Last year in January I went to the mouth of the Douro River (Foz) to check the agitated winter waves. I was quite happy with the photos and the walk:
Last year’s waves
Last year’s waves
Sunset at Foz – Porto
This year I would had taken completely different pictures, I wasn’t there (unfortunatly I’m not even in Portugal) but check out the video someone posted in Youtube:
Curious if someone filmed from the top of that Tourist Bus you can see in the video.
Piscina das Marés
It seems the ocean-water-swimming pools in Matosinhos are re-opening for the Summer this day 23. Looks like a nice option for this next weekend. The swimming pool was designed by famous portuguese architect Siza Vieira (Wikipedia). More photos in: http://www.getportugal.com/en/poi-piscinas-das-mares-leca-da-palmeira-20985
Lisbon from Airplane window
After our one day trip we finally arrived to Lisbon. I think it has a different feel from any other capital in Europe. In one hand there’s of course the good Southern Europe weather and sunlight illuminating it on the other hand there’s historical reasons.
Recent history has been kind in the looks of the city. While other countries were deep into World War II, Portugal remained neutral in the conflict saving monuments from bullet marks, bombing, rebuilding and other tragedies. The last time Lisbon had to undergo a major reconstruction was in the 1755 earthquake. Then it got the shape of a modern city with straight, large parallel streets downtown facing the river.
History also gave the city a cosmopolitan feeling. Lisbon was the center of a maritime Empire with colonies in America, Africa and Asia and you can see influences from distant lands in many landmarks, museums and in trees that don’t seem to belong in Europe.
Due to our errands we didn’t have so much time for sightseeing so I included some photos I took another time I was here in October 2010.
There’s plenty of photos and information on Lisbon in the internet but feel free to check our photos. There’s a photo I took from an airplane window arriving to Lisbon Airport showing the “25th of April” Bridge and the Cristo Redentor (a similar statue to that existing in Rio de Janeiro – Brazil).
The plan was never to go straight from Porto to Lisbon. We left with enough time to stop somewhere for lunch (it turned out to be Nazaré) and before arriving to Lisbon we decided to stop again. We turned West to a different highway towards a quite famous tourist location – Sintra.
There are many landmarks concentrated in such a small area: A Moorish Castle, the Pena Palace, the Monserrate Palace… And we only had the time to visit one of them so it was a difficult choice. We went to Monserrate: a beautiful palace and gardens from the eighteen hundreds by a millionaire Englishman.
The gardens were beautiful even if it wasn’t spring yet (29th Feb). There are plants there from many origins around the world and it gives you the feeling you are inside some story or magical fable. There are small water paths everywhere and a lake decorating the landscape and you can see the Atlantic Ocean in the background. You can also find the ruins of a chapel which apparently was engulfed by Nature.
The mansion is quite unique too and is currently under repair works. I can’t imagine living in a house with so much details everywhere, from a simple door to the corridor with a fountain in the middle.
Judge by yourself from our photos:
It’s been a while since my last post and with my complicated work hours I can only check some blogs from time to time and haven’t payed attention to my own.
This last February I had to go South to Lisbon to take care of some paper work. I went by car and took the A8 highway. The first stop was in Nazaré, a ocean-side village particularly famous to surf fans after some youtube video (check it down).
I had never been there but the view of the landscape and of the waves in the Atlantic Ocean was sure worth it.
For the lunch I decided for one of the backstreet restaurants. I usually prefer those because they have to impress the customers with their food while the restaurants in front of the beach can rely on the view.
After the rating agency “Moody’s” downgraded Portugal 4 levels to “Junk” level there has been a lot of anti-Moody’s activity by some inspired Portuguese.
There were also some internet attacks to Moody’s site one of which took their server down. As a result Portuguese IPs have been blocked by Moodys.com
Even with all this Economy news I hope Portugal is still in your destination wishlist. Here are some photos I took this last Friday in Matosinhos to cure us from the economy stress:
By the way, my “thank you” to the European Union for believing that we’ll pay our debt againts Moody’s opinion.
Today while checking the internet at work (sorry boss) I came across 2 nice videos with views from Portuguese beaches.
This is not from any destination I have covered in this blog and the creator of the video is just testing his new camera but i think the beauty of the images is worth it.
Enjoy:
I have a new job this month, 50 Kilometers north from Oporto in Esposende (Portugal). Trying to make me feel more comfortable in the area my new co-worker (apparently a hiking addict) recommended me to cut through the fields towards the ocean for a walk after lunch. It’s less than 10min each way. I had my camera with me so I took some photos to share. Judge my lunch break sights.
What do you see in your luck break?
This is my 4th post with Photos taken in Madeira, feel free to check and comment. And don’t forget to add this island in the Atlantic Ocean to your “must-go destinations” 😉 .
Photos taken in 2009
Seashells in Matosinhos
It’s winter in Portugal of course but snow is not common in Portugal. Especially not compared to the temperatures in central Europe, our January here had snow in some mountain districts but in the north coast the temperatures were always around 10ºC (50F) and we had some sunny days too.
In sunny days there was a considerable amount of people walking along the beach. The surfers also enjoy this days for some practice since, except some occasional brave person, they are the only ones in the water.
For more information about Matosinhos please check my other posts in this Category.
Photos were taken in January 2011.
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