Portugal

After Ireland I decided that I needed a bit of time in the sun, so I headed down to Portugal. I was pretty tired by the time I got there (the Irish certainly know how to party!) so I figured a few days lazing around working on my non existent suntan should do me good.

To tell you the truth my first experience down there wasn't good. I had to fly from Dublin to London and from London to Lisbon and the guy checking my passport in Lisbon gave me a hard time about not having a "leaving the UK" stamp on my passport. I tried to explain that I was only in transit in London, and as Ireland is also part of the EU I didnt need a stamp, but he was having none of it. After getting quite aggressive he eventually backed off completely and let me through.

I hoped it wasn't setting the tone of things to come.

Fortunately it wasn't.

The hostel I was staying in was fantastic and even had an outside bar (which gives you an idea of how often it rains there: practically never). Everything was cheap and the people seemed friendly and all spoke English. Already the trip was turning out to be a good idea.

The first night we went out an experienced the street side drinking culture of the Portugese. Basically, in Lisbon you only go into bars to buy drinks, then you wander outside into the streets to mingle. It works quite well considering its so hot. Fortunately drinking on the streets in Portugal is legal, as it is pretty much everywhere in Europe, and it was a great time. The only downer is that you're constantly being approached by street vendors trying to sell you crappy hats, "genuine" Ray Ban sunglasses, and, occasionally, cocaine. I couldn'd believe how open they were with trying to sell you drugs in this place (until I heard from someone at the hostel that they weren't actually offering you drugs at all, just condensed sugar...hence why the police didn't care).

In the end a big night was had by all considering that the drinks were sooo cheap. For example for €4.00 you get HALF A LITRE of Mojito...

The architecture in Portugal was pretty interesting. Similar styles to in Spain and they had tiles on the outside of the buildings. Very cool.

I decided to just relax for my time in Lisbon so I didn't do as much sightseeing as I should have. It was still a great place though.

After Lisbon I went to Porto to catch up with Mark Russell. It was great to see a familiar face and, as Mark had been staying in Porto for the last week, he took me round the city. Mark was in good spirits and was sporting a beard that looked like it had taken about 2 months to grow. A very impressive piece I must say (and incredibly gross, he was constantly getting bits of food stuck in his moustache...). He also showed me his photos that he'd taken (or, more accurately, a selection of the photos that he'd taken) and I was pretty blown away. Its clear he could be a professional photographer, and I made a mental note to upgrade my camera at the first chance I can get!

Mark has been travelling through Europe (predominantly) by using Couchsurfing which is a website where people offer the spare room in their house for travellors to use. I know what you're thinking: sounds kinda dangerous. I thought so too, but after you've stayed with someone you give them a review which stays on their profile permanently (much the same as Trip Advisor). So everyone has an incentive to be on their best behaviour. If you stay with people who have a lot of good reviews you can't go wrong - its when you try and stay with someone with hardly any reviews that you can run into issues...

The great advantage of Couchsurfing is that you get to live like a local in the cities you stay in. That afternoon/night we met up with Mark's Couchsurfing hosts in Porto and had a night out with the locals. We started by having a few beers (at €1.20 each) and things progressed from there. They have a street drinking culture in Porto too and it was similar to Lisbon (except, incredibly, even more laid back and cheaper). We took things to a square where all the locals go on a Wednesday night and eventually ended up at a reggae dance party in what looked to be a converted flat. It was a pretty massive night and we didn't get back to the hostel until about 4.30am.

The next day, not surprisingly, we were feeling a bit jaded so ended up just cruising round the city...but I did manage to have a glass of Port (which, for those of you who don't know, originates from Porto).

Unfortunately my plans for Oktoberfest fell through, as did my other plans for Wasenfest (but not before I'd booked non refundable tickets to Paris, with the intention of training down to Stuttgart). Instead I decided to fly back to Paris for a few nights. Again this place has blown me away. Its horrendously expensive next to Portugal, and there are tourists everywhere but I don't care. Its my favourite European city.

After Paris it'll be back to London, and maybe a very quick tour around the south of England, before flying home.

Talk soon

Anthony

PS. Surprise surprise the computer here isn't letting me upload photos. A recurring theme this trip. Once again I'll put them up as soon as I have the chance...