Spain 🇪🇸 and Portugal 🇵🇹
Written on October 15th, 2022 by Renan Greca
In August 2021, Debo and I split up to visit friends in different sides of Europe. She went to Budapest to visit friends studying in Hungary; meanwhile I went to the Iberian Penninsula to visit Brazilian friends who work in Madrid and Lisbon.
Both friends generously let me stay at their houses, so it was a rather inexpensive trip. And in any case, after long months of pandemic and lockdown, it was great seeing them again.
Madrid
My friends Arthur and Jessica are from São Paulo and, before coming to Europe, we had actually only met online. Arthur and I used to host a podcast together so we knew each other well in one sense, but we weren’t intimate, let’s say. Us being in Europe brought us closer together and I first visited them in 2019 during our first trip to Spain.
Two years later, they moved to a larger flat and had new pets! Rather than a dog or a cat, their passion lies with pet rats. I hadn’t interacted with rats before, and I must say they can be incredibly cute and smart. It’s very relaxing seeing them play with the variety of toys that we give them. Not so easy to take a good picture of them, though!
As I had already visited Madrid before, I wasn’t there with touristic intentions. The goal was to spend time with my friends, and that I did. We went out to try Madrid’s latest treats — the dick waffles — and found the female counterpart as well! At night we had caipirinhas and tinto de verano to end the day.
For Arthur’s birthday, we wanted to go to a homely Brazilian restaurant, which was unfortunately closed. We ended up going to a churrascaria instead, and we ate so much I felt I couldn’t walk for hours after that.
The next day they had some work to do, so I took some time alone to visit Toledo, a Roman-era town not far from Madrid. It’s easily reachable via train, which you can catch at Puerta de Atocha. The city is certainly charming and full of history, but I have to admit it was way too hot that day to have a very enjoyable time, with temperatures hitting 40°C. I had to answer a call from my professors in the afternoon, so I took the opportunity to sit at a Starbucks for some time and enjoy the A.C., lemonade and “agua del grifo” — tap water.
Back in Madrid, I bought ingredients to make some Italian-style lasagna and tiramisù. And we also ate coxinhas that we had bought from a Brazilian shop earlier!
Lisbon
Flying from Madrid to Lisbon is like time travel — the flight lasts about one hour, but there’s also a time zone shift, so it feels like you land at the same time you depart. Funny experience.
Same as Madrid, I had already visited Lisbon so my main focus was having a good time with friends. Felipe and I went to high school together and we have been crossing each others’ lives ever since — sometimes by chance, sometimes by pure coincidence. We were both happy to find out that our friendship remains as easygoing as it has ever been and I have nothing but great things to say about those days in Portugal.
The first day we went out for drinks — started with caipirinhas, of course. Felipe introduced me to some of his friends, mostly also Brazilians who were settling in the Portuguese capital. We got quite drunk and missed the last metro of the night, so we had to stumble our way through the streets of Lisbon back to his apartment. I kind of just passed out after that, as I could feel my body could not tolerate any more alcohol that day.
Aside from a crazy night out, we also did some nice sight-seeing of some surrounding parts of Lisbon. Of course we ate some Brazilian pastel and some Portuguese pastel de nata — similar names, completely different snacks. We also tried some bolinho de bacalhau with a local wine on the way to Cascais, which is a great sunset spot.
The following day, we went to the Sintra-Cascais national park, which is home to some castles and panoramic views. Castelo dos Mouros is a great-wall type of building with very pictoresque spots, while Palácio da Pena is unique with its colorful walls and tile decorations. Finally, we caught another sunset at Cabo da Roca, Europe’s westernmost point. The winds there were so strong that my stuff nearly flew away!
My stays in Spain and Portugal in 2021 were short, but certainly enjoyable. It’s great to have a network of friends throughout Europe and I certainly plan on visiting them again sometime soon.
From Lisbon, I caught a flight to Sofia, where I would wait for Debo so we could explore Bulgaria together.