After a good night’s sleep with earplugs, I woke up early to get back up on the roof and get some pictures. A few of my travelling companions were also up, so we decided to sneak out early for a bit of a look around and to find some local coffee and pastries. There were numerous cafes within easy walking distance, so we dropped by a number of them for multiple coffees and more custard pastries. Fully awake, we headed back to our hostel for our included breakfast.
We packed up and drove into downtown Lisbon to check out a few sites for hitting the road for the rural life. A few recommendations were a ceramics shop that sold pottery by the pound and a castle overlooking the city. It quickly became apparent that driving a campervan would be a challenge in the tiny narrow streets of Lisbon, so we ditched the vehicle near the ceramics store and hoofed it down across the valley to get up to the Castelo de S. Jorge. A big climb and many steps later, we found it extremely popular with other tourists and with long lines that we decided weren’t worth waiting in, so we explored the tiny alleyways surrounding the area. There were lots of really cool tiny twisty roads to get around. After satisfying ourselves with a good introduction to Lisbon, we headed back down through the valley and back up to our car on the other side.
Our aim was to hit the highways and explore some old country towns, so we started out by heading towards the sea to a town called Sintra, which has the distinction for being a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its “Cultural Landscape”. The hilly countryside and small villages were beautiful and seemed stuck in time. We ended up visiting the tunnels and underground spiral staircases of Quinta da Regaleira. It was designed and built in the late 1800’s for a very wealthy coffee businessman and used for Tarot initiation rites, among other things. An amazing place.
Afterwards, we headed up the coast to find some camping along the beach at Erisceira and to see these huge surfing waves Portugal is famous for. We ended up at a bit of a dodgy and mostly vacant campground with no toilet seats or toilet paper. Even though we had been on our feet for most of the day, we hiked into town for dinner and found a beautiful historic town with more cobblestone streets and white painted dwellings. It had very cool old laneways and ocean views reminiscent of images of Greek coastal communities. Had another fish dinner on snapper while watching the sunset over the Atlantic Ocean.
27,000 steps later, I headed for my little tent. A walking record for me.
