Portugal. Part II

January 10–17, 2014

Until the tourist masses get a taste of Portugal, it’s delicious and cheap here.

Lisbon

Lisbon is fantastic.

With its museum-worthy trams.

With its stupid public transportation schedules.

With its roasted chestnuts.

With its amazing architecture.

With its winding streets.

And with its incredible relics (like this hundred-year-old steampunk elevator).

Coimbra

Portugal is a mountainous country, so everyone here is used to elevation differences. And municipal elevators. This is what the modern version looks like.

The city is fantastic.

And romantic.

A dumpster.

A bus stop.

There’s a former royal palace-turned-hotel twenty minutes outside the city, in the middle of the woods. For the price of a humdrum hotel somewhere in Russia, here you can enjoy the décor of an elite Communist Party resort housed inside a palace. Everything is extremely outmoded, ceremonious and pretentious. Only the fantastic 1983 wine from the palace’s cellars reminds you that 30 years have gone by. The waiters and the rooms are still in the dark about this fact.

Figueira da Foz

It’s cute, but there’s nothing to do here.

A parking meter.

A local trash can.

Porto

This is where port wine comes from. Hence, you’ll be offered some day and night, with or without a good excuse. It’s impossible to so much as check into your hotel without having a glass.

Porto is one of the most incredible cities in the world. You can’t help but fall in love with it. It’s a mystery why everyone goes to Paris, Rome and London instead of Porto.

There’s beauty, profoundness and bliss on every corner here.

The grandiose blends with the provincial, creating a completely unique atmosphere.

It makes you want to spread your wings and fly.

This is where you’ll find the most beautiful antique storefronts.

As well as incredibly gorgeous Art Deco fire hydrants.

The rounded corner on the traffic light backing boards is surprising.

The phone booths are British for some reason.

A parking meter.

A bollard.

Underground garbage containers.

The central bus station has been hidden from sight with surprising elegance. Instead of a dismal giant square filled with buses, there’s just an inconspicuous driveway in the middle of the densely developed downtown area. Although the buses are just as huge as everywhere else, the city hasn’t suffered.

They definitely know a thing or two about good living here.

Porto—the city of my dreams.