Viki's Escape Routes

  During the time living in the city, I try to follow as much as possible the festivals of the Portuguese locals and what they celebrate. On November 11th we learnt that a big area will be set up around the church called "Igreja Matriz" near the Santo Amaro stop. But that was last year. I learned about the annual "Magusto" event from the community in my company where I work. "Magusto" is a traditional festival in the Iberian Peninsula. Popular in Portugal, Galicia and parts of Northern Spain, it is of Celtic origin and celebrates the end of summer and the beginning of winter. As I read in a web source, "During this holiday, numerous traditional rituals are celebrated related to purification, healing, remembering ancestors, attending mass or visiting the local healer." It was written like this in the related event page "The tradition continues. 10 tons of chestnuts prepared in a roaster along two big streets will be served with Carcavel...

  As this part, finally, we arrived at Belmonte . Dont forget to check the first 3 parts for the full experience :) I had already seen so many beautiful little villages during this trip, but Belmonte had a different feeling. It is one of those places where you can feel that there is a lot of history underneath the quiet streets. The village goes all the way up towards the old castle, and yes, obviously I had to go up there. 😂 Because apparently, if there is a castle somewhere, I cannot simply say “oh, that's nice” and walk away. And then I need to wonder how people actually lived there hundreds of years ago. 😄 Belmonte is especially interesting because it has a very strong connection with both Portuguese history and the Sephardic Jewish community. It is also the birthplace of Pedro Álvares Cabral , the Portuguese navigator who reached Brazil in 1500. The village still has its medieval atmosphere, with the castle, old stone houses and historic streets all sitting toge...

  Hello !   Another new day arrived. After all the relaxing, beach time and tiny-house life, my Portugal adventure continued. And this time the vibe was a little different. Less ocean...More history. More “How did I not know this place existed before?” moments. 😂 I really love these kinds of days because you can leave the place   without expecting too much and suddenly find yourself somewhere that makes you stop and think. One of the places I visited was Casa da Memória da Medicina Sefardita António Ribeiro Sanches in Penamacor. And honestly, this was one of those places where I arrived without knowing exactly what to expect. The name itself is already quite a mouthful! 😂 But once you start discovering the story behind it, it becomes much more interesting. The house is dedicated to the memory of Sephardic medicine and, especially, António Ribeiro Sanches, a doctor and important intellectual from Penamacor. The museum also tells a wider story about Por...

  Hello ! If you already read my part 1 you can pleasely continue from here. After Vimeiro, since I was alone in this area, later on a friend and I went for camping inner side of Portugal. And it was near Spain border.. I’m sure you will enjoy the camping area, they have everything you need, big areas, electricity, a lot of tree shadow for your tent, bathrooms and shower. Even they have their chimney grills too !   Name is : Parque de Campismo do Freixial First stop – Barragem de Meimoa 🌿💧 Our first stop was Barragem de Meimoa, in the Penamacor area of Portugal. I always love places where nature makes you slow down a little, and this was definitely one of those places. The reservoir sits quietly surrounded by the landscape, and there is something very peaceful about standing there and simply looking at the water. No busy streets, no big crowds, no rushing from one place to another. Just water, hills, sky and that lovely feeling of being somewhere a little diff...

  Hello Back after some light summer ! So I could not make any vacation this year since last November 2025. Finally I took a chance from company somehow and got an instant 2 weeks ! I know, I have been away for a long time but lets evaulate some points of Portugal together. I’m sure you will find some places to your tastes because I will tell you some different vibes and places this time. So, this time I decided to slow down a little. No crazy schedule. No “I have to see 15 places in 2 days!” Just me, my camera, some comfortable clothes, my little travel mood and a lot of curiosity. 📸 First stop was close to “ Praia de Santa Rita” beach, you somehow need a car to drive here from Lisbon for 1 hour, close to town Vimeiro - Valongo. It was a secret place my friend helped me find it when I was looking for last minute vacation. My desire was to relax and do my post surgery stretchings and chill and beach only. The place is on top of mountain, and my first time ever slep...

