Escape from London

[commonpeople1]

Most Brasilians dream of one day visiting Portugal just as I imagine most Americans wish to eventually cross the ocean and take pictures of themselves outside Buckingham Palace. It's one of those things that is drilled into us from school: this is the country that discovered you, that you fought against to gain your independence, that you now have a special relationship with thanks to shared history and language.


Last week, at the height of the riots across the UK, wink_martindale and I hopped into a plane in Stanstead (terrified we'd encounter rioters as we took the No. 8 bus at 4am to the train station) and flew to Spain for 8 days of traveling down the Iberian coast to Lisbon. We visited Bilbao, Gijón, Ferrol and Galicia in Spain; and Braga, Aveiro, Lisbon and Porto in Portugal.


Spain and Portugal are very similar to France in the widespread restaurant and café culture, except that they mostly specialise in sea food. Alcohol is very cheap and the food is mostly excellent, sometimes really great. Watch out though for the bread and butter placed at your table without your request - if you eat from it, you pay for it.  We found the Spanish and Portuguese to be friendly and helpful.


The Portuguese are obsessed with that American reality show "The Biggest Loser" - they have marathons of it on the telly as well as their own version of it. In stores, you see all sorts of Wii games dedicated to the show. I'd always heard that their tellies were filled with Brasilian soaps but I didn't spot any. Fado was played in touristy restaurants, Arcade Fire in the ones used by residents.


I didn't like Lisbon very much: it was decadent, decrepid, dirty, crumbling, depressing and a little creepy. But I also saw loads of potential there for rejuvenation - it needs some kind of artist revival that breaks through the hashish haze and brings life and vibrancy back to the streets. This bit of urban art was sweet and inspiring, reminding me of projects here in London that involve community residents: it was an exhibition of photos of elderly residents that lived in the hills surrounding the city's castle; a sort of remembrance. We also saw some great graffiti, including this strange altar in a dead end alley. Sadly, there was also a lot of rubbish tagging that spoiled the beautiful, historical buildings.  Loads of grand homes that would be worth millions in London were completely abandoned, boarded up, trashed.



Porto was lovelier and I want to visit it again. Beautiful beaches that are close to town, loads to see - our day and a half there wasn't enough.  I'd like to go back for a week and have time to spend days on the beach, swim, discover all of Porto's bookshops and history.

Comments

[idioticpoet.livejournal.com]

buckingham palace? what?

yes, i've always wanted to visit england, but I generally haven't much interest in cliched touristy bs.

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

The yellow brick road leads to the gates of the palace... ;-)

[leicesterstreet.livejournal.com]

The beauty of Europe is that you are close to many other countries with a lot of diversity in culture, history, climate etc etc.

Australia, on the other hand, is miles from anywhere, and the reality is within Australia itself our culture to be blunt is quite homogenous.

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

One of the big pluses of living here is that ease to hop on a cheap flight to another country - I definitely love it.

[millionreasons.livejournal.com]

Really surprised you didn't dig Lisbon. Loved the trams, the castle, the views, the azulejos, although I suppose my fave bits were Sintra and Belim.

Is Aveiro worth visiting?

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

I may have set myself up for disappointment with Lisbon: I was expecting a mixture of Paris with some Latin American city (Buenos Aires?) but it felt more like downtown Amsterdam crossed with the charred bits of Croydon. I did love the castle, the trams, the views and the gorgeous houses (even the falling apart ones). Maybe I just got fed up with being offered hash!

Aveiro is worth half your day. It's very small and you quickly see all you need to see.

[idioticpoet.livejournal.com]

what's wrong with hash? It's great with eggs and toast...oh wait..you're not referring to corned beef hash are you? ;)

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

Nope. :-P

[millionreasons.livejournal.com]

No-one offered me drugs ;-(

[thefairyprinces.livejournal.com]

What a great trip! I have to agree with you on Lisbon. I found Porto to be much more beautiful and fun. I liked your cool street art photo.

Like the little pictures. I have to say however that most Americans I know have absolutely no desire to go to the UK because we do not feel a strong historical bound and because our ancestry is a mix of European cultures. It depends a bit on where your grandparents are from. (many will want to go back and trace their "roots") Most Americans I know would prefer Paris over London.

Next time you go I hope it will be away from the coast (although I did love traveling the coast) to D'oro valley. Delightful.

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

That's an interesting point about Americans - I sort of assumed it was the same as Brasil since Brasilians are also a people with a very mixed ancestry tied to the same colonial rule (i.e. Portugal for us, England for you.)

The connection to Portugal is really one that has come through our schools, with a curriculum which is pretty much the same across the country, plus the diffusion of Portugal as our once-upon-a-time colonial masters in our popular culture (jokes, songs, soap operas, etc.)

Brasilians love to travel everywhere but I think Portugal remains a stronger connection because of the language and the strong cultural links to Brasil.

Thank you for the D'oro valley tip - will definitely check it out next time! :-)