Portugal by land, sea & air
Welcome to RadicalTrips thanks for joining We are now in sunny Portugal and just look at where our little red car took us this time. Our entrance into Portugal was amazing. We didn't do it by car but we did it by flying 70 kilometers an hour across the river into Portugal. And then, there were the mines a totally desolated place and we could really play around in it. Kayaking was amazing.
Just in front of the coast of Portugal there are a lot of islands with fortresses wonderful. Normally, we like to visit the far-off, crazy places but we made an exception for Sintra normally a tourist trap, because of all the amazing palaces and this one was no less special, but now because of Corona in 2020, we had the place to ourselves. And then, there was the Chapel of Bones...
And what do you think of the world's most beautiful McDonald's? Don't forget your sunscreen! RadicalTrips, make your life great again. Ola - Ola! Do you come back to Spain after the jump? Yes please, we need to go back, our car is here This is for the boat, okay? Could you wait here for 5 minutes, more or less? The car is coming. 5 minutes? That's great! Wow, that's quite the view, you have here So what's the mortality rate like? Oh, one percent...
One percent, okay. Sounds reasonable. And like, do you drown in the river, or do you fall to your death? The choice can be yours, really... Arms extended, feet together legs down when you exit, okay? Have a good flight, bye bye! - thank you! See you in the past! No, in the future... no, it's in the past...
no it's in the future because... no it's in the past because it's one hour behind It's always confusing, isn't it? it's one hour behind So it's... - Yeah. But is that the future? It's the future because you're going back in time. No, hang on a minute if you're going back in time It's one hour behind, so yeah you're not going ahead in time you're going back in time It's the past! It's the past. - We're going to revisit the past. It's the past. Have a good flight! - Thank you, tchau! We went back in time, my friend it feels like, I've seen this before it's one big déjà vu, what do you think? Was it fun? - Yes Were you scared? - No.
They said that you go 70 kilometers an hour but I think it was much slower than that But it was fun. I heard you screaming from Spain! That was the point! It's... it's just so uncomfortable to... So, where those screams of agony, or...?
Um... it was a mixture a little pleasure, a little pain... the worst of it was when I hit the brakes Yeah, you went quite far, didn't you? The break went whoosh... Yeah, but I think we are the two heaviest here so the heavier, the more... - I guess so You didn't notice the brakes at all, did you? Oh, no, not really... America, number one! Americans...
I wanted to say we're in Portugal, but that's not true we're back in Spain. - Yes. But that's why I'm feeling weird traveling time is not for the faint of heart. We entered Portugal for the second time that day right in between the first and second wave of Corona 19 we felt very to lucky to be able to enjoy our holiday and not let the summer of 2020 go to waste. The strangest part, though was driving over almost empty roads, wherever we went.
Stepping out of the air conditioned car into the afternoon sun felt like walking into an oven. But we really wanted to see "complex mineiro" Remarkable how close to the village it is. You see, here is the entrance of the São Domingos mine. Our little red car is here. We walked this route to the big pond over there. And where next? I think, this is the best route.
It's maybe a little bit longer but you are sure that you get all the main attractions in it and it's not too long to get sunburned. Why am I with crazy over here? The thing behind us is such a weird structure. But luckily there are signs. And it used to be some form of loading dock for trains to pass through and then, I guess be filled with whatever they were mining for here.
Does it say? Only loading the wagons... - Oh. The mines were extremely deep almost half a kilometer 150 floors deep. So where, then, were the actual mine shafts? I guess all these buildings around were service buildings to operate the mine with the mines probably down there because there's a tower, and... So, obviously, there have been times we were better prepared. I'm calling it a heatstroke. I think this is a particularly interesting location.
Because on the one hand you have a couple of signs put up that explain what buildings had what purpose or give some historical insight. But on the other hand, it might be a museum but there's no fences, there's no entrance. Actually, there's nobody. And that gives it this sense of total freedom. You can do whatever you want, here take all the time you need which is, of course, different from the City of Iron, we visited in Germany or, of course, Chernobyl for which you could only enter with a guide and going through military checkpoints.
But here in Portugal, you're all by yourself. Let's do the final verdict. I think we've, we've been here for an hour. I really crave the shade and air conditioning of the car so we're heading back.
I really enjoyed being here. There's a remarkable beauty to it. All the decay the trees in the buildings and it's fun to fly around and take some Instagram pictures we forgot to take Instagram pictures! Of course, I forgot to take Instagram pictures but I forgot a lot more like, putting on my hiking boots.
