COLOURFULWORLD: Wrap-Up - June - Portugal (Part III)

Tuesday, 27 October 2026

Wrap-Up - June - Portugal (Part III)

Linking to Tom's SIGNS.

Back in Portugal, after our visit to Malta.

Friday 19th June - Staying with my parents in Cascais. We hired a car, then drove across the river to Setúbal, about 50km south of Lisbon, where we would be meeting our friend Nuno.

We had originally befriended Nuno in Perth about 15 years ago. After splitting from his partner a couple of years ago, he decided to return to Portugal a year or two ago.

As we entered Setubal I saw an abundance of art and murals and asked Jose to drive around so I could take photos.

Alvaro Cunhal (1913-2005) Secretary General of the Communist Party; giant pencils with names of local poets and writers; Setubal sign at one of the city's entries, Tree of Arrabida Flowers

Nuno and his new partner met us in the town center where we chatted over coffee. Then we walked around, me taking photos of anything interesting - buildings, murals, doors...

St Francis Xavier, patron Saint of Setubal

We were later dropped off at his tiny apartment while he stayed at his girlfriend's, so we could freshen up and he came to pick us up later and took us to dinner at a seafood restaurant.

Setúbal is known for its fresh fish and seafood and has one of the best fresh food markets in Portugal.

Mussels and fried squid - 3 different delicious desserts to share

I can't remember the name of the restaurant where we ate, but it was close to this place that had steps to the restaurant on the first floor. That lady is painted on...

Saturday 20th - Nuno and Natalia picked us up in the morning and we drove to the market. After having breakfast at one of the cafes there, we walked around looking at the market stalls - lots and lots of fresh fish, fruit and vegetables, flowers, cheeses... I had never seen so much variety of fish and cheeses!

Outside the Setubal market

Inside - vegetables, fish, flowers, cheese

Inside, the walls were covered in historical panels of blue tiles regarding the fishing industry.

Inside there are a couple of statues - a fisherman, a flower seller and a butcher

After our visit we drove to the ferry quay to cross to Tróia Peninsula near the Sado river estuary. Tickets bought, the car was driven into the ferry, and we the crossing took about 45 minutes.

The red ferry to Troia

Tróia is known for its Atlantic beaches, dolphin watching tours, luxury resorts and accomodation and Roman ruins believed to be from the 1st to the 6th century CE.

We walked around the still almost empty area - the beach gets quite full in the peak of Summer.

Sculptures of Storks, which are common in the area

View of the harbour

Back in the car, we drove about 15 minutes to Comporta.

Formerly an isolated fishing village, it's now called the "Hamptons of Portugal", for its low-key luxury houses, pine forests, rice paddies and vast Atlantic beaches. There are rigid building regulations - so no high-rises - to preserve its peaceful setting.

Lately the area has been a magnet for celebrities - artists, designers, like Christian Louboutin, Hollywood stars like George Clooney, Sharon Stone and even royals like Princess Eugenie... are reported to have bought or building properties in the area. No wonder property prices have skyrocketed in Portugal!!

We still remember camping on the beach there about 35 years ago, with not much going on in the area!

We walked in the main road of the village, visited a crafts market...

Crafts market

Lovely looking restaurant

Stork nests atop chimneys

We returned to Setúbal by ferry at around 1pm.

Arriving back in Setubal by ferry, with the fox mural to the left

Nuno had planned a fantastic seafood lunch at a place belonging to a friend of his who just cooks for friends. Everybody pays a certain amount and you basically eat yourself silly with amazing food! The cost of this lunch with included wine, beers, juices, a mains of lobster (1 1/2 for each), prawns, clams, barnacles (not for me!), and ended with a slice of Portuguese Flan (creme caramel) came to 60 euros per person (about AUD100), which is steep for Portugal, but wow, was the food amazing and fresh and tasty. Even the mayonnaise and the garlic bread to soak up the crab sauce was home-made and tasted out of this world!

Lobster, barnacles, prawn, crab, clams, Portuguese Flan

Sami, Natalia, Jose, Nuno and Mena

After the sumptuous meal, we left the place and met with Mena, a common friend who had arrived from Perth a few days before, and we sat down for a catch-up.

Just before nightfall Nuno drove us to his place, where we collected our weekend bag and our car, and we drove back to Cascais.

The Trail of life - by Ricardo Romero - depicts a boy playing with a toy train at Praça do Brasil

Sunday 21st - We had lunch with a former colleague of Jose in Siemens, both in Germany and in Lisbon at Restaurant Toscano, in the suburb of Parede.

Prawn Bread stew, Meat with grilled potatoes, Orange cake and Passionfruit tart

Tuesday 23rd - After 7 weeks in Europe, we departed Lisbon via Istanbul, where we had a very long 6 hour wait. Sadly our Qatar Silver Status did not grant us lounge access at Istanbul Airport... I suppose we could have paid for it, but at the time didn't even think of it. Anyway, we walked around, had a snack in a Cafe while watching the World Cup game between Portugal and Uzbekistan; walked some more, had an ice-cream...