  Hello friends! It feels like ages since I last popped up here! Guess what?! After a bit of a break from posting (life got in the way, as it often does!), had to say that I'm having amazing summer right now in my new place, but I’m not here for that. I'm back with some exciting news. I wanted to share directly with you all. For those of you who have been following my journey here, you know how passionate I am about exploring, wandering, taking photograps and capturing the beauty I find in the world, especially during my travels. Photography isn't just a hobby for me; it's a way of seeing, feeling, and remembering. And now, I'm thrilled to share that I'm taking things a step further! I've officially opened a shop on Picfair where you can purchase prints of my photographs!   It's a bit of a dream come true to be able to offer these images to you all. You can find it right here: https://vikiyabroad.picfair.com/ Whether you're looking to add a ...

  Hello everyone! 😊 Last time when I was in Türkiye, I escaped Sapanca for a weekend and found myself in a place surrounded by forest, streams and mountains. If lately you've been feeling tired from traffic, notifications, work stress or simply people, I think you'll enjoy reading this one. The company is called Vadi Camping, located in Çatalkaya Valley in Sapanca. I had been seeing their events on Instagram for a while and finally decided to join one called "Derenin Sesleri." The program included yoga, a nature walk, meditation, a fire show and if you are lucky a DJ performance. To be honest, I was mostly curious about spending a day in nature rather than the activities themselves 😅 After arriving in the valley, the first thing I noticed was the sound. Not music, not traffic, not construction. Just birds, water and trees moving in the wind. It sounds simple but after city life, you realize how rare silence actually is. Nature Love The group slowly gathered ...

  I love traveling. Whenever I visit a new city, I spend hours searching for itineraries, watching YouTube videos, reading blogs, and nowadays, even asking AI to help me plan my trip. But I've noticed something interesting. Most travel guides tell you where to go. Very few tell you what you actually need to know. As someone born and raised in Türkiye, and after spending years around foreign visitors, I've seen the same questions appear again and again: "Do I really need cash?" "How do I get from Europe to Asia?" "Is the airport exchange rate a scam?" "Where do locals actually eat?" These are the details that can make the difference between a stressful trip and an unforgettable one. Istanbul Is Not Just One City One of the biggest surprises for first-time visitors is how enormous Istanbul really is. Many people arrive expecting to walk everywhere. Then they realize they are visiting a city spread across two cont...

Let me tell you about last year ! I wanted to soak up some warm weather on these chilly cold days, so this year I went to the Algarve - Albufeira in the south of Portugal, it was late June. Believe it or not, it was the off-peak season, when I went back in September it was actually more expensive. At the end of June, the south is really scorching hot. After a 2.5 hour bus ride, the owner of the airbnb where I was going to stay showed hospitality and picked me up by car and then I settled in. Of course, as usual, I was alone on this vacation, and one of the reasons why I blogged about this southern vacation is to tell you that I was able to have a solo vacation without any problems. If you try to go south from Istanbul to Fethiye, which is my favorite spot, it would take 9 hours by car. My new favorite, Albufeira, took 2.5 hours by bus 😊 To be honest, I didn't go for sightseeing much. My goal was all about fun, sun, sand and sea. I had come on vacation to remove the dead soi...

One Saturday I left the house completely without plans, took the train and went to the centre. After going to the ferry pier from there, I asked the ticket office if the cart I had was valid here. Since my card was monthly, I could use everything in Lisbon, bus, metro, train, ship, the monthly price for now was 40 euros. The attendant asked me where I were going, I told him it was completely spontaneous and he told me to take the ferry to   "Cacilhas". The ferry is like our Istanbul island catamarans, 2 storeys. I immediately went inside with emotions and sat on the top floor. Of course, there was no Istanbul sea pleasure, but it was okay.   Almada is a city on the south bank of the Tagus River in Portugal, on the opposite side of the river from Lisbon, and it is also a municipality. The two cities are connected by the "25 de Abril" bridge, which is very similar in design to the Golden gate bridge in San Francisco. Following the bridge and the river, in 10 minut...