Yeah... - Because with those boots I could climb up the mining tower and with... it's too difficult. So I regret that it's not the first time and I promise you, it's not the last time but we'll try keep on improving. It's getting hot in here so take off all your clothes. chickened out. Some villages are more interesting than others.
We were given this tip to visit. Not really convinced, but maybe it's good to see some of the local towns around and get an impression of what real Portugal is like. They brought the burger, delicious. Great bungalow apartment. It's a beautiful hotel.
We're in a very nice nature reserve, actually and the service is great. We just had our laundry picked up which we can collect first thing in the morning. Everything is perfect BUT they forgot to bring my Corona beer, which I ordered because I found it appropriate in times like these. But worst of all, they forgot to bring my mayonnaise to go with my fries And, honestly, I don't know how cope without sauce... You're just bluffing, you want sauce as well! Oh, so close to perfect! I know that there was a time in the past that you were always traveling with your own tube of mayonnaise doesn't matter where you went, you had your own tube with you. Yeah, those were the times.
Well, the downside of it was on multiple occasions the tube broke, spilling mayonnaise all into my coat or bag and that was just awfully inconvenient, but this, too! And now I'm left without sauce. All right, let me ask you the most important question. What's worse, a backpack with a lot of mayonnaise, or eating fries without? It's one of the bigger questions in life, isn't it? To be or not to be without mayonnaise? That's it. I think it's time for dessert! Look what just came in. Karel! Whoa.
That really takes me back to Norway where we also got a free cat alongside the little house that we rented. Our first breakfast in five days because we've been munching on these protein bars... For two reasons: one, they were Airbnbs and the second B in "Airbnb", now, is totally neglected.
And second, we didn't have the time because we travel like idiots so this will taste extra good. Bon appétit! - Bon appétit. As always, we had to hurry up and squeeze not one, but two location visits into one day. The first one is the very definition of macabre.
Over four centuries back when the town of Évora was known for its wealth the monks had a problem. There were as many as 43 cemeteries around that were taking up valuable land. So, for the Capella dos Ossos an estimated 5000 corpses were relocated and put to good use the message being <i>Nós Ossos Que Aqui Estamos Pelos Vossos Esperamos</i> translates to <i>We Bones That Are Here Await Yours.</i>
Quite the attraction! Yes. I always like visiting places with a lot of bones it's not my... serious! What? - Serious! Like that's a category? That's right.
From all the musea that I have visited with human bones this is number three. My number one is Paris because there are a lot of bones more than 3 million people are under the ground. Number two is Slovakia because it's a really, really big church made out of bones.
And this is definitely number three. I liked it. It's quiet, it's little, it's peaceful Did you learn anything from the reason behind why they built this place? The reason is... Where are you going in such a hurry, traveler? Stop. Do not proceed any further and pause because recall how many have passed from this world. Reflect on your similar end.
So, don't live life in a hurry. The more your pause, the more you will progress. I think, I live almost 90% of the time that way, except when we travel we travel like crazy and we try to visit as many places. But at home every day, when I wake up I meditate for 20 minutes So, I think, I try to pause more in my life. Any new insights, have you been inspired? Inspired? No.
But when you hear a message one time two times, three times, 10 times it gets more ingrained in your lifestyle. So after a fifth or sixth museum made out of balance you will actually internalize what they want to convey. Yes, but I think I already visited eight, nine or even ten of such places in Europe. It will be there, someday someday, when I'm really bald. Not yet! Will you tell us, if it happened? I will tell you but I know for sure, you can only be old and wise if you were young and stupid I've been young and stupid So I'm probably on the right way.
Oh! Right right. It makes sense... in a strange way. If you don't understand you're not there yet. That's right. We reached the outskirts of Lisbon in high spirits with only a slight delay for our pickup by João, and we are Keep It Local Tours, guys.
Are you going to be ready, Karel? Yes, I'm ready! And, you are João out of how many João's? Um, so... let's scream JOÃO! Ah, you see? One there. There's one João. There's always a João. Always a João! - Always a João.
Actually, tomorrow we also have a tour guide named... - João You see, it's the most common Portuguese name It's ridiculous... - you scream, they come out. So, we found him! The world's most entertaining tour guide. Driving us to the old city of Sintra João 1 was booming with energy, stories and surprises.
This is the way we do, nowadays. Yes, I will emigrate, for sure! I told you, you want to go back? No. You'll stay here, you wanna stay here. What's that? We're curious. It's love.
"Travesseiro". It's like, translating litteraly as "pillow". It's a pillow of love. It's delicious, isn't it? - Very good. Warming up! We're warming up! It's almost starting.
