May 2017 - Feature Destination
SEVENSEAS - 77
Portugal was a dream. I often describe it as "Europe Lite." Only six and a half hours from Philadelphia (closer than the West Coast!), Portugal has the culture, the food, the architecture, the street art, the live street music, beaches, castles, wine, and compared to most other European cities it is missing the price tag. This can be a very affordable trip if you plan it right. Spending a total of ten days with the majority in Lisbon, we were able to see the city very well with a few half day trips to Sintra and other surrounding towns. The architecture at Sintra looks as colorful and whimsical as Disneyland- only this is real, and hundreds of years old. If you make it to the beaches at the Algarve, you are transported to golden shores you might never have imagined to exist on the continent. Then we drove across the country to Porto where we all immediately fell in love with the city. A charm found in few other places, street performers serenade your stroll as art galleries pepper the red clay-roofed center, all while trains seem to fly magically over enormous steel bridges. The faint taste from your last Port wine tasting lingers on your lips as the smoky aroma of chouriço assado plumes from grills on every block. We left not regretting spend more days in Lisbon but wishing we had more time for Porto. Our best piece of advice is whatever amount of time you stay on one city, do the same for the other. Come hungry, come thirsty, be ready to have all your senses satiated, and plan on coming back soon.