Salamanca, Spain

Our room today is heaven, and a sleep in cannot be helped.

Our self-guided tour through Salamanca started at the town’s churches, near the hostel. The “new” cathedral is 260 years old and is grand in the same style as the cathedrals of Toledo and Seville. This gothic sandstone building took 220 years to build.

Nueva Cathedral, Salamanca, Spain

Salamanca, Spain

Adjacent is the 800-year-old Old Cathedral, whose age is showing, with deteriorated paintings and sculptures. It is, none the less, still a fantastic building.

Around the corner is the university, which has a decorative, sculptured entrance. One of the skulls on the portal façade has a frog on its head. It is said that if you can pick out the frog without being helped, then you will be married within in a year. Roberta found it, while I just looked where everyone else was pointing. (I hope she sends me an invite).

University, Salamanca, Spain

We then went into the tourist office and picked up a map of the city, which had two walking tours on them. We followed the one that started at Plaza Mayor and went north. Plaza Mayor is the 18th century town square, which houses numerous outdoor eateries, and the town hall.

Plaza Mayor, Salamanca, Spain

The walk then took us past many of Salamanca’s historic buildings (all built with sandstone). From the 15th and 16th century convents De las Ursulas and De las Augustinas, to the Palacio de Monterrey, built in 1539, to the 12th century circular Romanic church – San Marcos. The walk took us an hour in total.

We had a lazy lunch at Burger King before booking accommodation for tomorrow and Monday in Madrid. We went back to the room to continue our Spanish tradition of the siesta.

We were woken late in the afternoon by a hail storm. This is the first sign of rain we have had since we were in Trafalgar Square seven weeks ago.

We went to Plaza Mayor for a drink and to meet Johnny Joiner for dinner. We ended up at a Tex-Mex restaurant on Rue Mayor, not far from where we are staying.

Afterwards, we went to a bar that Johnny had been shown, that served liter beers for 350 pesetas. We stayed here until 2.30 am, before stumbling back home.

Porto, Portugal to Salamanca, Spain

After checking in for the next two nights, we went out for dinner. Literally around the corner from the Pension were dozens of outdoor dining areas. We found one and had us a good, cheap meal. We finished there at 11.30 pm and came back to our room, after a quick walk around the block.his morning, except get a quick breakfast, before catching the bus back out to the youth hostel where Eurobus will make their pick up to Salamanca. I wish we were staying here for another couple of days, as two was definitely not enough.

The bus departed at 12.30 pm, with our guide being M. Tatum, a guy a couple years younger than us at The Entrance High. Johnny also got on the bus, as the last standby. We also caught up with Rohan, who is making the Lisbon to Barcelona trip starting today (24 hours on the bus).

The bus made one last stop at a roadside servo in Portugal before we arrived in Salamanca at seven pm. The drop off point was a bit expensive, so we headed to a cheap place that was suggested in the Lonely Planet – Pension Estefania.

After checking in for the next two nights, we went out for dinner. Literally around the corner from the Pension were dozens of outdoor dining areas. We found one and had us a good, cheap meal. We finished there at 11.30 pm and came back to our room, after a quick walk around the block.

Porto, Portugal

We slept in a bit this morning, and still haven’t had a decent shower, as the hostel has water pressure not much better than dribble.

We started the morning at an internet café around the corner, where we spent some time sending messages home.

We had lunch at the same place as yesterday, before walking down to the river to do a tour of one of the many port producers in the area. Sandeman’s is a London company started in 1790, and based in Porto since 1811. The store has a small museum with a history of the company, which we walked through, while waiting for our tour to start. The tour goes through Sandeman’s cellars, and talks about the company and its processes for making port. At the end we had a taste test of two types of port, the white port and the tawny port. I didn’t go much on them, but Roberta bought a bottle for her parents.

Train Station, Porto, Portugal

Rio Douro, Porto, Portugal

After the tour we went back to the room to freshen up before dinner. Johnny and Luvo met us at our place, and we walked down to the same restaurant as last night.

When we finished there, we went further along the river to some outdoor cafes, where we had drinks until two am. We caught a cab, a Mercedes no less, back to the hostel.

Lisbon, Portugal to Porto, Portugal

We were up early again this morning, as Eurobus leaves at 7am. A minor dispute with the rep, who wouldn’t let us have breakfast because we had not checked in at a regular Eurobus time. Eventually this was solved, but left a black mark on Eurobus’ reputation.

