We arrived in Portugal about 9pm at night and Billy, true to form, greeted us to take us back to their place with a chilly bin filled with beer, wine and water. It was great to see them and it was after 2am before we all got to bed. The next day, after coffee and ham and cheese rolls and the cafe literally next door to their apartment building, we visited a beautiful old monastery in the Sintra hills which is a World Heritage site and forms the hinterland behind Cascais where they live. Cascais is a beautiful seaside town and we have been amazed at how clean and lovely it is. Cascais is almost part of Lisbon – sort of like the Mount’s relationship to Tauranga – but with a population of around 100k is a city in it’s own right. So after we had visited the hills we came down after seeing the beach where they have been honing their surfing skills into Cascais and walked the waterfront boardwalk in order to work up an appetite for the lovely chargrilled chicken with piri piri (a local chilli/pimento sauce) washed down with a jug of sangria for lunch. Half a small, chargrilled chicken each with chips and salad is about 7 E. What we have seen in Portugal is so much cheaper than we have seen anywhere else in Europe. We went to the local supermarket to have a look around; great wine about 2 E a bottle, 10.40 E for 30 small bottles of beer or .75 E cents for ½ doz eggs or a fresh chicken 1.99E. That said though, fuel is expensive at about 1.12 E per litre. We had dinner last night at a small, local restaurant. I tried bachalau which is a traditional fish made from salted, dried cod which is everywhere. You can cook it a number of different ways apparently, but it was served last night with heaps of garlic and butter sort of grilled. Quite a firm, obviously salty white flesh which was quite nice but very rich with all the butter!
Today we have been back to Sintra hills, but the other end, to a gorgeous palace that use to be inhabited by the Portuguese royalty. It is now a museum and very beautiful with lovely grounds and a small town at the bottom with gorgeous cobbled streets and lovely buildings.
The kids have been having a ball and the Sandlant children have been enjoying other kids to speak English to – all 3 of them are fluent in Portuguese.
We have been enjoying wonderful hospitality and it has been very relaxing not having to worry about public transport or to try and speak the quite unusual language.
Liking the look of the rug on the chin brother,things all going well here im keeping my eye on James and keeping Kerry in line glad to see you are having such a great time you all look rested and happy Cheers Megan
ReplyDeleteNow that sounds like my type of holiday - great food, drink and good company!! Ian wants to know if you've tried the grilled Sardines or Octopus yet? Loved the photo's - camel shots are awesome. O'sheas coming up to AKL for Easter. North Shore mayor caught peeing on a tree, temperatures getting colder at night... don't rush home!!
ReplyDeleteHi Megs, the rug has gone now, chris shaved it off when he left the ship, the boys were disappointed they liked it! Hope you are well and not working too hard!
ReplyDeleteHi Chrissie, I tried the sardines in Italy but not that stoked about eating things with the eyes still looking at me - give me fillets of snapper please! Enjoy your Easter, looks like it is getting cooler, probably about the same temps we are getting here. Say hi to O'S's for us! Lynda x
Hey guys, great photos! Tell the Sandlants they're looking good and hi from the Moons. kez x
ReplyDeletePortugal looks great and obviously cheaper than other parts of Europe. Hope you have fun in Spain and enjoy Easter on the other side of the world. Kaye
ReplyDeleteHi Kaye, yes Portugal definitely cheaper, Spain not looking too bad either so far - def. cheaper than the Italy tourist spots. Happy Easter to you all..
ReplyDeleteHi Kerrie, yep, the Sandlants are all well and happy and relaxed - it was great to see them - they'll read your comments no doubt! L X