My Portugal
Matteo's story
Sometimes they are small coincidences that completely change the course of a lifetime. Or a flyer resting on a bar of a bar. Thus begins the story of Matteo, than to follow their team, ends up landing in a new country, who will become his home. My Portugal It is the site where Matteo shows us this fascinating land, digging in traditions, in the kitchen and revealing destinations outside the tourist routes.
Hi Matteo and welcome to Easy Travel hosting! We read about how you landed in Portugal, Specifically in Lisbon. You could tell us this story?
Yeah, As you have understood mine is one of those stories in which the hand of fate has done its part, And where one of the protagonists was undoubtedly the Fado (Portuguese word for destiny and that – not by chance – it is also the name of their most international popular music, born from the slums and full of saudade, another Lusitanian word that describes a widespread national feeling, which feeds on the nostalgia of a past, real or dreamed, which was and which is no longer, a word so identifying that it is not easy to translate it, in other languages).
Quasi 25 years ago, during an afternoon work break (how good was the mushroom pizza at Mario's, under the architecture studio where I worked, in the center, in Grosseto) I came across a small leaflet inviting the Viola fans (good times, those…) to follow their team right here in Lisbon, for the quarter-finals of a Cup that no longer exists.
At that time Tabucchi's books were quite regular company for me, and anyone who has read them knows that they made you want to travel to meet her, that strange and distant city, which many Italians then thought was in Spain: hence the phone call made with little hope to a friend who shared my football faith (now almost disappeared), his surprising adherence to the program, and the journey of 3 o 4 days in the Portuguese capital, which welcomed us at the beginning of March with beautiful spring weather, with its light and that appearance that seemed strange to me at the time, of a different city, European but also not, elegantly abandoned, alive and above all welcoming, not presumptuous.
And then the match, the exit despite a terrible headache the following evening, a table that becomes free in a jazz music venue full of people, of voices and colors, two girls right in front of us and then the vague memory of a fun night, in places that are always packed, musica, smiles and happiness, so far from home.
The rest is perhaps predictable and in any case I keep it to myself, suffice it to say that after a year I packed my bags and said goodbye to friends and relatives, and that one of the girls is now my wife, as well as mother of Manel and Sara, Our children, beautiful like all the children in the world, but be careful, in this case it is objective (as all the fathers in the world say…)
Your blog was born from the idea of giving non-touristy and non-obvious information to those who decide to visit Portugal. What are the things you absolutely recommend doing?
I have lived in Lisbon for a long time, I toured Portugal far and wide, and I know it better than Italy, because it is logically smaller, but also because that foreign curiosity exists, who falls in love with a city and a country and who sometimes ends up knowing them even better than those who were born there.
On my site, that I published 6-7 years ago and which is not really a blog but a cross between a blog and a guide, I tried to put some useful information, advice and tips for Italians who would like to know Portugal better, trying to share my experiences and knowledge, without ever giving up my personal vision – and therefore limited – so much so that I called him Ilmioportogallo.
I also work in tourism, And when I accompany Italian tourists I always try to transmit the same enthusiasm and the same personal vision of my site, trying to show even less obvious or less beaten aspects of Lisbon and Portugal: In recent years Pre-Covid Portugal and Lisbon have been the protagonists of an impressive tourist boom, For numbers and rapidity of their increase, who gave work to many, Created wealth to some, and decreased the possibility of living in Lisbon to others.
Situations of overtourism, Especially in certain areas of Lisbon, With all anexes and connected problems, also from the point of view of safeguarding the identity of the city and its historical areas.
In reality, the problem of the tourism/sustainability balance is complex and not so easy to catalog and analyse, despite the fact that articles have multiplied in recent years, post, books, etc. on the change in Lisbon, about the irreparable loss of his identity, about how beautiful Lisbon was many years ago, often using clichés and without making a real analysis of the situation: it comes to me a little’ to laugh, in some cases they are written by people who don't even live here, who maybe only spent a little while there’ time, yet I notice a very peremptory tone, some talk about it as if they were born there, in
Portugal, with definitive sentences and analyses, while I don't have so many certainties.
However, returning to your question about the things that absolutely must be done, perhaps the best answer is that there is no answer, also because people's interests and objectives in their travels are multiple and different.
However, I can tell you what absolutely must be done for me, on a hypothetical trip to Portugal, then the choice will also depend on the time that people will have at their disposal: for city lovers, e.g., Lisbon is objectively mandatory and – I'm suspicious, I know – the most fascinating of all, while admitting that Porto, where I always go very willingly, it has a historical identity (also because unlike Lisbon it was spared from the earthquake of 1755) more marked, which makes it – Perhaps – even more beautiful, but without having the light and colors of the capital, where I really advise you to get lost, even without a specific destination, Every now and then I just need to step away a little’ from the busiest streets to suddenly rediscover those sensations and that enchantment that I felt when I first arrived, Lisbon never ceases to surprise you actually.
Other cities to visit are certainly Évora, Guimarães and Braga, in my very personal order of preference; for those who want to travel on their own the ideal is to rent a car, given that the network of roads and motorways is excellent, despite the cost of tolls and petrol/diesel, Unfortunately, as expensive as in Italy (better if electric car, Therefore…)
Then I would recommend going to see and enjoy the sea, always and everywhere even if if I had to choose I would opt for the coast south of Lisbon, up to and including Sagres and the Algarve (but the latter outside the months of July and August, if possible): come to Portugal and not see the sea for me, that I am sea dependent, it's worse than going to Rome and not seeing the Pope, to understand each other. So here are some of my favorite beaches, from Lisbon down: Costa da Caparica, Rabbits (Auntie), Carragueira Brejos, Open New, Porto Covo, Malhão, Almograve, Mulberry, Arrifana, Cordoama/Castelejo, Bunkbed, Savory, Crag, Barrel, but then it's also nice to look out from the cliffs, than in certain places (Cape Sardão and Cape São Vicente, e.g.) they are unmissable.
