Travel Europe | #28 Postcards from Portugal

Travel Europe | #28 Postcards from Portugal

Christian Ronaldo is hot (OK I admit it.) The perfect-haired lover-boy is always seen in tight jeans, clean-shaven legs, occasionally dressed in pink and sometimes with flowers on his hairs. He is by all accounts the metrosexual icon of modern football. Adored by young football fans around the world and worshiped by many in his native country Portugal. It came as no surprise when the most recognizable face I saw in Lisbon was who else than the Ronaldo on many ads and posters.

But it wasn’t the reason I visited the country. Unlike the football ‘supermodel’ who dominated sports headlines long before Portugal became part of my European escapes, I Lisbon only attracted my attention via cheap flight promotions.

Lisbon was hot, not Ronaldo’s kind of hotness but for its summer heating temperature and the superb charm, it exuded to visitors. The city wasn’t as tourist crazy as in more well-known Mediterranean destinations in Spain, France or Italy. It was neither big nor small, crowded nor empty, familiar nor foreign. I felt fitting right in with the local and tourist mix. As I was walking in old Alfama, I met a solo French tourist who asked me for the time. A few casual greetings later, she invited me to join her at a pre-booked dinner at a traditional Portuguese restaurant where they performed live Fado music, the soul-wrenching, heart-breaking musical style started from poor neighborhoods in Lisbon.

I went for a day trip to Sintra, a small town located only 30 km away. Perching on the hilltop were beautiful medieval and Moorish-style castles.

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A sample of Fado music