My Life in Travel

This was a trip I was planning since 2020, before the world was plunged into chaos with Covid-19. And it was not a goal or a wish but a dream, that was growing in me day by day, for the last long 5 years. During this time there were different circumstances that became a reason for delaying with the trip, starting from the closed borders because of the well known virus, then difficulties of getting visa permit, etc, etc. But this also gave me possibility to plan carefully my future trip, every single day of it, marking all the places that I really wanted to visit in every city that was on my list. I saved all the important links that would be helpful for me, counted the amount of money I would need to spend in each place, including the transportation and entrance fees, so I knew my budget when the time comes. So, I was ready to fly any time. Only needed the ticket and the hotel(s) to book. I was waiting for the Black Friday to get the perfect deal to buy flight tickets. Of course more cheaper would be to visit Portugal in low season (wouldn’t be bad too, as even the winter is smooth there and you still can enjoy it), but I wanted to see bloomed Jacaranda trees, for which the best season is end of May or beginning of June. The day has came, Aegean Airlines shared their sale alert, as always, and I bought long waited tickets to Lisbon with almost -70% discount (thanks Aegean!). The only thing left now was to wait another 6 months until the dream comes true.

I was counting days down to the big day to come. Found nice hotels in central locations and close to public transport, so I can come “home” easily after a long day out. Everything was going to be perfect. Couldn’t be else 🙂 Until I arrived at the airport in Lisbon and asked the lady to give me a Lisbon card for 3 days. This would be a great deal for the 3 days out of 4 that I was going to spend here after first 3 days in Porto. But the lady smiled at me and said that in my case this wouldn’t make sense as during these 3-4 days they have public holidays, not working days and strikes in Lisbon, and almost all the places I have planned to visit would be closed, and the only way I can use the Lisbon card would be the public transport. Imagine my face here? All that I had in my mind splashed. I was laughing by myself, because I couldn’t imagine that would appear in a new country, new city, where I had so many things planned to do and see, but now I have to start from scratch or live in a moment. And I decided to chose the second option: live in a moment and enjoy every part of the day in any location I would “appear”. I had the bus to Porto in an hour, and after 3 more hours I was already here, in one of the most beautiful cities in Portugal.

So, the plan was to spend 3 days in Porto (actually 2,5, as when I arrived to the hotel in Porto, it was already close to evening), then move to Lisbon and make a daytrip to Sintra. I decided not to plan anything, just do what comes into my mind at the moment, get lost and stroll in the streets, find something unexpected, try local food and enjoy the moment, whatever it brings.
I was thinking to take daytrips to nearby cities of Porto, like Aveiro, which is considered as a little Venice of Portugal, or to Braga, which is famous for its unique architecture, but at the end I decided to stay on slow motion mode and spend all my time in Porto. All I was doing during these days was to walk on all possible streets, cross each road, enjoy the street musicians, the sunset and food. And you know what? At first I was confused, but then I started to smile by myself, feeling how I enjoy every moment, every step and smell I felt. That was a lovely feeling.

Then, when the time came, the bus took me to Lisbon, a city where life is in full swing. It happened that I came here when the city was in a festive mood because June is full of fests and holidays in Lisbon, and every part of the city was singing, dancing, eating, drinking and having fun. And so I did! During the day I was strolling around, and in the evenings I was joining this happy crowd and dancing with them on the streets. Of course, I dedicated one of my days to take a trip to Sintra, as I had plans there too, but most of my time I was still spending in the colorful streets of Lisbon.

Here I shared a few words about how everything started (since 5 years ago) and where it took me, but of course, I will share my stories from all visited places with you in more details in separate posts. And the places I listed here were not the only ones I went. There are more place my road took me, for which I am grateful. Because if everything went as I was planning, most probably I would miss my chances to see more beauties (at least this time). But this means I have unfinished things to do here, so one day I will definitely be back to fill all the empty spots of my trip.
Portugal, te amei ❤