Portugal

 Ooft it’s been a minute.

The blog absence has been long but I’m ready to share a little bit more of my journey. I’ve been travelling at a more rapid pace the last few months and just haven’t had my usual writing mojo and in all honesty I’ve been happy to just have my adventures on my own without sharing them. Predictably, I’ve recently slowed down and am currently spending some extended time on my own, so I opened a word doc and here I am back on the keys.

I’m not even sure where to start as so much has happened but I thought I’d go back to my time in Portugal as I spent a decent chunk of time there and really saw a lot.

Real pleased to report no natural disasters have plagued me of recent times.

I left Asia (The Phillipines to be exact) at the end of April and took a boujie Emirates business class flight (because it was heavily discounted, I’m obvs an economy girl) to Lisbon. At this time, I had had a few months in very hot and humid weather and was excited beyond belief to get some milder spring temperatures. It was a relief to land into weather that didn’t make me sweat out my eye balls although I did have to go a buy some more pants. I’d say I’ve mastered jetlag at this point, but I’ll be honest the Emirates Lounge definitely played its part in my wide-eyed glowing positive mood. Lisbon is a beautiful city and without question one of my favourites; excellent coffee, beautiful architecture, friendly locals and many many places to buy pastel de nata’s I was very much in my happy place. I made it my goal to indulge in the custardy goodness once per day for my time in Portugal. Sad spoiler I did miss some days later on but I was strong in my valiant quest for a few weeks #notallheroeswearcapes. My time in the city featured a fabulous food tour which escalated into a bar hopping tour and long story short I had my worst hangover in many years after partying in Pink Street with an English stag-do group and some new friends from Canada. Worth it.

My next destination was Madeira, a Portuguese island off the west coast of Morocco. I was super excited to meet some friends here and do some hiking. And drink some poncha. As it happens I’m pretty good at both of those things. Poncha, btw, is a local rum-based drink traditionally lemon flavoured but it’s really just rum and it’s lethal. I had a fabulous few days eating exquisitely, drinking local wine/beer/poncho, having fun times with friends and hiking. I then met with a new group to do more outdoorsy activities such as canyoning, whale watching and paragliding. I thought paragliding would be quite adrenaline inducing but actually I just got a bit motion sick because my laid back attitude to ‘gliding meant my flyer went a little harder and we did air doughnuts. Anyways, ticked that off my list and rubbed it out forever. My highlight was a sunset hike to the PR1 summit: Pico de Areeiro which was absolute magic. Madeira is a beautiful island and I had a ball! I would highly recommend it for anyone keen on outdoor activities.

I returned to mainland Portugal and headed north to Porto. Again, another really vibey city with nata’s everywhere and, also, Port. I sampled many and learned that white port is not really my thing but if you turn it into a spritzer it’s amazing. I did a trip out to the Douro Valley, mostly for the wine, but had such a fun time and it ended up being the butterfly effect trip to the events that would follow. In the Douro I met some other solo travelers (the solo girlies always find each other when wine is involved) including some lovely Canadian’s. One of these girls was in Portugal because she had a ticket to the Eras Tour for a Lisbon show that weekend. I was obviously very jealous and also psychotic as I immediately checked the concert dates and realised that I had a few more days booked in the city before my next island excursion and they happened to be the exact dates that TS would be there. This seemed right because, as those following will know, I have inadvertently followed the Eras Tour around the world. I joked with the girls I was with that I should see if there are any re-sale tickets available HAHAHAHAidonthaveaproblem and like good and proper enabling girls girls they told me I HAD TO SEE! So I did. And there were. And they were pretty cheap, relatively speaking. So I purchased a re-sale ticket, crossed my fingers and toes that it was legit and knocked back a glass of Port with significantly more adrenaline cursing through my body than the whole paragliding experience.

A couple of days later, enjoying a morning coffee back in Porto I got the happy happppy news that my Eras ticket has been released and I almost dieeed seeing the real-life ticket in my inbox. My phone was held tight to my body from here on – carrying around such valuable goods made me feel sick.

I had booked accommodation in Lisbon south of the city at the beach - nowhere near the stadium but I didn’t care, if I have learned anything over the last 14 months it’s that I am a logistical organising genius and I would make it work because this concert felt a little like fate. My TS morning started by having my breakfast interrupted by a man who failed to correctly guess a single thing about me despite trying pretty hard (age, home city, star sign etc) and after talking at me for half an hour invited me to the beach to watch him do calisthenics. That sounds made up but, honestly, I’m not creative enough to come up with a story like that. I made some utterly ridiculous excuse about needing to pack my bags (at 9am) and he responded that that made sense because Cancers are so organised. I’m not sure if that’s true but I guess we all handle rejection differently. I later went for a run along the beach and prayed to some deities I don’t believe in not to run into him doing pull ups. Or balancing on belts. Or whatever it is beach bros do. I made it back averting all crises and with a great endorphin boost – everything going perfectly to script.

The Eras Tour was as amazing as I had hyped it up to be and I still can’t believe I managed to get there; such an unexpected highlight! I have some pride for being part of a crowd (one of many) to create a small earthquake with noise and left with multiple friendship bracelets (made some friends in the bathroom lines, stadiums are NOT equipped to deal with a crowd that is not majority male) and very, very sore legs. Best night ever. I eventually made it back to bed around 1.30am ready for my early morning flight the next day. Spew.

Full of wholesome vibes and joy and what not I left the city again this time for the Azores. The Azores had been on my bucket list since I first started researching for my trip and was keen to make this plan a reality. I spent my time on Sao Miguel island (another island wayyyy out in the Atlantic Ocean) and loved everything about it. Another stunning island and very relaxed way of life. Another great destination for outdoor activities I did some hiking, kayaking and cycling and some general sightseeing. Volcanic islands are always a point of difference I was enamoured with the colours here; incredibly vibrant blues and greens everywhere you turn. Lakes and waterfalls and craters and just so many hydrangeas. My liver was particularly pleased to find no poncha nor an equivalent. I have some minor regrets about not doing any canyoning. I would definitely return, stunning place and more islands to see!

That about wraps my time in Portugal, it’s one of my absolute favorite countries to date. I loved the vibrancy, the food, the coffee, the scenery, the amazing people I met and I’m grateful for the many adventures here. I think I’ll leave the poncha behind though.

My following adventure took me East, I didn’t know at this point that I’d just be swapping poncha for rakija but sometimes ignorance really is bliss. That will be in the next edition if I find myself feeling so motivated. Byee!