Lisbon, Peniche, Nazaré and Aveiro (June 2nd - June 8th, 2019)

After three hours of walking along the banks of the Tejo, as well as through some residential areas of Lisbon, we strongly doubted the always beautiful description of the city. So far, we had only encountered rundown houses, dirty streets, and a few unhealthy-looking pigeons, except for the majestic Belém Tower and a walkable monument for the great heroes of Portugal.

The great Monument of the Discoveries, with Henry the Navigator on its top, invites you to enjoy a great view of the city. While a long line formed at the only elevator, I had the stairs all to myself. The 52m high building, swaying in the wind, gave me a queasy feeling, but the view was fantastic. In the foreground, I saw the port on the Tejo and in the distance, the Ponte 25 de Abril, a gigantic, red bridge.

This experience already gave us a better impression of the capital of Portugal, and more positive experiences followed. We were in a cute café, where we enjoyed chocolate carrot cake and iced latte. Then we strolled through the narrow streets and also saw the listed funicular railway rushing by. We also passed by great street art works that had to be photographed immediately. I think the way back was a little more exhausting than the way there, but the march was worth it.

The next day we continued to Peniche. We cycled across the city and also took a 'mini hike', which I'll let the pictures speak for themselves :)

Our next destination was Nazaré, the city with the biggest waves in the world, but we didn't even come close to experiencing that. I think we were just there at the wrong time of year. Too bad! Nevertheless, the city has its charm. Just like in many Portuguese cities, fish is grilled on every corner here as well. The freshly washed laundry that the residents had hung up was immediately smoked.

As we walked along the beach, we took a little break and watched beach soccer. Russia was playing against Ukraine. Since we could watch for free, we didn't miss our chance and watched for a while. We expected the game to be more interesting, but the atmosphere was great! The Portuguese were really passionate and we were right in the middle of the action.

Although it was a bit sad that we didn't see giant waves, there are still many other things to admire. Our next destination for that was Aveiro, where we couldn't stop being amazed.

The city, with its many canals, reminds us of Venice or Amsterdam. Colorful boats sailed on the water, and the humpbacked bridges and majestic canals also contribute to a very special atmosphere.

But apart from that, the city has everything you could wish for. A shopping mile with clothing stores, sports equipment, and shoe shops. Everything was very clean, which we haven't experienced in every city before. And finally, the water city also has a wonderful lush green park. We will definitely come back!