We are exactly in the heart of Sintra, okay? We're gonna start at Quinta da Regaleira It's right behind us. It's humongous! We entered the magical palace gardens. And all of a sudden, it became quiet and peaceful. It wants to, in a certain way, to look natural. But then, it's actually a chimney that was used to burn the leaves from the garden.
There's the tunnel down where they were burning and then it will go all the way to the top. He created something looking like a tree or a termite. That's why, you were walking almost not noticing what it was, right here. That's really cool. - It's cool. It's a really cool one. It's a big part of Quinta da Regaleira it's right here it's the Initiatic Well it's actually connected with something that starts so we're gonna start something inside. Special!
Karel, you're going fishing? The most famous attraction in all of Sintra the Initiation Well was very special indeed. Like a tower built into the ground it was designed to represent the Nine Circles of Dante's Inferno and evoke a spiritual reaction from its visitors. We had prepared well, for once by bringing a tiny fishing rod to try and get a cinematic shot of the well by dropping the camera straight down toward its center. Oh, it takes a long time. Ah shit, you will be doing this for 15 minutes! Descending into the well, it became colder and quieter.
Six stories down, a gloomy vibe came over us just as the builders had intended over a century ago. João 1 directed us forward, into the cave tunnel slowly finding back the light from outside… Do you feel, they want to actually give you a dark perspective when you are walking through these tunnels because, it looked a little bit like skulls when you were inside, okay? - Yes, it does! Well, it takes me back to this morning that's why, it was funny when you said that you were there. That's why, we should always start from the top all the way down. And that's exactly what we did. We followed the water and the water always comes down. And that's exactly what we did, okay? Going through the dark we need to find our own way out.
And during that period of darkness, we will say it's where you actually find yourself. You find your way out, you clear your thoughts, organize your ideas, and you come out where the light and you're listening, the water, it's coming to us. This is where you should always finish. stone by stone, obstacle by obstacle playing a little bit like God walking through the water and finishing right here.
You saw there was a cross - Yeah it's all very symbolic - very symbolic. There's two crosses there Templar cross, the Christ cross cruz de Cristo, okay? it was the red one. That's a very important cross connected to the first secret society existing. That's why, it's actually a ritual area to become a member from the Freemasons, okay? And where can we join? Uhhh... Do we need to sign something, with blood, or...?
No, that's not... unfortunately, that's not the way and then, to be a member you need to be invited and then, of course, they will do some rituals to initiate... But you know people, so, can we speed that up somehow? Uhhh... - Are you a member? Maybe? I cannot say.
No, I'm not. I'm not. But maybe you are? Maybe I am. - But you're not. Exactly. But it could be. - It could be. Yeah. - So we never know. At the end, without the shooting, off Maybe, we can...
It's off, it's off. You go ahead! - Okay! And the stories kept coming. For every nook and cranny João 1 explained how all the pieces of architecture, vegetation and Rens, Rens! Ooohh... there we go! That almost cost us a lens.
So anyway, there was symbolism everywhere. Snail, the frog, turtle right here, the cross the ropes, and also you have the sphere that was used by the navigators to navigate, okay? The palace itself was also beautiful in its own right but a cynic could point out how most of Europe’s spectacular palaces from around the 1900 time period do look a lot alike. So we all agreed, the palace gardens took the crown. This is what makes it special because you don't see the layers of the mountain nature, the plants, the trees, everything, it's covering.
So what we saw before, okay, you cannot see it now And that's the beauty about this place. It's magical. Okay? It's always different when you come here. That's why, I never get tired to come.
But, of course, João 1 was only getting started. We picked up the pace and headed west towards the ocean coast. But first, a quick pit stop with another one of João's surprises. So, this little one we have here... This is Sacana. "Sacana" means "bastard".
And this is in honor to Kim the Piri Piri challenge. Oh, okay okay okay... oh! This is it. Oh God, God, God... - He wants more!
Oh, it's all on the camera! We had a small disaster... Yeah, it's okay... Oh my God! Give me all of that! Oh, no... Gimme! Look, I'm crying... Ooh! I saved your ass, man. I caused a distraction They will never notice.
Wow. Still going! Whooo! So, this is a very, very sad moment. The fishing rod has done well. But as we've learned, this very morning in the Chapel of Bones it's all just temporary. Every one of us is here temporary. And I don't know what happened Karel, what the fuck happened? I was...
So, the end for this fishing rod came a bit faster than expected Here we go! Sad moment. Sorry! - Tears, tears It's for the best! It's for the best! I don't... I'm sorry It's okay, it's okay. It will be okay, I'm fine, I'm fine. Just go. We reached the coast and drove straight up to the cliffs.