The trip to Porto took five and half hours, with one stop being made in Fatima. It is said that on 13 July 1918 a vision of Mary appeared here in front of three local children. Mary told them to be there on the 13th for the next tree months, where she would give them instructions. One of those instructions was to have a chapel built on the site in her honor, which is the magnificent building that stands in the square today. There is also a path that runs the length of the square, which Catholics crawl along, on their knees, to show their dedication to the belief. With tomorrow being the 13th, many believers are camped in the area, hoping for the return of the vision of Mary.

Basilica of Fatima, Portugal

We arrived in Porto at 12.30 pm and met up with Kern, Beck, Luvo, Karla, Jennie & Johnny, who gave us a map and referred us to Hostel Europa, in town. It was a small room, but for P$2500 a night it was impossible to knock it back.

We went in search of a laundry after lunch, as we had a ton of clothes to be cleaned. While waiting for the laundry, we killed two hours walking around town.

We met up with Johnny and Luvo for dinner down near the river at seven pm, and afterwards headed to an Irish bar nearby, where we stayed until one am.

Lisbon, Portugal

It was 5.30 am when the rooster started making noise this morning. Much to the delight of nobody! I was still feeling ill today, but I wanted to make the most of our only day in Lisbon.

We caught the bus to Montijo and just missed a ferry into Lisbon. It was 90 minutes until the next one, so we found a palm tree to lie under in the vein hope of recovering from whatever it is I’ve got. The eventual ferry ride was relaxing. Nice and warm, and I felt better with the wind blowing in my face.

When we got off in Lisbon, I started to feel even worse than yesterday. I needed an easy day. We caught the train to the Botanic Gardens. Roberta bought herself some lunch and while I spent the afternoon covered in shade, Roberta had a short look around town.

At 5.30 pm I was well enough to walk to the city center, where we had a look around at some of the old buildings. At this point my fever had subsided and I even attempted some dinner at one of the many restaurants along one of the city’s malls. I didn’t eat too much, but at least I was feeling better.

We caught the 8.30 pm ferry back to Montijo and was back home by 9.30 pm to see everyone from the festival, including Pedro, who had decided to hang with us while we were all in Lisbon. I wish we were staying for another two days now. We all went for a drink at the bar before pulling up stumps at midnight, when temporary goodbyes were said, as I’m sure we’ll keep bumping into each other for the next few Eurobus stops.

Zambujeira do Mar, Portugal to Lisbon, Portugal

We got up nice and early this morning to guarantee we get back into Zambujeira in time for our four pm bus to Lisbon.

After a freezing cold shower, we packed up the tent, said goodbye to everyone and headed over to the buses with Julian. Once again it was a scrum to get on the bus with everyone else, this time with everyone carrying backpacks and tents, but we managed to get on the second bus.

When we arrived in Zambujeira we got some breakfast from the supermarket and ate it in the shade across from the tourist information office. Julian left us a midday to catch his bus to Lagos and we remained in the park, chasing the shade, for lunch and a couple more hours before we headed over to the station to catch our bus to Lisbon.

The trip took three hours, and was non-eventful.

Getting from the bus station to the campsite was another story. An adventure in itself. We had to find a Metro station and catch two trains before the 500-meter walk to the ferry. The ferry took half an hour to Montijo. Then, we got on another bus that took us to the campsite. All in all, it was almost as long from Lisbon to the campsite as it was Zambujeira to Lisbon.

Anyway, we set up the tent at 9.45 pm, in the dark, and by this stage I was not feeling the greatest, as I seemed to have picked up another bug, or maybe food poisoning, probably at the festival. A few dashed to the restrooms were followed by a horrific night’s sleep in the world’s dodgiest and overpriced campground. The site is an old orchard, and it had been half cleared by the owners who have used it as a campsite since the recent World Expo.

Festival Sudoeste, Zambujeira do Mar, Portugal

The last day was spent lazing under our makeshift tarp that the group put up between four tents to keep us shaded and cooler. Very little was done today because of the heat. The showers stopped working for three hours, so there was no relief even there.

Camping, Festival Sudoeste, Zabujeira do Mar, Portugal

Simon, Kirsty, Roberta, Andrea, Me, Katrina, Jeff & Rohan, 

Festival Sudoeste, Zabujeira do Mar, Portugal

At eight pm we went back into the arena for the final surge of music.

First up tonight was Placebo, an English guitar band. The rest of our gang new this band, but I’d never heard of them. But they were great. Sound was good and I really enjoyed their songs. I hope they come to Australia. I’d see them again. Their lead singer has a unique voice, which compliments the good music. A good find!

