Hi from Rick: A Tasty Tour of Portugal
I'll never forget talking to an old Portuguese fisherman while leaning against his gaily painted yet weathered boat on the beach of Salema (my favorite town on the Algarve). I asked him about fishing here in his youth. He looked out to sea and recalled, "When I was a child…it was either hunger or sardines."
Ever since then — walking down the back streets of any fishing town in Portugal — when I smell sardines (which is every evening), I think of how far this country has come from its "hunger or sardines" days. And I think how feasting on this culture may start with sardines on the grill, but that's just a springboard into a world of vivid, tasty travel fun.
It seems every Portuguese town has its own such edible springboard into its culture. In Porto, the locals love their francesinha — the ultimate grilled cheese sandwich gut-bomb — which reflects the greasy and hardscrabble nature of Portugal's second city. On the beaches of Nazaré, merchants demonstrate how to eat barnacles (rip off the tough outer skin, pop it in your mouth — like the neck of a butter clam — and wash it down with a beer). It's like communing with the sea, from where their life springs. And in the vineyards of the Douro Valley, families who've run their quintas for generations clink glasses before sipping their port as if drinking to their sun-drenched (and therefore sweet) heritage.
You could tour all of Portugal via your taste buds and have a great trip. As tour guides, we then release your other senses, making it much better yet. That's why both of our tours here — our long-running Best of Portugal and brand-new Heart of Portugal — may feel like food tours, until we show our travelers how edibles are just the appetizer in this warm and welcoming land so rich in history and culture.
On a Rick Steves Portugal tour (long or short), along with sampling culinary specialties, you'll enjoy top-tier sightseeing; excellent local guides; central, characteristic, and family-run hotels; natural people-to-people connections; and lots of free time to explore on your own, pop into an extra museum, hit the beach, or drop by that tempting sardine stand…because you know that, rather than experiencing "hunger or sardines"…it's sardines AND one of Europe's most underrated yet endearing cultures.
In this month's Tour News, we'll celebrate all the sights and senses of Portugal with inspiring day-by-day tour slideshows of both the Heart of Portugal and the Best of Portugal. We'll also meet Lisbon-born tour guide Cláudia Costa, review past travelers' raves about touring in Portugal, and tag along on a tasty food tour of Porto.
Wherever you're heading this summer — whether you're traveling independently, or on a Rick Steves' Europe tour — I encourage you to go local by trying the regional specialties. And to remember, with a good guide, that nibble can be just the gateway to an unforgettable travel adventure.
Keep on travelin'!
Rick