Cabo da Roca is the westernmost point of continental Europe and well-known for its magnificent views of the various granite boulders sticking out of the Atlantic. The typical weather in this area is notorious and can change in an instant. There can be incredible wind speeds it's often rainy and at other times, there's fog a lot of fog. So, drone flying made very little sense today. Thank you fog! Beautiful! Love you! You have the best fog, man.
We have the best fog ever. This is the Portuguese fog! Can't beat the fog! - Can't beat the fog. Walking for a bit we appreciated the landscape while João 1 provided commentary. Basically, you can fish in this coast you can fish sea bass, okay. I've just thrown away my fishing rod, so that's unfortunate. - Ah!
It just happened! - Exactly. It was very emotional. - Very. We are on the most western point of Europe. It's windy! - You can fly! It's that I'm that heavy that I can't fly, but... I believe I can fly... I believe...
Besides Portugal's nature there was also time for language appreciation. And finally, our last stop for today was devoted to one of Portugal's biggest and most important exports: cork. Sobreiro, sustainable clean industry bark comes out. Boom, amazing.
João is so happy about his cork trees. But the mist is incredible. It's thick.
It feels weird. They will fight the fog. I'm not afraid! Come on! I can take you on, man! Jump for your life! Nooo! There's something in the air. It makes them crazy, I don't... Aaaaaaah! Send help, now! Please! We thanked João 1 for a hilarious day and made our way back east as we had reserved for a hotel in a very special little village. This was a crazy hour.
There is Monsanto. It's a beautiful village. It's on this high mountain and there's these little alleyways which are incredibly picturesque and undoable by car especially if you don't know the road. There were a steep inclines like this and then going down again and a sharp turn and another sharp turn and there was a boulder, again It's one of a kind. But it's not for us, because the hotel refused to let us in. We were there at 11:30 and I was so happy when I found it.
I was walking around for 10 minutes just looking in these small streets called the guy the door was closed, fechada and then I heard the phone ringing, through the window. Guy picks up and he refuses to honor our reservation, because we should have been there at 10:30. So now here we are we escaped the maze of Monsanto. With a bit of damage I'm sure, especially Karel has the cortisol through the roof because we're just so stressed out right now.
And we're tired. It's now 30 minutes past midnight. We still don't have a hotel and we're going to try elsewhere. We're going to drive again.
So we'll see. Hopefully, we will have a soft bed, tonight. This morning, actually because it's already the next day. Both of us exhausted after this crazy day we eventually could find a decent hotel a palace even, just like our surprise find in Morocco So we found this beautiful palace... We booked the room online just before walking through the door. But it still took the night clerk seemingly forever in figuring out what to do with us.
One hour later and it... worked... Ssshht! Karel is redecorating the room. One hour later. Well, Karel, they could have given us a larger room.
But this will do for now. Let's not be too picky, this time. Good night, my friend. Good night everybody.
What? To add to the disaster story. Yesterday, we left from Quinta da Regaleira then, we drove three and a half hours to Monsanto where are we had our very stressful, dramatic hour. Now, we have to drive three and a half hours back over the same route, to the ocean, again in order to meet João number 2 to go kayaking in the sun. That's our life. Just like yesterday, it turned cold and gray when we reached the coast.
João the 2nd awaited us to take us out out on the water kayaking some 10km, or 6 miles off the mainland. But to get there, our boat ride was quite bumpy as the waves here can be relentless... The Berlingas Islands are only accessible between May and September leaving the archipelago half of the year to the fishermen and birds. And while there are some modest facilities for those visiting nobody lives here permanently. Now, you have 105 kilos. 105 kilos? Now, you? - He's trying to bet.
Serious? - Yes. Exactly 105! - I know, man. How do you know? You are a weightlifter? No. - No, no? Also, but no. - Yes?
I'm an instructor of Muay Thai and Jiu-Jitsu. Oh! How much do you deadlift? Oh, deadlift? - Yeah Deadlift, I made the most at 350 kilos. 350?! - Yes. Now I'm not in the best shape, but I'm really strong. Yeah, I see your traps... - Yes
That... I'm really strong on that. - Yes, yes, I know. I only do 240. Yeah, you have to train more! - Oooh... That's a good point! - Oh my gosh.
The island is considered a paradise for divers and birdwatchers with even UNESCO recognizing the Berlingas as a unique nature reserve. Karel and I were drawn to this special location for its natural caves and the spectacular military fortress from the 17th century also named after a João, of course. So, that's why I need a helmet! I can't... I have no brakes! - Dude! I have no brakes, man! - You have your brakes in your arm! Oh...
