Tag: Portugal

Porto, Portugal to Tui, Spain

Our breakfast buffet at Pestano Palácio do Freixo this morning was the best of our trip so far. To make our breakfast even better we sat at a table overlooking the Douro River to eat.

Part of the breakfast buffet
More of the buffet

There was a birthday sleepover over for a 9 year old boy in the hotel last night. The party was in a big meeting room overlooking the river. When we peeked in there were tents and balloons and lots of boys running around. This morning we could see the boys driving pedal cars in front of the hotel. It looked like fun!

It looks like a perfect place to drive cars if you are 9!
Directions to the party

We relaxed and enjoyed the beautiful day for a while after breakfast. About 11:30 we checked out and stored our luggage in our car. Then we took an Uber into central Porto and took a 50 minute boat ride on the Douro River. The tour is called the Six Bridges tour.

On the Six Bridges River Tour
Porto main square where we started our tour

After the boat tour we hiked up through Porto about half a mile to the Lello Bookshop ( Livraria Lello). The bookstore originally opened in 1881 and has a stunning Art Nouveau interior. It is incredibly popular because J.K. Rowling used it as part of her inspiration for the shops in Harry Potter. I visited it when we were in Porto in 2016. We knew that they charge an entry fee which you get back if you buy a book but the charge had gone up to €10 and we probably would have had to wait an hour in line a o we decided not to go in. We booked an Uber and headed back to our car.

Livraria Lello

Back at our car we loaded up and drove out of Porto north across the Portugal Spain border to the Parador of Tui where we are tonight. we walked along the Minho River into Tui for dinner. We ate at Parrillada-Taperia A Muralla last time we were here and it was just as good this time.

The view from our room
Walking along the Minho River to dinner
For dinner we shared the meat grill

Casa de Insua to Porto

We had fun wandering the back roads today. We drove to the coast, to Portugal’s second city, Porto.

After breakfast we looked through the museum of Casa de Insua. There is an extensive collection of maps and illustrations from Luis de Albuquerque’s time in Brazil. There is also a collection of things related to the history of the house. It includes everything from wine making equipment, to farming equipment, to things relating to the early production of electricity.

I think this was for milling grain

Our first stop after we left Casa de Insua was an ancient stone burial monument constructed about 5000 years ago.

Creating a video of me coming out of Anta do Penedo do Com

Next, a bit farther along our circuitous route, we hiked up to a view point with a swing. The swing was broken, but the hike and the view were great.

The swing at the viewpoint
It has been suggested that this should be our Christmas Card next year!

When we were in Portugal in 2016 Duke and I remember seeing a sign for a Roman Bridge and driving down a narrow dirt road to discover it. We wanted to find it again and we did. The bridge makes you think of all the people who have crossed it on the last 2000 years.

Checking out the Roman bridge
Taking a break on the bridge before hiking back up to the car.

We found another great picnic table for lunch.

Lunch

For the last hour of our drive we switchbacked down into the Douro valley.

There are lots and lots of terraced vineyards in the Douro Valley

In Porto we are staying at Hotel Pestana do Freixo, right on the river’s edge.

The historic house has the reception desk and the restaurant where we ate dinner.
Our rooms are in the building next door. We sat on the terrace of the mansion to play 500.

It was a great day!

Castelo Branco to Casa de Insua

The direct route to Parador Casa da Insua would have taken us two hours but we took back roads and went through Serra da Estrella Nature Park, a Portuguese National Park in the Serra da Estrella Mountain Range. On AllTrails I found a great short hike in the village of Sameiro. It was a beautiful day and we had fun exploring the village.

On our hike

After our hike we went down the road a bit and found a great spot for lunch.

Picnic lunch

We wound back and forth up through the mountains.

Near the top we stopped to admire the view
At the very top the vegetation completely changed

Duke and I have stayed at Casa de Insua twice before. It is the only Parador in Portugal. Staying here is like staying in a museum. The mansion was built by Luís de Albuquerque in the late 1700s. Albuquerque had previously been the governor of the Portuguese Colony of Brazil.

Checking in

After our welcome drinks and a couple of games of 500 we went out to explore the grounds.

Out exploring
The mansion from one of the gardens

We had dinner at the Patador.

Duke’s sardine starter
Duke and I each had duck as our main course
My thistle cake desert

After dinner we walked through the old rooms of the mansion.

Exploring the mansion
Luis de Albuquerque

Colares to Castelo Branco

Today we drove about 150 miles northeast in Portugal to the town of Castelo Branco. Before getting to the Melía Hotel where we are staying, we stopped at the grocery store to stock up on snacks.

Checking out at the grocery store.

We are staying on the same mountain top as the castle for which the town is named. After we checked in we went up to see the castle ruins.

You can see how strategic this mountain top was. It felt like we could see for miles.
Inside the castle ruins

Before dinner we walked around the Jardim do Paço Episcopal in the center of town

Walking in the garden
Sheep we could see over the wall of the garden.

We had dinner at a very nice local restaurant called Cabra Preta.

Dinner

Lisbon to Colares

This morning we retrieved our car from the parking garage and left Lisbon. As our Uber driver said last night Lisbon was designed for carriages not cars! It was a stressful drive but we succeeded in finding our way out of the city.

We had a short drive today to the little town of Colores. Even though checking time at Vila Vitorino, the B and B where we are staying, is at 3:00, when Duke called this morning Mr. Vitorino the manager, said we could store our bags at noon. We wanted to visit Sintra but we didn’t like the idea of leaving all our stuff in the car in a giant public parking lot. When we arrived at noon Mr Vitorino had our rooms ready and we were able to check n. It was such a relief.

Checking in at Vila Vitorino.

There are multiple palaces and a Moorish Castle in Sintra. Visiting Sintra is a very popular day trip from Lisbon. After we found a parking spot and walked to the Tourist Information office we found out that almost all the palaces and the Moorish Castle are closed because of damage from the big storm last week. But thank goodness the Palácio Nacional was open. So we hiked up to the palace, bought tickets and went in.

Palácio Nacional

There were several beautiful and interesting rooms. I think we all liked the kitchen best. The towers in the picture above are the chimneys for the kitchen.

Kitchen at the Mational Palace
The Heraldic Hall was another favorite room.

After visiting the palace we went back to Vila Vitorino, relaxed and played cars. Later we drove down to a nearby beach to enjoy the sunset.

Sunset
On the beach

For dinner we drove to the coastal town of Azoia and ate at a wonderful restaurant called 3Gomes.

My Brazilian shrimp dish
Duke’s octopus
Brian’s cheesecake