How to plan your birthday (in Portugal) - if you are a LuxeNomad.

First, you have a conversation with your cousin about how fun it would be to drive around Portugal tasting varieties of Port. Naturally, this is to determine if there actually are different varieties of Port (the answer is yes, despite our failure to actually make it to the Douro Valley).  

Next, you mention this trip and how fun it would be to your respective mothers. Dad in tow, they decide to tack on a few days in Portugal to their upcoming travel plans. Now you realize there’s a real trip about to form and you mention it to a few friends. The next thing you know, all these people are working your plans into their summer trips to Europe (with a little encouragement, of course).

As the group forms, you search for a central location with easy transportation to Lisbon that has plenty of nearby “things to do”, including a few days beach-side. Sintra, a mere 18km from Lisbon has long been a summer escape for royalty and wealthy Lisboetas. Perfect! A sweet picturesque (albeit touristy) town, Sintra is filled with palaces and churches and castles, oh my!

You find yourself searching for rental houses in the village that will sleep a village. The details are settled: you love the house and the proximity to Lisbon and beaches. Day trips for the group will be as easy as the coastal breeze. And so it was…

We started with Mafra, the focal point of which is a 1200-room palace compared to Versailles. We agreed with the 1200-room bit, and the library inside was astonishing and worth the visit. Estoril, a sleepy beach town with a huge casino is said to be Ian Fleming’s inspiration for Casino Royale. Royale-y retro. We didn’t happen upon James Bond, yet our driver maneuvered his bus through the narrow lanes with the agility of an Aston Martin! Cascais, a more celebrated beach town with inlaid streets exudes charm around every curve. Creativity abounds, with Portuguese coming as a challenge to most of us, we settled on calling the difficult to pronounce Cascais “CousCous” for the remainder of our trip. 

Lisbon, our last stop, was not the least. The city stole this birthday girl’s heart. As I blew out the candles on my birthday flan and sipped my Porto, I wished for another, longer visit. Perhaps paired with Marrakech, another on my “must-go-back” destination list. I could almost see the souk from the terrace. 

06/2010