Why go to Europe when you can go to India? We were one of those desi families who had some kind of guilt in even thinking of visiting Europe while planning our vacations. A 10-day trip to three European cities has opened my eyes to the unlimited possibilities of air travel—if only this AI revolution could solve the long-line misery at customs and immigration. For those of us who are not diplomats or have not bothered to pay for global entry, over an hour in the winding lines for US passport-holders sadly reeks of the middle ages. And it definitely is not a welcome sight for visitors to Silicon Valley.
That hit hard because I was coming back from a place with live music inside the airport.
Even the trip had started on a great note with a Portuguese lady seated next to me in the flight. Born in Madeira and a long-time resident of California, Layla introduced me to a Portuguese card game Bisca and taught me how to pronounce the names of places on the itinerary.
After taking almost a week to come back to reality where there are no buskers at every corner, no beautiful tiled walls to stare at, and no new sights of statues, forts, towers, monasteries and palaces to behold, I look at the hundreds of photos in my phone and transport myself to Lisbon, Porto and Madrid—but especially that Douro valley. Napa next door has its own charm but Douro—a UNESCO world heritage wine-growing region with amazing man-made vineyard terraces alongside the Douro river—is unlike any other. One of the important scenes of ‘Fast & Furious 10’ movie was filmed in that picturesque location.
I was more thrilled to see a golden gate lookalike (built by the same company) and a lone cork tree in passing. Yes, those corks we toss away nonchalantly come from trees and are used to make many consumer products like flooring tiles, bags, belts, shoes etc. The bark can be harvested without harming the tree every 8 to 14 years after the tree reaches 25 years of age. They are as special as the port wine, green wine, sardines and pastel de natas in Portugal.
Pastel de natas! What can I say about this tasty custard tart that hasn’t been said before? Tasting the original Pastel de Belem, from the bakery which owns the original recipe of the monks who perfected it, has to be on everyone’s list. These melt-in-the-mouth pastries have ruined my ability to stay away from pastries. Just the other day, despite my sincere attempt to pay for a cup of coffee and leave, I found myself ordering a macaroon at a coffee shop. The dormant but mighty sweet tooth that was awakened on the trip got a bit happy, if not nata-level happy.
Portugese obviously pray at the altar of Ronaldo and his jersey number 7. He, or rather his statue is omnipresent, standing tall in stores. Kids and adults were proudly sporting his jersey everywhere. He must have honed his athletic abilities on the challenging terrains. Of course, one of the hotels Pestana CR7 that he owns in Madrid made it to my album.
Not in CR7, but I got puzzling looks upon asking if there was a gym at the Lisbon hotel on day one. I was just asking for a room to stretch. The second one in Porto had a namesake gym, which looked like no one really cares if it exists. Somehow—I mean after taking more than the recommended number of steps per day—by day 10, I understood those looks and also lost a few pounds. Stretching is still a requirement, on a yoga mat or a bath towel. No wonder it was easy to gobble up a huge sandwich, Francesinha (the veg kind) any day.
Keen to experience a Fado show, I was ecstatic when one of the restaurants displayed a board saying the show would be starting soon. Sometimes you gotta just wander, look up and find things without looking up everything. This enlightenment came after dinner at a south Asian place the day before, which had glorious reviews, but turned out to be so-so. The owner was more interested in asking for reviews. Seeing the poster of Taj Mahal there with the tagline ‘A luxury building’ had me already lowering my expectations for some reason. It was as pinching as Vasco de Gama being hailed for landing in India. And the fact that the owner offered free dessert only to his German customers seated at the next table. Oh well!
By the way, the Fado show discovered via the spirit of exploration was entertaining plus soothing. Much needed after a day of long walks.
No one goes to Spain and misses a Flamenco show. It was everything I had hoped for and some more. However, Hrithik Roshan did not make an appearance. No, it was not mentioned in the program. As someone who had watched Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara a number of times, I just assumed that Hrithik would pop out from behind the curtain singing “Senorita” and dancing flawlessly. Nevertheless, the spectacular show brought the curtain down on a great trip with my wonderful travel buddy.
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