The Fall of 2017 was incredibly busy for Fat Guy Travelz , as I traveled for several months around Canada, Australia, and Asia. During my time in Malaysia I met a dude named Diogo, who happened to be from Portugal. Well, turns out Diogo saw one of my posts while I was in Lisbon, messaged me, and we decided to link up when we could. Boy am I glad we did!
Diogo comes from a small town called Montijo, just a short ferry ride away from Cais do Sodre’s ferry terminal near downtown Lisbon. We decided I would take the ferry over and he would pick me up. As I arrive, I see Diogo walking towards me with a friend of his, Mario. We exchanged hugs and caught each other up real quick on the last few months, then decided to head out and enjoy the day. The guys recommended we head towards Alcochete, as it is a bit nicer of a town and has a better area for walking around and getting some food. We began our journey heading towards Alcochete, picking up another friend on the way.
*Directions from Montijo to Alcochete*
Alcochete has its roots as a small, traditional fishing town. There’s lots of one-story, colorful homes that are typically associated with fisherman’s villages, and every restaurant seems to revolve around seafood. More interesting though, I eventually find out that the area also has a strong relationship with bullfighting, and is one of the more popular areas in Portugal for the sport. More on that to come.
The drive is short, and as we get there you can tell it’s going to be a cool little town. There’s kind of a central town area, with some cafes, restaurants, and shops scattered around. There’s a large church down here as well, and it definitely dominates the area as it is one of the larger stand-alone buildings. We take a short stroll, checking out some of the coastline and the small fisherman’s homes, with their colorful doorways standing out from their white backgrounds. We eventually decide to do something as Portuguese as it gets…go to the center of town, sit at a cafe, and sip espressos while bullshitting a bit. That’s when ANOTHER one of Diogo’s friends how up…now we’re a proper WOLFPACK!
Now it’s time to do what we’ve all been waiting for, especially me, and that is to get lunch! We stroll through town heading towards the river and come upon one restaurant and two of the guys head in. DENIED! Lunch time, and they’re full. They didn’t even bother giving them an estimated wait time or tell them to come back. SHIT. We stroll further and seem to be heading somewhere in particular, and that’s when we come up on this big white building that appears to have something to do with Barrete Verde, which I learn means ‘green hat’. It also happens to be the name of what the guys tell me this is THE best restaurant in Alcochete. YESSSS!
We head inside, and it’s PACKED. The tables are full and there’s a line of people already inside waiting for a table. We get told it will be about 15 minutes, then head back outside onto the windy, freezing sidewalk. 15 minutes goes by, no word. 20 minutes goes by…NADA. About a half hour later the five of us get sat at our table, right under a TV with a futbol game on. I tell the guys to order a bunch of different, traditional things that area is known for, and that’s when they get to work scouring the menu.
This entry was posted in Europe, Lisbon, Portugal