For its lovers, the ?Trip? always begins from the mind, when they start to daydream about visiting a place, then when they detect info about the most striking and peculiar corners, when they peer at the geographic map, when they draft a list of the necessary, when they prepare a draft of the itinerary and so on. ?Trip? does'n?t mean only destination, but also route, negative facets and setbacks, colors, smells, sounds and flavors, all different from the ones we are used to.
The summer vacation 2006 has been all this for me. To enter Portugal has been very intriguing, it has been like putting a foot into a parallel world, like feeling part of the Europe because it is still situated on the Mediterranean Sea, but also living some days in a distant dimension, full of influences of people so much different from us, came also through the Atlantic Ocean.
I have wanted to live in my way this vacation, I wanted to feel this always desired travel experience in my veins, I felt on my skin the climate changes from a State to another one, leaving Italy by motorcycle, passing through the windy zone of the Southern France and through the very arid one of the Central Spain, to finally reach Portugal at the level of Lisbon; it has been wonderful to set back immediately of one hour the hour hand of the clocks and to discover a gentle and pleasant breeze, cropped lands with vineyards and cork oaks and villages completely made with white little houses.
Another fascinating fact for me, even if unexplainable, is that I did not understand yet how before I always had understood quite well the language through the radio and TV stations and on the contrary I was not able to distinguish a word staying in that place for some days.
During the trips it is often impossible to find hotels or camping areas in the big cities, even if for Portugal I wrote down a lot of details, but a bit because of the tiredness due to the travel and a bit because it is always hard to ride in the traffic I opted for small villages but quite close to the urban settlings, to avoid the high prices and to rest in peaceful sleeps outside the big cities, it is not absolutely hard to find a receptive building in Portugal because everywhere you go you see in front of you a multitude of bedrooms for the night, called ?quartos?, often with the bathrooms inside them, situated along tiny streets and onto narrow staircases, into ancient buildings, but always furnished with simplicity and taste. I have found very affordable prices with open and closing times nearly non-existent, because often in Portugal the receptive buildings have all-day opening, really not bad for the tourists.
Something which you can notice immediately in every village, big or small one, of Portugal are the ?azulejos?, hand-painted ceramic tiles which get the name from the colour of the pigment used, that is the azure-blue, you can find them almost everywhere and they give an Arabic atmosphere to the walls.
Another fascinating aspect of the Portuguese culture is the cooking, strictly connected to the products of the ground and it is also a mixture of influences carried by the sea and the ocean which makes you feel familiar to it and stranger at the same time. The typical dishes are represented by the ?bacalhau?, that is the codfish cooked everywhere along the streets and into the restaurants and in a lot of ways, especially smoked, by the ?açorda?, that is a soup of little pieces of bread and olive oil, cooked in a very folksy and immediate way and because of it very appreciated by the Portuguese people, by the vegetables sold along the streets such as the ?galegas? and the ?favas?, that are cabbages and broad beans, by the ?leitao? meat, that is the small pig, by the fruits such as the ?melhao?, that is the yellow melon, and by the typical desserts such as the ?pasteis?, that are the pastries, and the canapés with custard, in sum Portugal represents also a triumph for the taste.
Walking across the streets of the small villages and of the big cities, without distinction, you can feel a way of living in harness with the nature?s rhythms, despite the progress have invaded also this corner of Europe, in fact it is typical the slowness of the Portuguese people, I have noticed it by myself, no one who barks in the traffic, no one who runs and has breathlessness along the streets, quiet smiling faces everywhere, I am sure we could learn a lot from those people.
In sum, I think it is worth to travel to Portugal, anywhere in that State, because you can have a unique experience which surely makes a mark in your heart.
