What have you been putting off doing? Why?
I have been putting off writing daily on this blog… but no more! After an amazing experience vacationing in Portugal and Spain, I’m ready to take off from where I left.
There are few things that give me more joy than writing. I was proud of the effort I was doing and found myself in a good shape posting everyday, working on my memoirs, letting my creativity run free. But for a number of reasons (that don’t really explain anything) I came to an abrupt stop. Some of my closest friends noticed and asked me about it. It was good talking with them, going over the motives. After a while I wanted to return, but I kept postponing. I feel that it’s time to come back, slowly but surely.
There wasn’t only one reason, but I will use a particular one as an escape goat and let it take the fall for everything. I was on vacation and didn’t have a lot of time. I had the most wonderful time in Portugal and Spain. I’m sure that I will be covering much of the experiences and places I visited in the next posts. As a starting point, I will just let you know the itinerary we took, and go deeper in the next months.
As a trivia contest, can you name the places on the pictures below? Some are harder than others, but I tried to include very well known locations, even if someone hasn’t been there, they can be named.
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital and largest city in Portugal. At any time, day or night, you will find good food, excellent wine and interesting places to visit. Have I mentioned the pastéis de nata, or Portuguese custard tarts? They are delicious!
It is one of the oldest cities in the world, but unfortunately it has been torn down and rebuilt multiple times due to earthquakes, fires, and tsunamis, sometimes all of that at the same time. But it hasn’t lost its charm. You will find several medieval churches that you can visit. One of them without a roof, the Museu Arqueológico do Carmo, transformed in an archeological museum. I felt closer to the divine inside their walls.
Do you know from which window we can peruse the vegetation and skies of Lisbon on the picture on the side?
Porto
Porto is such a charming city! With its narrow streets, steep hills and university students roaming the city in black suits and cloaks, which literally inspired best-sellers such as Harry Potter, you feel rightfully so at a magical place.
Make sure to explore Porto’s wine lodges just across the Douro River: you will cross the Dom Luís I metal bridge, which is a remarkable experience itself! If you love architecture, arts and literature, you can visit the Palácio da Bolsa or the Museu Romântico.
Do you know which place is the one pictured here?
Barcelona
Barcelona has a rich cultural heritage and is today an important cultural centre and a major tourist destination. Particularly renowned are the architectural works of Antoni Gaudí and Lluís Domènech i Montaner, which have been designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
I purposefully didn’t explicitly mention the most extraordinary architectural gem of the city… but do you know where you can find the spiral staircase pictured on the side? Just a tip, it features prominently in the cover of one of Dan Brown’s bestsellers. Spoiler alert: someone dies there in that thriller!
Madrid
I was surprised of how populous Madrid is! In each and every street, at any given time, there was a sea of people’s heads when I looked down at an angle. Particularly, if you have the chance to go to El Rastro, an open air flea market, you will know what I am talking about.
I’m sad to say this, people there are not very friendly to tourists, unlike the previous places I mentioned above.
The cute bear pictured on the side is the mascot of Madrid, and troves of tourists get in line to touch and take a picture with it. Do you know how it’s called and where in Madrid it’s located?
Well, I’m back!
I hope you will be hearing more from me soon. After a well deserved time off in Portugal and Spain, I feel refreshed and looking forward to connecting with you. Feel free to say hello in the comments, I’m missing chatting with you!
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