douro River, it’s an amazing way to view the city and it cost us $110 for a good 3 hours. Well worth the money in our opinion. We had a skipper on board to ensure we were safe although Mr.C would have been able to sail the boat, the experience served as a refresher for Mr.C as well. Goncalo happily showed us the sights and took these amazing pictures for us. Skipper, friend, teacher and photographer 😉
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The sea provides!
We saw countless people catching their food everyday. Fishing and picking up shellfish by the shore. This is Mr.C’s idea of paradise as he’s a hunter-gatherer at heart. We saw free divers and spear fishers, guy was our hero! He was under water for about 40 minutes to an hour and we had 2 huge seabasses and 1 massive octopus hooked to his back! We had a little chat with him after, this was his dinner! We decided to shock him as well by telling him we had seen Orcas swimming very close to where he was free diving! The look on his face, priceless!
Fresh and delicious produce!
Seafood that is so fresh, fruits that are so sweet (and cheap!) and such big vegetables. The variety of cheese at reasonable prices and oh bread, such good bread at yet again, reasonable prices! We’ve never eaten so much octopus and codfish in such a short span of time and all so yummy!
Here you have Mr.C cooking up my favourite meal in Portugal (and the kids slurped this up to the last drop!) – Arroz de Marisco @ Seafood Rice. This is the tastiest and heartiest meal ever, especially on the cold nights!
Vinho!
Cheap and amazing wine. Such good quality wine at below $20 a bottle and consistently makes the Wine Spectator’s Top 100 list! The price differential of Portugal wines from the Douru valley compared to the wines from other countries is absolutely fascinating! In Vinho, Veritas 😉
Sidenote : We did the Cockburns tour and it was pretty fabulous. It is pronounced Co-burns, by the way. Thought our readers would appreciate the little chuckle!
Here’s us, feeling pretty cold walking along the Douro River but still loving it for all it has to offer!