PJ Harvey was next. This is another excellent set. Harvey has such a strong voice and a huge stage presence, making her a popular choice for this festival crowd. Another person whose music I need to look more into (I only know her from her Henry Lee duet with Nick Cave.)

The last band of the festival was Portishead. There trip-hop style is not something I’d normally listen too, but this was a fantastic show. I knew a couple of songs and am now swayed to look for some of their albums. Portishead left the stage to thunderous applause and seemed genuinely humbled by the whole experience.

While there was still another band to come on at 1.30 am Portuguese Silence 4, we decided to go out on the high and call it quits, heading back to the tent.

The Crap Facts

This is my 151st concert.

This is my 3rd concert at Herdade de Casa Branca.

This is my 3rd concert in Zambujeira do Mar.

This is my 3rd concert in Alentejo.

This is my 3rd concert in Portugal.

Placebo are the 199th band I've seen.

PJ Harvey is the 200th band I've seen.

Portishead are the 201st band I've seen.

Festival Sudoeste, Zambujeira do Mar, Portugal

This morning we met Julian from Brisbane and Pedro from Lisbon, who happened to set up camp next to us last night. So, two more for the clan.

We caught the bus back into town to get some groceries and a gas cannister, as ours has finally run out. It was a dogfight to get on the bus, but I’m glad we stuck it out. When we got out, Simon and I went bought out bus tickets for Lisbon on Monday, while the girls went to the supermarket.

Once the important things were done, we headed to the beach to brave the cold Atlantic Ocean, and how glad am I that we did, as it is another scorcher again today.

Another struggle onto the bus back to Sudoeste this afternoon at five pm.

Once again, we cooked dinner before heading into the grounds.

The first band tonight was Pinhead Society, a Portuguese indie guitar band. They were pretty good and obviously another local favorite.

Next up was New York’s Yo La Tengo. They play lo-fi rock and sound very similar to tonight’s headliners, Sonic Youth. They had a couple of good songs (none that I recognized though), but not really for me.

 

  

It must be New York Band night, as Fun-Lovin’ Criminals were next. They had some danceable tunes and put on an entertaining show. Everyone went wild for Scooby Snacks and like Godinho and The Cure before them, Fun Lovin’ Criminals got an Ole! chant, which Pedro told us was a sign of the highest appreciation from a Portuguese crowd.

Me, Simon, Andrea, Rohan, Katrina, Roberta, Kirsty, Jeff, Julian & Pedro, 

Festival Sudoeste, Zabujeira do Mar, Portugal

Lastly was Sonic Youth, who came to play their new album, A Thousand Leaves, which nobody knew. Not once did they acknowledge the crowd or introduce a song. I found their performance boring and left with streams of other people before their set was over. I have literally seen the best concert of my life and the worst ever, in consecutive nights. It’s a shame, cause I’ve seen Sonic Youth at the 1993 Big Day Out and they were great. Tonight was far from that.

The Crap Facts

This is my 150th concert.
This is my 2nd concert at Herdade de Casa Branca.
This is my 2nd concert in Zambujeira do Mar.
This is my 2nd concert in Alentejo.
This is my 2nd concert in Portugal.
Pinhead Society are the 196th band I've seen.

Pinhead Society were the 400th time I've seen a band.

Yo La Tengo are the 197th band I've seen.
Fun Lovin' Criminals is the 198th band I've seen.
This is my 2nd Sonic Youth concert.
Sonic Youth are the 1st band I've seen in 2 different countries.

Festival Sudoeste, Zambujeira do Mar, Portugal

When we woke up this morning, we wandered around and found a canteen selling bread, milk and juice, so we had a fairly good breakfast.

We are in the shade until 11.30 am, when it started to really heat up. The camp site was filling up, but we managed to keep space for the other four. At one pm, Simon went for a walk and, amazingly, came across the others just getting off the bus.

Once they set up their tents, we all cooked an early dinner at five pm before heading over to the arena. It took an hour to get in and get our wristbands that will get us back in the next two days.

Festival Sudoeste, Zambujeira do Mar, Portugal

The first band we saw was Hypnotica, a Portuguese hip-hop/rap band. We watched half the set before going to look around the markets and food stalls in the grounds. We also ran into our drivers who bought us out. They were working one of the many bars. The site has only two stages with the earlier bands playing on the small side stage, while the four main bands played on the larger main stage.

Next up we saw Sergio Godinho, who, from what we could tell, was a Portuguese legend, as everyone was getting into it. He seemed like a Portuguese cross between crooner Tony Bennett and rocker Jimmy Barnes. We found out later that Godinho has been around for 20 years and is quite politically active. Midway through his set, the crowd started a huge “Ole!” chant, like we were at a football match. The noise was incredible.

