Thyra Travels: Living My Best Portuguese Life

Well, well, well, what a month. I have always wanted to go to Portugal and I spent the whole month in a rural, small town working reception at a hostel. Initially hoping to learn Portuguese, I passed the time strolling around the city, visiting other parts of the country, and chatting with the family that owned the hostel. We spent every Friday afternoon at the same restaurant and even if I didn’t manage to become fluent in Portuguese, I understand the language a lot better and fell in love with the culture and food. I still have a lot of Portugal left to explore – I will be back!

Guimaraes

The town I lived in was called Guimaraes, known for winning the city of culture award in 2017. Small, quaint, and devoid of tourists – volunteering here was easy and relaxing. People coming to the hostel were mostly Portuguese and mostly couples. After a few weeks though I did start to miss the so-called backpacking vibe. The city itself was cheap for eating and drinking, boasting many churches and a huge castle/palace. I would hike to a monastary on top of the hill in the mornings for some exercise, about a 2 hour trek. A neighboring town most people go to, Braga, I visited once on my day off. I decided to hike on the Camino de Santiago to get there. Through neighborhoods and over the mountain, it took me about six hours. Braga is a lot bigger than Guimaraes and it seems that all the tourists choose that as a day trip over Guimaraes. I prefer Guimaraes.

Porto

Guimaraes is an hour train ride from Porto, where I flew in to. I went to Porto to visit a lot, and passed through it more times than I could count. Porto is pretty, to put it simply. Which is probably why it is so packed. Spoiler alert, I prefer Lisbon, contrary to the majority. While Porto is much more picturesque, because it is so small it is also so much more crowded. Arriving in Lisbon felt refreshing and like a place I would actually want to live in the future. Porto is close to many beaches and while it was warm I would join the crowds and soak up my vitamin D before East Europe.

Aveiro

One weekend I took myself to Aveiro, a seaside town to the south of Porto, known for the iconic striped houses. It reminded me of San Francisco, with all the wind, sand dunes, and people walking their dogs on the boardwalks. Very familiar to me, I could have stayed a week.

Lisbon

After I finished volunteering I spent a few days in Lisbon before my flight to Ukraine. I stayed in a huge hostel and was talking to backpackers for the first time in a long time! The city is huge but I walked everywhere, going to the tourist spots. I drank beer and ate pho, my spicy craving sated for a little bit. Lisbon is a super international city and I found I loved it, could see myself living and working there.

I missed the Southern coast of Portugal and the amazing beaches and cliffs there – a regret. Just another reason to go back!

T