Category: Portugal
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Day 731 – Porto, Portugal – There’s no place like Porto
Porto. I’ve been here before. The once familiar caress of an old lover. The ghostly remembrances of younger explorations. Embarrassingly inexperienced. Ridiculous notions of what to do. Fears. Words left unsaid. A gnawing regret for not doing things right. And now, under the cloudy dark skies, you get another chance to do it right. You…
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Antiqvvm – October 13, 2021 (Porto, Portugal)
Antiqvvm with its one Michelin star is the creation of Chef Vitor Matos, raised in Portugal and trained in Switzerland. He has received many awards for his cooking but I haven’t been able to find much about him personally online. Antiqvvm sits within a museum complex including the Porto Municipal art museum and several…
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Cervejaria Ramiro – July 7, 2021 (Lisbon, Portugal)
I normally do not review a la carte restaurants and never a beer hall, but this little spot was special and I had a wonderful meal. Ask any chef in Lisbon if you could only eat at one place in the city, more likely than not they’re going to suggest this locals spot hidden just…
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Day 657 – Sintra, Portugal – Palatial wonderland of the Lisbon aristocracy.
In the forests amongst the steep craggy mountains that are enshrined in a near constant mist and fog, lives a town as old as Lisbon. A cool retreat from the hot weather of the larger coastal city about 40 minutes away. A superb vantage point and secure location, this region has been populated from Neolithic…
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Day 637 – Lisbon, Portugal – An ancient magical place.
Lisbon is an old soul looking back on her past with sadness. It permeates the ancient streets, a palpable melancholy. There’s a sadness and longing to the local music, called fado. Embodied in the untranslatable word saudade, a nostalgic longing for the past. Once a world power, the richest city in the world, fallen,…
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100 Maneiras – July 9, 2021 (Lisbon, Portugal)
100 Maneiras is the personal project of well known Lisbon chef Ljubomir Stanisic who immigrated to Portugal from Bosnia and Herzegovina as a young man. He is a well known local television personality as a juror on the Portuguese version of Top Chef, host for three seasons of the Portuguese version of Kitchen Nightmares,…
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Touring port caves, tripe stew, and tackling a Francesinha sandwich while exploring the weathered beauty of Porto, Portugal.
The ancient city of Porto, Portugal dates back to 300 B.C. with Roman settlements which used the city as a port town. The city breaths with history, ancient squares and once lavish neighborhoods now falling into ruin. The city is built on steep hills that stretch down into the mouth of the Douro river…