Sergio Godinho, Festival Sudoeste, Zambujeira do Mar, Portugal

The next band was Ratos do Parao, who are a Brazilian death/thrash metal band. Their lead singer is a huge man and, while unlike Godinho musically, they have a similarly massive following in Portugal. All of their songs are in Portuguese, so obviously we had no idea what they were singing about, but the band was excellent and worth it for the singer’s wild antics alone.

Up next were Therapy?, an Irish rock band who were also awesome (despite some awkwardly bad between song banter). A couple of their songs were familiar (Nowhere, Knives opening the set). Again, they were well received, and while I liked them, they had the unenviable task of playing before The Cure. I did find out later that they were a last-minute replacement for Ash, and a favorable substitute.

I had been annoying Roberta for two days repeating Robert Smith’s “Ullo! This is called Shake Dog Shake” quote from the The Cure’s Live in Orange video. And continued for the hour it took between Therapy? and The Cure. Now, at 1.30 am, as the fog started rolling in, covering the moon high above the stage, out came The Cure. I lost my shit. I was like a teenage girl seeing her idol for the first time. I have waited a long time to see The Cure, after missing the 1992 Australian tour. I could now stop kicking myself. This was the best concert I had ever seen. Better than Nirvana at the Big Day Out. From the opening chords of Shake Dog Shake (ha ha!) till two hours later at the end of Killing an Arab, it was great song after great song. There were only two songs that I didn’t know, but Just Like Heaven, Lullaby, Never Enough and Inbetween Days were highlights. Not to mention Boys Don’t Cry and A Forest in the five-song encore.

The Cure, Festival Sudoeste, Zambujeira do Mar, Portugal

It was all over at 3.30 am, as the humbled band walked off stage. I went back to my tent and struggled to get to sleep because of the buzz I was having.

The Crap Facts
This is my 149th concert.
Herdade de Casa Branca is the 40th venue I've seen a concert in.
Zambujeira do Mar is the 31st city I've seen a concert in.
Alentejo is the 4th state I've seen a concert in.
Portugal is the 2nd country I've seen a concert in.
Hipnotica are the 191st band I've seen.
Sergio Godhino is the 192nd band I've seen.
Ratos de Parao are the 193rd band I've seen.
Therapy? are the 194th band I've seen.
The Cure are the 195th band I've seen.

Lagos, Portugal to Zambujeira do Mar, Portugal

We got up slowly this morning. Making the most of the comfortable apartment to combat my hangover.

When we checked out, we walked around before stopping at a café for a greasy lunch.

We wanted to go to the beach, but after realizing we were walking on the wrong side of the river, we gave up, turned around and went to a park for a lay down in the shade.

After our strenuous day of doing nothing, we walked back to the bus station to catch the four pm bus to Zambujeira. The bus wound its way up the west coast for 2.5 hours, before dropping us off near the town’s beach. On the bus we met three others from Eurobus, Kirsty and Simon from Sydney, and Andrea from Victoria, who were also going to the festival. They had friends on the bus behind us, Rohan from Melbourne and Katrina and Jeff from Sydney, so we decided to try and stay together at the campsite – Australian safety in numbers.

We did some grocery shopping (and missed a taxi) before hitching a ride with a couple of locals out to the festival sight, ten kilometers out of town. Kirsty, Simon, Roberta and I piled our stuff into the back of their covered ute – with all their fishing gear and catches of the day – and got a ride out. The other 4 were going to stay in Zambujeira tonight, and hopefully meet us tomorrow. Our drivers were going to be actually working the festival, behind the bar. Thankfully it was this and not serial killers.

Our Ride, Me, Roberta, Simon & Kirsty, Festival Sudoeste, Zambujeira do Mar, Portugal

The venue looks like a cleared farm, and beside it is a forest area for camping. We found a good spot and set up our tents only about 100 meters from the entrance. Apparently, there are 30,000 people expected at the festival, so I’m not sure of the chances of us finding the others tomorrow will be. We found the showers nearby and freshened up (with cold water only) after a long hot day before making our meal by the tent. We stayed up until one am before crawling into bed absolutely exhausted.

Albufeira, Portugal to Lagos, Portugal

Up at 9.30 this morning and packed up the tent, as today we are going off Eurobus and heading to Lagos.

We checked out at 11 am and waited an hour for the local bus for the ten-minute ride into town. It was 615 escudos to get to Lagos, and within 20 minutes we were on our way. The bus follows the Algarve coast, stopping at six towns along the way, before arriving in Lagos two hours later.

