Travel is an interesting thing. There is this romantic idea of anywhere you want to go. Paris is the perfect example; you picture sitting in a café with your croissant and espresso listening to someone play the accordion, overlooking the Eiffel Tower. Then you go. You find pieces of the dream, but the guy next to you is smoking, and there is a security wall with armed guards around the Eiffel Tower, etc., etc.
The unexpected becomes the most memorable. This past trip to Paris was all about the unexpected. Most of my favorite travel memories come from locals.
In a past blog I described the Pena Palace. It is the iconic palace to see near Lisbon. It is worth a visit, but did not hold the romanticism I had built up from the brochures. Hanging out with some friends (locals), we asked about where to hike. Two different friends said to go to the same place.
It took us a while to find time, but we finally went to Santuário da Peninha. It is not far from Cascais or Pena Palace. In fact, you can just see the Palace from Peninha. Although mostly unknown to tourists, it is a popular hiking spot for locals. The buildings aren’t special, but the views are the best we have found in Portugal. By far! I’m not sure the pictures do it justice, but here they are:
There is a forest to the north of the buildings that is full of hiking trails. We hope to go back soon to explore more!
If I expect, allow, and look for variation in travel plans, something unique and memorable always comes out. As I think back, all of my favorite travel stories involve either some knowledge locally acquired or planning mishap. I am not great at meeting random strangers to find the good stuff, but, luckily, my wife is great at it!
At a café here in Cascais, she met someone that retired in Portugal from Seattle. This lead to lunch with her and her husband, who manages a “beer with the boys” gathering for expats. I have been a few times (a lot of fun!). And from that: tomorrow I am going out sailboat racing. I haven’t raced in a lot of years, but I am excited!
My Portuguese (romantic) vision never included racing sailboats. Another great divergence of travel!
We picked up a book before this trip that really does a good job of describing these opportunities and experiences. “Vagabonding” as the author calls it is not for everyone, but I think the great opportunities possible with flexible travel will benefit anyone willing. Here is a link to the book:
P.S. I go through my pictures before each blog post to see what we have done that is interesting. One thing I have noticed is the prevalence of purple flowers in Portugal. I would guess that about half of the flowers (wild and not) are purple. Most of the trees even bloom purple. I thought I had more pictures, but here are a few; check it out:
