We recently spent 2 weeks in Penela, near Coimbra. For those who still don’t know where that might be: take the west coast of Portugal. Measure half way between Lisbon and Porto, go inland half and hour, and you’ll get to Coimbra, Portugal’s 3rd city.
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| View towards Figueira da Foz, Portugal |
Portugal in a nutshell (mostly Penela and surrounding area)
These are my observations, in no particular order:
- It is very, very quiet
- Lots of olive oil, which they use excessively in food
- Lots of dilapidated (but yet beautiful) buildings
- Their supermarkets smell like French supermarkets. (Not a compliment to the French or Portuguese!)
- People are overall very friendly, but they openly stare at foreigners
- Very few people speak English
- Their bread is delightful, as are their cakes
- Cakes are not heavily iced (which is why I like them)
- They have automatic tolls which you have to pay at the Post Office 48 hrs after using them – a problem if you’re in a hire car as Post Offices are only open Mon to Friday. (We might get a fine for using these motorways over our last weekend here)
- Most cars are old (especially our hire car with 121,000 kms on the clock!)
- Motorways are empty – it’s a pleasure to drive, except for the tail-gating.
- They have lots of wind farms. I counted 53 wind turbines from the top of Penela castle
- Their pavements are pretty. They are almost always patterned
- Many of the older people can speak good French as a second language. Help us so much to communicate.
- We’ve yet to find a good restaurant
- Portuguese eat things we wouldn’t.
- Even major tourist attractions (e.g. Roman town Conimbriga) are quiet and pleasant to visit
- Many museums are free on Sundays
- Church bells are fake (played through speakers) and have the same ding-ding tune. (Bought on iTunes?)
- Most towns have 3G Internet, but absent in rural bits
- There are many flies
- Shops stay open late
- The university at Coimbra is worth a visit.
- There are prostitutes parked in the turn-off to many of the small dirt tracks off the tarred roads.
- Chinfana (pronounced Shinfanna) is a local dish, believed to be roasted kid, but we didn’t like it: looked like hacked meat floating in oil
- In spite of the fact that it gets very hot, and many people don’t have air-conditioning in their cars, many people still drive black cars.
- Coffee is taken very seriously indeed. And their coffee is very good.
- There is a little seaside town called Costa Nova on the west coast, which is just beautiful and generally visited by locals rather than foreigners.
Prices in Portugal
Now let’s talk about the prices of things. Generally Portugal is a very good value for money. Things are a lot more expensive in the Algarve and major cities, but as soon as you’re out of the those areas, things are pretty cheap, as you can see from the list below
Wine €1.80-€4 per bottle in the shop
Espresso €0.60
Coke at a cafe €1.00
6 rolls + 2 cakes = €2.60
Petrol €1.60 per litre (diesel is cheaper)
Small bag of crisps in a cafe = €1.10!
Cherries €2/kg
2 large pork chops (fat trimmed off) €2.40 (for both!)
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| View from our villa – Penela Hill in the background |
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| Tim on Penela Hill |
Aveiro, on the Altantic, is really a lovely place. I think I would like to spend more time there when we return one day
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| Beautiful decorated pavements in Aveiro |
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| Aveiro is so quiet, even in the old town |
I would love a trip to Costa Nova. It is very much a beach for the locals. We saw very few foreigners (i.e. just us!) there. It’s quiet, beautiful and off the beaten track.
And finally – if you want to see pictures of the awful food we ate and/or saw, please scroll down. If you don’t want to see them, read no further!
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| Chinfana, goat (kid) stew |
Now I must mention – what looks like a sauce or gravy in the picture above, is in fact oil. It was a cardiac arrest in a pot!
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| Pig’s head in the local butchers |
No part of the animal is sacred. I think on the continent (and possibly in most of the world), this is not an uncommon site. But I didn’t fancy eating it!
All in all, we loved our trip to Portugal and hope we will have the opportunity to return. It is the kind of country you could find yourself falling in love with!
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