My story with Portugal (Part 2/3)

It wasn’t until 2011 that I discovered Portugal for myself after hearing about it for 10 years! The opportunity hadn’t presented itself before, surprising isn’t it? Even I’m wondering how it’s possible! In any case, it was that year that I discovered my husband’s vacation spots when he was younger and met the family from Portugal in Portugal.

We left in June to experience the Santo Antonio festival known as “Festas de Lisboa”. Who is Santo Antonio? He’s the patron saint of Lisbon.

It’s also known as the “Sardine Festival”, because it’s when sardine fishing begins. If you like sardines, they’re fresh from June to September, after which you’re likely to eat frozen ones, which aren’t the same. Eat fish in season and you’ll be sure that it’s fresh and tasty.

We love this festival, not because we love sardines (I must confess I’m not a big fan), but because Lisbon is celebrating, the streets are full of Portuguese and tourists singing, dancing, drinking and eating together in a friendly, convivial atmosphere. You wander from street to street discovering Lisbon, its fado, its culture… My favorite is Alfama, it’s charming and traditional.

Well, I won’t stop there, because I’m getting a bit lost. I’ll talk a bit more about this festival in one of my next articles, and I’ll also include a few photos to give you a better idea of the atmosphere. Maybe it’ll make you want to go there ? Anyway, after this 1st experience of Lisbon en fête, we’ve decided to go every year at this time.

My husband (Greg is my husband’s first name; it’ll be easier for the rest of my articles ;)) had really organized this 1st stay in Portugal for me, because I was able to discover the capital, the mountains in the Coimbra region and the beaches in the south of Lisbon. I’m not going to go into detail about the regions I visited in this article because I think it’s worth devoting more content to them. We’ll just have to be patient ?

Anyway, since 2011, we’ve decided to go to Portugal every year at least 1 time…until the day we decided to have our house built in Portugal…but that’s another story…to be continued in my next article!

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