Our final day in Portugal was spent driving and eating. We needed to travel from Ilhavo to Lisbon, which is only 2 1/2 hours on the freeways. We had grand plans to visit Fatima on the way to Lisbon, but our last day in the country happened to be Portugal Day, a national holiday similar to the Fourth of July here. As soon as we exited the freeway in Fatima, we came to a standstill and quickly realized that everyone and his brother, aunt, uncle and grandmother was visiting Fatima on this holiday.
We turned around and headed south to Santarem, a town known for bullfighting.
We were all hungry, so we turned to our guidebook and found the Taberna da Quinzena, a restaurant filled with bullfighting posters. We arrived 10 minutes before they opened and somehow managed to reserve the very last table before the lunch rush began. We enjoyed black pork kebabs, salad, bread and beer and felt very lucky to have eaten a delicious meal in such a popular spot. The line of patrons waiting for tables snaked around the side of the building when we left.
Once we reached Lisbon, we checked into our hotel by the airport, returned the rental cars, and rested before heading into town for one last dinner. We returned again to the Baixa District with a dinner agenda. Henry really wanted caldo verde, I was hoping to find the bacalhau dish I'd eaten in Sintra, and Pop just wanted a bowl of garlic soup. In the end, we couldn't find a restaurant with both caldo verde and the garlic soup, so Pop let Henry have his caldo verde. (Nana and Pop had one extra day in Lisbon in which to find Pop's favorite soup!)
Macieira for the finish.
Street performers right outside our cafe.
The next day we were at the airport again, heading back home. I'll leave you with one final photo that I snapped at the Duty Free shop while waiting for Gene to buy some macieira. This is an advertisement for Licor Beirao, which we didn't try but I think we should have, and I think it sums up our trip to Portugal quite well:
"Let's celebrate the Portuguese saudade, the urge to laugh without reason, tight hugs, the noise and the shared silence. Let's toast to our age-old friends and also those we make throughout the world, be they best friends for a lifetime or a magical second." Saude!
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