Month: February 2016

Viseu to Alijó

Sunday, February 14, 2016

As we drove north today the temperature dropped and it started snowing!

Then we dropped down in to the Douro River valley. There are wineries everywhere and the hill sides are covered with terraces

 

 

Tonight we are north of the Douro River in Alijó. We had a wonderful Valentines dinner.

We each had an appetizer.

 

 

Quail soup with its egg.

 

Salmon

Veal

And desert.

All with wine included from the owner of the winery who also owns this Pousada.

It was fabulous!

Casa de Insua to Viseu

Saturday, February 13, 2016

The distance from Casa de Insua to the Pausada we are staying at in Viseu is only 16 miles so we decided to spend the day exploring. Lonely planet recommended some fortress villages north of us so our plan was to set off in that direction.

But first we spent some time in the house and museum at Casa de Insua. Staying at the Casa de Insua Estate felt like we were staying at a the Downton Abbey estate. Much of the decorations, furniture, and fixtures are still in place in the public rooms that we could wander through.

 

The owner of this estate was the Kings representative in Brazil for many years. His papers which are still at the estate include many maps and drawings of Brazilian fauna and flora. Some of these are on display in the museum.

 

 

 

This estate had one of the first electrical generation plants in Portugal, The workshops, tools, olive oil making equipment and much more were all available to wander through. It was fascinating

 

When we left Casa Insua and headed north we spotted a couple of roadside signs that led us to interesting sites. First we stopped at a prehistoric stone structure.

 

 

 

Then a few miles down the road we saw a sign for a Roman bridge. We followed a dirt road a ways and there it was. To me it is awe inspiring to have a beautiful Roman bridge be a almost routine part of your countryside. Those Romans sure knew how to build bridges!

 

 

 

Our first fortress town was Sernancelhe. It was raining but we got out and climbed to the top of the castle ruins.

 

 

Next we visited the little castle at Penedono. First we stopped for some lunch and then we climbed the castle. The wind almost blew us away but we had the castle to ourselves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Viseu where we spent the night we are staying at a Pousada in a former hospital. The building was gutted to build the hotel and it is magnificent.

 

 

For dinner we had the special valentines menu.

 

Pork with a chocolate sauce.

Fish on pumpkin.

Desert.

Afterwards we sat in the central courtyard and listened to the piano player fill the massive courtyard with beautiful music.

 

Marvão to Casa de Insua in the Rain

Friday, February 12, 2016

 

Today it rained all day, non stop, a torrential down pour. And we drove through Portugals highest mountains. The rain meant that we didn’t have much in the way of views but the rain was pouring off the mountains in sheets. It was magnificent and impressive to see.

 

 

Tonight we are staying in the only Parador in Portugal. It has only been a Parador since October. It is in an 18th century manor house with beautiful gardens. Even though it was still raining we went for a walk in the gardens.

 

 

 

We had a marvelous dinner. Duke had pork and I had octopus.

 

 

 

Dessert was perfect. My cake was still warm from the oven.

 

After dinner we played pool in the basement.

 

 

Villa Viçosa to Marvão

Thursday, February 11, 2016

We had an absolutely wonderful drive today from Vila Viçosa to Marvão today. We meandered and stuck to the back roads. We saw lots of sheep and beautiful mountain scenery. Initially we went to Elvas where they have a massive 7 km long aqueduct that was finished in 1622!

 

 

Then we headed north along the Spanish border. Every hilltop had a fortress to protect against the Spanish. We purposely stayed on back roads. On one long stretch of single lane road we never saw another car.
We are staying in the fortress town you can see on the horizon here, Marvão.
It is the most amazing castle town overlooking the surrounding country side. We walked all along the town wall

 

 

We went down to see the cistern.

 

This is the view from the Pousada where we are staying

 

Marvão is my favorite place in Portugal so far.

Castle, cows, cork, megaliths, marble, and a monastery

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Before we left the Pousada in Estremoz this morning we asked the receptionist to unlock the castle tower so we could climb it. It was windy, foggy and raining but very fun!

First thing we went in search of megaliths, the stones or ptrehistoric structures built around 5000 to 7500 years ago. The countrysidealong the way and the cows are beautiful.

It wouldn’t be a Duke and Marion road trip if we didn’t find a dirt road. Today we were successful!

These standing stones are Cromeleque dos Almendres.

To get there we went through lots of cork trees. You can see how they have stripped the bark off the lower part of the trees.

The towns in this region are called the marble towns because the marble they quarry and export is of such high quality and there is so much of it.

It is used all over the place. Even in retaining walls along the road.

Tonight we are staying in a the Pousada de Avila Viçosa a monastery founded in the 16th century.

Duke is standing outside the door to our room. The door may be small but the room is big.

We ate in the Pousada tonight. Duke had pork and I had veal. The veal is the meat covered in a white sauce. They brought it to the table on a sizzling platter.

After dinner we played pool. Duke won.