As we stepped of the bus there was a local lady offering accommodation in a shared apartment. We went and had a look, just behind the bus station, and because it was clean, had a kitchen and living room, we decided to take it. We are sharing the apartment with Jeff & Steve from England.

Once we got settled in, we went for a walk-through town, with our first stop being a record store. Twice in the last couple of days I have seen signs for a festival, but have had no idea where it was or how to get tickets. The nice staff, who spoke English, told us we could get tickets to Festival Sudoeste in store. The festival runs for 3 days in Zambujeira do Mar on Portugal’s west coast, and features The Cure, Sonic Youth, Portishead and PJ Harvey. Once we found out we could get to Zambujeira, and subsequently on to Lisbon buy bus, we bought the 2700 escudo ticket and went back to the record store for festival tickets. The three days of music and four nights of camping cost AU$65 for the whole thing. This is going to be great.

We head to an internet café for some emailing, then onto a supermarket, before heading back to the apartment.

After our steak, pasta and salad home-cooked meal (delicious) we walked to the other side of town to Joe’s Garage, a pub a few people had recommended. We got there at ten pm and the place was fairly quiet, but it seemed like a good place, a lot of backpackers, very casual bar staff, good music, though not a lot happening. Then, for no known reason, at 11.15 pm the place became packed. There were people everywhere, dancing on the tables and on the bar. The place was going bananas. Then at midnight, the music stops and the bar staff turn on hoses to get everyone out. Wet people just pour out onto the street, trying to decide what to do next.

We went to a Latino bar just down the road for a night cap, before getting back to the apartment at 2.30 am.

Albufeira, Portugal

I think you’ll find today is the same as yesterday. When you camp at a ground that has all the facilities, you can find no reason to leave. Breakfast again courtesy of the supermarket, and then to the pool.

The only difference today was that we found a different tree to hide under, on the other side of the pool.

Lunch from the supermarket as well, and the only reason we left the pool was because happy hour was on again. We were joined by our friends from last night and stayed until closing time, well after the band finished.

Albufeira, Portugal

We woke up to some intense heat at ten am. Very lazy. We opted for a day around the pool. We got some Coco-Pops from the supermarket on the campground and had breakfast by the tent.

With books, newspapers and towels in hand, we went and found a shady spot near the pool and didn’t move until after lunch.

After a quick dip, Roberta went back to the supermarket and bought some bread rolls and cheese for a cheap lunch. Then, low and behold, I spot Luvo walking along the path to the pool. He was soon followed by Kern, Beck, Karla and Johnny Joiner, who had been in Lagos for the past few days. This was as exciting as running into Les Murray. They had come back to catch the bus onto Lisbon today. We may, however, catch up with them again in Porto.

Once they left, we settled back into our holiday lifestyle – sun/shade/pool until 5.30 pm.

After a shower, we headed back up to the bar for happy hour and pizza for dinner. We stayed until closing time with fellow Eurobussers, Jo from Gloucester, Jerome from New Zealand, and Richard from Melbourne. No need to leave, as the drinks were cheap, company was good and the live cover band was pretty good as well.

Albufeira, Portugal

This morning we made the 20-minute trek into town to find the beach. Here, we lazed the morning away in the sun, making only one trip into the water because it was numbingly freezing.

When it started to get too hot, we headed back home.

We did stop in town for lunch though, which was neither spectacular, nor cheap.

When we got back to camp, we found a grassy spot under a tree, where we laid out until the late afternoon.

We showered and headed to the bar for happy hour again and stayed for two pints.

Dinner was a cooked pasta at the tent. We planned to go back to the bar after dinner, but opted to make the most of an early night instead.

Seville, Spain to Albufeira, Portugal

We got up in time to check out of the hostel and hang around in the courtyard until Eurobus turned up at 11.45 am. In the meantime, we ate breakfast and wrote in diaries.

The trip to Faro was an uneventful one, but at least the bus had air conditioning (a first for Eurobus on this trip).

We made a couple of sandwiches for lunch before getting on the second leg to Albufeira.

We arrived at three pm, check in and then set about putting up the tent. This was a huge mission, as there was nothing but rock in the campsite, and having no hammer made putting the pegs in extremely difficult.

After this we headed up to the bar for happy hour (two pints for P$350, or AU$3.50). It seemed as though the whole of Eurobus was in this campsite, which was great, as we met heaps of people. We left the bar early, ten pm, with pizza in hand for dinner. I think the last two late nights have caught up with us.