For Karel, the day was educational, as well. Can you teach Karel to break? Because he has no... I have no brakes! - He has no clue, actually. I only have a gas pedal! Brakes is like this... Like this... Stay out of my lane, you know? It's like the highway, I drive, everybody go out....
Jezus... - Don't fuck with me, man or I'm gonna hit you, man Bring it on, baby, bring it on! - What! Well, I wasn't sure about whether this is watertight, so... I guess we'll find out. The Spanish, they brought an armada of 1500 men, 15 boats, yeah to try to kidnap the princess because they didn't want us to create an alliance with France because we would become stronger. Yes. - Okay.
So, they came here. You know, you had 28 guys in the fort. 28 guys only? - This is history. 28 guys. But it's a little fort at the time, you didn't have the passage, the bridge so it was totally an unaccessable by land, only by boat.
And they were fighting, like, furiously for three days. And they destroyed like, the Portuguese guys, the 28 guys they could destroy one ship three very damaged, very damaged very difficult to navigate and they killed 500 men, okay? - Amazing. But after two days, they were one guy there they had lack of ammunition, lack of food lack of water, lack of everything.
one of the guys supposedly a guy from the North sometimes people mock with the guys of the North probably because of this. He opened the door to the Spanish, the came in, and they killed everyone. Why did he open the door? Because he was desperate after three days getting cannons in his mouth you know? He was desperate. - Oh my gosh, he opened the door! If I were an evil villain, this would definitely be my hideout.
With a little staircase, spiraling up, you know? To my headquarters. I understand what you're saying like, for piracy. This is a pirate place. - Yeah, man.
Come here, man we want to take a picture together João numero dois! João the two! It's good I like that one because João two was a very good king that we had in Portugal. Oh, there you go! - I'm not kidding. We had six João's as kings.
Yeah. It's all João's! It's like a cathedral! Dude! We still have some time to spare until our boat's departure back to the mainland. So, João the second led us up the mountain. We're going off road. - Yes! Careful with the seaguls! They start flying, on top of your head like... whaa, whaa
Oooh... - And can we bite them back, or...? You can try. - What's the protocol? The iconic lighthouse is almost 2 centuries old. Standing 29 meters tall, it’s a great orientation point both for ships and hikers exploring the island with its many seabirds breeding here.
Ola. - Ola! I have a reservation for one of the wine barrels... Oh, okay, great.
Um... there's rain, on our terrace. Local rain on our terrace. - Fuck. Whoever thought it would be a good idea to automate the sprinklers to go at eight in the morning we will never know. Such an odd thing to happen in this, otherwise, magnificent place to stay.
The wine barrels were not just a cool gimmick. We actually were smack in the middle of sprawling wine fields which the Douro region is famous for. And then, we received our breakfast in our very own special mailbox. Coincidentally, also a great solution during the Covid-19 pandemic.
A complimentary tour took us around the beautiful estate founded in 1903, along with the winery. And while it wasn’t even noon yet the tasting of wines couldn’t be refused. I already forgot what the special qualities of this wine were? It's white. - Yes. It's also cool. - Yes!
And it's in a transparent glass. I thought you were an... Yeah, alright! You have done the Tawny and the Ruby. So you can compare both, in terms of color.
Tawny orange, Ruby red. Small and biggest ones. Enjoy! We finished our wine tour. Around 90 minutes, it took. We had a really knowledgeable guide but he told us so much information that, I think, I forgot the most of it.
But, I remember some little fun fact that in a normal wine barrel, it's possible to hold 200 liters of wine but in the wine barrel that we slept in it's possible to store around 60,000 liters of wine and I think that's more than one can drink in a lifetime. And because we live in a COVID area it's time to get disinfected! And now, we are coming live to you from Porto. You know RadicalTrips from the spectacular locations.
And we have saved the best for last, because we are about to enter the world's most beautiful - McDonalds! I, as a fastfood connoisseur have seen lots of amazing restaurants around the globe. For example, this one in Minsk. But this McDonald's topped them all.
Number one at the list! Amazing food, amazing service ambiance everything is great. So, we have seen everything Portugal has to offer. Our house in the middle of the forest Our house in the middle of a forest Our house... It's so nice... And we even have a little kitchen. Are you gonna cook for me? Definitely not.
That's our treehouse! It's a wrap. We believe we have shown you the more obscure locations and sights that Portugal has to offer outside of Lisbon and the Algarve. and that is what RadicalTrips is all about we hope to bring you with us on these crazy road trips of which the next one will be España! So, we hope to get you there, soon. See ya!
2021-02-20 11:38
