Tuesday, June 27, 2006

On the road again...

Last post from our vacation (probably)...

We ended up spending 2 nights in Nazaré (in favour of going to huge, far too touristy Lisbon) and went to the lovely little pub we found from the night before and downed a few ports while watching the Portugal vs Holland match. As you can imagine, the streets were ablaze after that victory and we made a few friends out of it! Oh forgot to mention, we did head down to Sintra (via Coimbra and Obidós - the latter having a specialty cherry liqueur which is served in chocolate cups - mmmmmm yummy!)

We drove to Guarda the next day (highest settlement in Portugal) - close to the Spanish border, and enjoyed some more local cuisine. This time I had Bakalhou com ..... (something) which was like a potato bake but including cod. but before the meal, we were given some of the local specialty - a very unique type of sheep cheese. The fat content is somewhere between 50-65% (so you could feel the layer thickening on the roof of your mouth!) but I thought it was pretty yummy.

We decided to head to spain today (currently we are in Salamanca) for the match between Spain and France - then tomorrow we will head the final 100km north to Valladolid before we head home :(

Have totally fallen in love with the lifestyle here - everything is about making the most of life in Portugal. They have such a strong sense of national identity and are so proud to be who they are. Every house is old, rundown and tiny (yet charming, cozy and bursting with life) yet everyone has a plasma flat screen huge TV. We have not been hungry here for one minute - food and drink are a very important aspect of life also - not how little you weigh, or how your hair is cut. Although coming from 'friendly' Australia, these people are far more genuine, and am so glad I have had the opportunity to have met them. Definitely have to come back...

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

mmmm... 50-65% fat content :-)

Anonymous said...

Sounds Great - i want to visit! I bet the atmosphers's been fantastic with all the game's you're watching along the way. Well done to the Socceroo's I must say too.
kels x

shanelle said...

Hey Ingridu

Sounds like you guys had a wonderful vacation!

Take care!
Talk soon!