where's wolmut?: gritty portugal

sandeman port wine caves

emil in belem

emil says:
top 3 disappointments on the this trip: cambodia, vietnam, portugal. the economic malaise is nowhere more transparent than in lisbon. shuttered businesses, creepy empty streets in large sections of the city and more graffiti than coney island in the 80s. the up shot to all the grittiness is an omnipresent urban hipster music scene and a lack of the things i complain about most, namely high-end western chain stores and restaurants. i feel like i should have liked lisbon more than i did but worrying about our safety late at night and the lack of cultural 'things to do' sorta put a damper on the place. i had an expectation that we would finish this trip laying for a month on the beaches of portugal. after a day on the beach we realized that was probably no longer going to happen. maybe we are spoiled by some of the beaches we have been lucky enough to see on this trip but there just wasn't anything nearly as compelling on portugal's shores. the beach towns along the southern coast have some character and the grilled fish food scene is fun for a few days but no waves and little ambiance and just not enough of enough. porto, portugal was the highlight for us. the port tasting is done right and all the major labels (sandeman, taylors, etc) are clustered together without the need for intoxicated driving from vineyard to vineyard. the port tasting alone is worth a trip and the city has a vibrant pulse to it. but all in all portugal just didn't bring it like i had hoped.

streets of lisbon

overlooking lisbon

alfama area of lisbon

mosteiro dos jeronimos in belem

beaches of lagos

tasting at ramos pinto

laurel says:
i had wanted to visit portugal for quite a long time, so it pains me to say this, but it was a b-u-s-t. that said, it is difficult to decipher if portugal has always been so rough around the edges or if this is the result of the recent euro zone crisis. without a doubt- it is the place where we have seen the most intense economic difficulty. shuttered businesses, graffitti everywhere, piles of garbage in the streets. it is gritty- and at times knocking on the door of uncomfortable. lisbon boasts some fantastic nightlife in its barrio alto neighborhood and the live music scene is next level. but beyond that it felt more like south america than europe, but with european prices. the beaches of lagos were pretty but the abandoned condo buildings that line the shores are an eyesore and another bitter reminder of portugal's challenging economy. by far the one bright spot of our time here was our time in porto, the cute riverside town where the wines from the duoro valley pass thru for storage. all of the major port houses have established tasting rooms and wine caves on the banks of the river. it is like wine tasting in napa, except you can walk from place to place and the alcohol percentage of port is 23%. we had a fantastic day sipping some of portugal's finest ports and learning about the port wine making process. all said, i am happy that we visited portugal but have no plans to return.