Sally is British and has lived in the UK all her life.
\nInternational travel as part of her work took her to many
\ncountries, including Portugal. She fell in love with the
\nplace and decided to sell her beautiful cottage in
\nMalmsbury, Wiltshire, and relocate to Lisbon. In this
\narticle, she tells us about exploring Cascais, in
\nPortugal.<\/p>\n
So, what have I been up to? Well I have been exploring
\nCascais – I had to have a coffee bar to replace the one I
\nused in Alfama and so far have found two that are really
\nnice. The first one, Chocolat, is in the centre and is
\nair-conditioned (a boon in the summer heat wave) and
\nalthough more pricey than others, is quite glamorous. It
\ndoes all sorts of herbal and fruit teas as well as every
\nvariety of coffee. It sells snacks and cakes and does great
\nscones – a favourite being cinnamon. The second one is up a
\nback street not far from the main square and is called Mise
\nen Scene. This again does lovely teas and coffees and
\nwonderful savouries. It has tables outside and inside its
\ndecorated in a cross between Mediterranean and Indian
\nstyles. Very good for vegetarians too. On Sundays I drive
\nalong the coast road to Casa da Guia – a large mansion with
\ncoffee bars, restaurants and shops with a view of the sea –
\nto get the Sunday papers and then sit looking out at sea
\nreading all the news. The service is atrocious – you wait
\nages to order, then ages for it to arrive and then a
\nlifetime waiting for the bill and change but the view is
\nworth it.<\/p>\n
Throughout the heat wave the most popular places to go
\nwere the shopping centres because of the air conditioning.
\nThe beaches were, as you would expect, very busy but the
\nguys on the beach that I use, said that it was still quiet
\ncompared to last year. I still get my bed for 2 Euros which
\nis great value. It’s a nice beach with bars, ice cream
\nkiosks and a ski school behind. You can sit and watch the
\nwater skiers fall in and the antics of the kids on the
\nbanana boat as well as all the other yachts, fishing boats
\nand in the distance the big tankers on their way into
\nLisbon. Someone has also started boat trips up the coast to
\nLisbon (on Sundays) and to Carcavelos (about 10 minutes by
\nroad) in a tall ship. Apparently you can join in the work
\non the boat or just enjoy the trip.<\/p>\n
The Marina is an odd place – obviously it has all the
\nflash boats etc. and the shops, bars, restaurants etc. but
\ndoesn’t seem to be doing very well. I was told by a friend
\nthat the mooring fees here in Cascais are the most
\nexpensive in Europe!! May be that’s the reason then. There
\nhave also been a spate of late night muggings which have
\ncaused problems.<\/p>\n
Along the coast road just up from Boca d’Inferno (Hell’s
\nMouth) is a great hot dog stand with amazing views out over
\nthe sea. Very enterprising operation run on solar power
\nwith tables and chairs, umbrellas etc. but no loo! They
\nplay good music too. Unfortunately as I do not like hot
\ndogs I have not actually tried them but my local friends
\nrecommend them highly.<\/p>\n
Cascais has a lovely park with a museum, ponds and a
\nmini zoo. Very popular on Sundays with families and
\nobviously with school parties. The areas behind the main
\nstreets are also very interesting with the old traditional
\nproperties and some of them have the most fabulous gardens
\n– some times parts of it remind me very much of Malmsbury –
\nthe streets are just as narrow and there is a crazy one way
\nsystem that still manages to confuse me and I end up
\nsomewhere I have never been before but it doesn’t matter as
\nit’s a great way of finding new areas.<\/p>\n
Living down by the coast is really nice. Although
\nCascais is a holiday resort, when you live here you really
\ndon’t notice it that much because the tourists tend to be
\nconcentrated by the seafront and the main square, although
\nit has been pretty obvious that this year has been very
\nquiet. The beach I use in previous years would have three
\nor four guys working the beach, doing the beds, the canoes,
\nthe banana boat and water skiing and then about four or
\nfive behind the bar and waiting on the tables. This year
\nthere have been two on the beach (one finished two weeks
\nago); and two waiting tables (one finished about three
\nweeks ago) and the rest is done by the husband and wife who
\nown the beach bar. August was busy because that’s when the
\nwhole country is on holiday – they even stop charging to
\ncome across the bridges as an incentive for people.<\/p>\n