Arriving in Portugal

Thistles and Kiwis

We left Stockholm on Tuesday evening, and after a delay in takeoff, a long wait for baggage and a taxi, we eventually arrived in Setúbal. At 1am local time (which was 2am for us…). Anyway, we got there, and after a good night’s sleep, my nephew took us in a walk around the city. This is the view from his flat that greeted us in the morning.

Setúbal is a city where you can find Roman remains, many old buildings and a sort of quintessential Portuguese feel. It lies about 50km south of Lisbon and on the northern bank of the estuary of the river Sado. The purple building below is the town hall.

Below you can see São Julião church (with Karl and my nephew), and the black cat on the roof of what I believe is tourist office, is a sculpture by Ricardo Romero. I, of course, just love it.

We spotted these tiles of industry and commerce, with an interesting eye in the staff industry is holding. Any ideas?

After a lovely lunch (I had grilled swordfish), we walked up to a viewpoint over the water. Note the beautiful tiled seating areas and wonderful flowers.

We carried on walking around, looking at buildings, finding a statue of the first bishop of Setúbal, and enjoying some ice cream (I had a scoop of blackberry and one of strawberry).

I totally failed to get the name of this church that stood behind the statue above, but the chapel on the right is dedicated to St Francis Xavier, the patron saint of the city.

We walked to dinner in the evening, past the convent…

…and the city archives…before enjoying simple grilled fish, potatoes and salad.

A wonderful first day in Portugal. More to come…

Thistles and Kiwis is currently not in Aotearoa New Zealand. Instagram @thistlesandkiwis

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Published by Thistles and Kiwis

Loves summer, sunshine and cats. Beginner gardener, likes eating, cooking and reading about food

38 Comments

  4. Thank you for taking us along again! Have never been nor remember any photos of Setubal, so it is interesting to walk alongside you. Especially love your evening meal – the fish looks as if it has jumped right from the sea onto your plate 🙂 !

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  6. I love that book statue. We never made it into town when we were there as we stayed on an oceanfront place. The tile in Portugal is absolutely amazing as are all the fish dishes you you will eat!

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  8. I remember the black cat! We had a coffee on that square (or a glass of wine and a toastie- I can’t be sure). Setubal is particularly shabby in an endearing way. The sail across to the Troja peninsula is lovely xx

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  11. Portugal is one of the few countries in Europe that I still have not visited at all. The Roman touch to this city is very similar to many cities in Southern Spain, and I love that style. Enjoy your visit. Looking forward to seeing more of Portugal.

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  12. Magical! Blue skies, red rooftops, ornamental tiles everywhere — and the other colors too. Sigh. I loved all your photos and your guidance throughout the day. I loved the huge cat sculpture too and the books outside the archive. I always appreciate unexpected whimsey. I’ll close by scrolling back up to look at your “good morning” view. Wonderful.

    Thank you for blogging all these weeks even though you have so much to distract you.

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      1. Yes! A way to remember — and a spur to just slow down and NOTICE. As you do all the time with your photos of food, buildings, art and experiences. We both enrich ourselves with our blogs — and others too occasionally!

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  14. That 1am arrival after a delayed flight and the long baggage wait — we know that exact bleary-eyed feeling, and how the first morning’s view makes it all worth it. Setúbal sounds wonderful, and the black cat sculpture on the tourist office roof made me smile. Grilled swordfish followed by blackberry-and-strawberry ice cream is a pretty perfect first day. Looking forward to reading more!

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  19. Pingback: This week’s small pleasures 495 – Thistles and Kiwis

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