Obrigada, não gracias
When in Portugal, never say gracias (which I accidentally did multiple times, pissing off many locals). It’s obrigada, and I will not forget it anytime soon. During the past 12 days, my mother and I have been touring Portugal and visited three different parts of the country: Sao Miguel (Azores), Lisbon, and Madeira (a small island off the coast of Morocco). It’s been a wild ride, and our trip is officially ending. I am typing this as I dry my eyes after saying a tearful goodbye at the Funchal airport. I have a couple of hours before my flight back to Lisbon, which is where I will stay for the next five days, and figure out why I didn't really vibe with the city.
Traveling with my mom was…interesting. My mother is a force- she is one of the most energetic, joyful, strong, and determined people I know and, as I said before, has more energy than most humans. But she is still a mom worrying that I work too much, read too much, don't sleep enough, and travel too much (you get it). But it was so exciting to share this part of my life with her, and I will cherish it for years to come. I also hope it comforts her as I continue to travel to new places so she doesn't worry quite as much about this nomadic life I am living.
Let’s get into Portugal (starting with where we ended the trip)!
Maderia
Madeira spoke to me in every way possible over the last 5 days: the food, the people, the levadas, the beaches, and the ridiculously amazing hotel we decided to settle down in for five days and balance my need for relaxing with my mother’s need for excitement and adventure. We found both. We stayed in a town called Calheta, where we ate, drank, tanned, hit up the spa, and went on some very questionable hikes along the levadas. If I had done my research, I am not sure I would have dared to venture out and explore over 17 miles of these irrigation channels. On the first day, we managed to get lost and ended up walking miles down a highway until we stumbled upon a guy from Germany cooking lunch and offering us freshly brewed beer while we waited for a cab to come to find us (his beer was otherworldly). On the second day, after an extremely dangerous walk, we were forced to turn back after being unable to continue forward unless we felt like jumping from a thin ledge across a waterfall with a 100+ ft drop (no, thanks). We also had plenty of time laying by the pool and the beach, getting in some spa time, listening to live music, sipping gin and tonics, and eating….a lot. Our best meal was a frutti di mare pizza from a local restaurant called Manifattura Di Gelato (they also had incredible gelato, and I don’t even like ice cream). In Madeira, the sun didn’t set until after 9:30 pm, which is pretty wild.
Lisbon
Everyone I spoke to recently raged about how amazing Lisbon was. I received lists and recommendations from friends and was looking forward to enjoying this city with everything I love: beauty, history, food, nomads, shopping, etc. But honestly? It fell flat for me. It was….fine. That's honestly the most I can say about it…well, that and the food, which was solid. I could have just been in a mood, as it takes me about a week to adjust to new time zones whenever I travel east. That being said, I am back in Lisbon to check it out for another week…so more to come once I get a few more days in.
São Miguel Island (Azores)
Less than two months ago, my mother called telling me we had to go to the Azores after she read something about a crater and kayaking, so we decided to extend our two-hour-long layover to check out this little island in the middle of the North Atlantic. She also asked if we could take a quick trip to Amsterdam, and I shut that down really quickly. We were only there for two days and on the first day I mostly slept (I could not sleep on the red eye) and then worked a full day before a traditional Portuguese dinner. On the second day, we ventured out on a day-long ATV adventure around the northwest part of the island and it was stunning. Sete Cidades is located in the center of a massive volcanic crater three miles across with a population of about 800. It was a lot of fun, and I wish we had just one more day to explore other parts of the island.
Some photos from the past 12 days are below! You can click here to stay updated on my journey and get an email whenever I post!