Those who love trekking and the sea must absolutely follow some of the stages of the Vicenza Rota fishermen's path, lungo the alenjana and algarbio coast, up to Sagres; while for those who want to know better the nature I would say that the northern regions further, Ossia Il Minho and Trás-os-Montes, e.g., offer peculiar and different landscapes, with very beautiful paths and paths, also viable by bike (In this regard, I would like to point out the existence of various cycle paths in natural landscapes, often derived from the reuse of ancient strokes of abandoned railway). The historical villages are also interesting (historical villages) and the drains of shale (shale villages), In the Portugal Center-North, where tourists are rare and where it is easier to discover an even more authentic Portugal, And that will also be surprising with some pleasant surprises at the level of artistic-architectural heritage.
And well citing is also the Allentejo, Fascinating region with its cork, vineyards and olive groves, Ancient grenade of Portugal, with his hills and plains where time seems to stop, And where you can travel tens of km without seeing houses or living soul, Only great herds of cows in the wild…
I would say that as the main advice it is enough, despite existing many other places, and also many monuments, Above all churches, Museums and monasteries, not to be missed…
Let's talk about food and drinks. What absolutely try and where?
Also in this case it would take a book, So much is the wealth and diversity of the Lusitanian gastronomy and its history: Each region has its own dishes, Every village his specialty, They range from fish, often very fresh and grilled to perfection – In this case, in addition to the most noble fish like sea bass (bass) and sea bream (golden) I recommend also more popular but delicious fish, like sardines (sardine, But only between May and October) or the spinarelli (porpaus) – all'”faithful friend” of all the Portuguese, that is the cod (cod), cooked in many different ways (My Favorites? “Lagareiro”, “bready”, “grain” or in “Pataniscas”, A kind of cod pancake), preserved and consumed since the distant Middle Ages, per i molti giorni all’anno in cui per motivi religiosi la carne non era permessa, and also caught directly by the Portuguese, In the distant north seas, in the sec. XVI before and in the century. XX then.
Always remaining in the sea, How to forget the delicious and always present octopus, and also the Marisco, that is, the seafood (From shrimp to crabons, From lobsters to clams and percebes that many of you don't know what they are and therefore don't know what they are lost…), who asks for greater effort in terms of portfolio but which rewards in the soul…
As for the meat, You can go from the classic kid in the oven (baked head) proposed a little’ everywhere, even if more typical of the areas of the interior, to the milk piglet (leitão assado) In the locality of Mealhada, Near Coimbra, with stewed lamb (lamb stew) of the Alentejo to the delightful Lafing veal, The Una Succulenta Put Mirandesa Della Regione di Tra-os-Montes, Without taking anything away from the roasted chicken coop algarvia (Frazinho to the fashion of the guide).
Then if you are greedy here you risk hurting yourself, because they too are, and have preserved many centuries -old recipes, often coming from the convents that existed from the Middle Ages and which remained in operation until the middle of the century. XIX: Here the nuns used the light of the egg to lighten the wine and to make the clothes in love, and with the yields that they advanced they made sweets, thus explaining the reason for so much orange in the windows of the Portuguese pastry shops. I frankly renounce us without great sacrifice, to desserts, I prefer fruit (orange, Apples and pears are normally good choices) But with a coffee every now and then a Pastel de Nata or a beam, e.g., I end up eating them…
Passing now to drinking, The Portuguese wines have been a revelation for me: From Dauro's wines to those of the Alfantejo, Passing through the moved wines of Minho (the so -called “green wine”), but with interesting proposals also in other less known regions, the panorama is waiting to be discovered, also because Portugal is a large producer (and consumer) of the nectar of Bacchus, offering a great variety of native vines, and of an incredible difference in terroir and therefore in proposals, with an often truly competitive quality/price ratio: if you want a wine like they drank in the Middle Ages, you can try the “medieval wine” di Ourém, in the Lisbon Region, while if you are intrigued by the thousand-year-old traditions of the Romans who planted a lot of vineyards here, you can try the wines from talha (from amphora) of the Alentejo Region, e.g.
Without forgetting the fortified wines, Porto and Madeira above all, but the Moscatel isn't bad either…
One last thing to close the gastronomic section: with, come me, you can't eat without bread, you are in the right place, for me Portuguese bread is a marvel (It is no coincidence that Portuguese emigrants often end up becoming bakers abroad, just as many Italians propose themselves as pizza chefs or ice cream makers…).
How is the Portuguese situation regarding recycling and respect for the environment?
Portugal despite not being a rich country (On the contrary), it is quite cutting edge in various aspects, and at the level of production of renewable energy e.g.(wind and solar, above all, but other possibilities are also being studied and analysed, such as the exploitation of the power of the tides), represent a significant percentage of total electricity production.
Where it still has a long way to go is precisely in the field of recycling, and even more so in waste disposal at a macro level, given that methods that are already largely outdated in countries that are more attentive and sensitive to the topic are still in use: fortunately the mentality, especially the younger ones, it's changing, and the intentions are there, it remains to be seen whether they will be fulfilled, and whether it will be possible in some cases to fight all those interests that represent the real obstacle to a real process of improving environmental conditions.
Easy Travel Hosting thanks Matteo very much for telling us about his Portugal
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