Tag: Spain

Tui to Baiona

This morning before we left Tui, Duke, Brian and Jo Ann waited in the car while I ran into the post office to mail some cards. I had a nice chat with the lady who sold me the stamps. She asked if we were on our way to Santiago de Compostela and I told her no, today we are going to Baiona. She said she was from A Guarda and that if we go through there we should really go to the lookout at the top of Monte Tecla.

A Guarda is due west of Tui right at the mouth of the Minho River. We drove to the top and enjoyed the wonderful view of the Spanish coast going north and the coast of Portugal going south.

View of the Portugal Spain border from the lookout

Just below the summit we stopped at the ruins of a Celtic Castro. It’s the foundations of the Castro wall and buildings of a town of about 3000 people who lived here in the 1st century B.C.

Castro de Santa Trega

From A Guarda we drove north along the coast to the town of Baiona. Along the way we stopped for a picnic lunch.

Our picnic lunch

In Baiona we are staying at the Parador in an old castle. Baiona is where Columbus’ ship the Pinta and its crew first landed in Europe after their voyage of discovery. We played cards and then walked into town to see a bit of Baiona.

The Pinta replica in Baiona harbor
It was a warm day so we had ice cream.

For dinner we walked back into Baiona and ate outdoors at a Taberna La Boqueria. Jo Ann had mussels, Brian had squid, and Duke and I shared cockle and shrimp rice.

Dinner

When we walked back to the Parador the castle was all lit up.

Baiona castle

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

Zafra, Spain to Vila Real de Santo António, Portugal

This morning when we left Zafra there was some blue sky but as the day progressed the rain closed in.

Parador of Zafra central courtyard

We drove south along the Spanish Portuguese border to the Atlantic then across the border into Portugal. Along the way we stopped and hiked up to a look out point.

The blue dot near top of the hill is Duke
The view from the top.

A bit later we stopped to check out this windmill.

Molino de La Divisa

After crossing the border we stopped to register our car and a credit card for the toll roads.

Toll check in station

We are staying in the coastal, border town of Vila Real de Santo António. Later in the afternoon there was a break in the rain and we went for a walk.

Walking along the river
The view from our hotel room

For dinner we went to Restaurante de Associaçāo Naval do Guadiana on the waterfront. I think our dinner was the best of the trip so far. Squid, prawns, wine, bread and desert. Life is good!

Our squid and prawns
Desert
Walking back to the hotel

Cáceres to Zafra

Today we explored the historic center of Cáceres then drove to Zafra where we are staying in the Parador of Zafra. After breakfast we checked out of our hotel and drove into the center of Cáceres. We had a bit of trouble getting there and finding parking because there was a foot race going on. We parked and got to watch finishers in the central plaza..

The finish of the race course
The race seemed to put on by the Policia Nacional

I think we saw the finish of the 10K race. We saw a big group of soldiers run in formation across the finish line. It was fun to watch them celebrate.

Group picture of the army group.

Next we went to the tourist office and got directions to walk around the sites in the old town.

Inside the tourist office.

Cáceres is a beautiful old town.

The cathedral
Inside the cathedral mass was being celebrated

We went through the town museum.

Part of a treasure trove found in 1920

As we walked back to the car it started to rain. Luckily it was just drizzling and soon we were on the road south to Zafra.

Parador of Zafra

The courtyard of this Parador is beautiful.

The Parador courtyard

For dinner we walked to a nearby cheese restaurant. It is a rainy Sunday night so we had the place to ourselves. The food, wine and ambiance were very special.

Our cheese plate
Queseria Bar La Bendita.

There was a light rain as we walked back to the Parador. It was the perfect end to a wonderful day.

Quesaria Bar La Bendita

Parador de Gredos to Cáceres

Today we explored a bit of the Gredos mountains and then took the backroads to Cáceres. When we were in Gredos in 2017 we saw some amazing wildlife and hiked a bit from the trailhead called La Plataforma.

This morning after a leisurely breakfast we headed towards the same trailhead. This time we are here later in the year and today is Saturday. We were told that the Parador was full and it was obvious that a lot of people come up into the mountains to explore on the weekend. We explored lots of beautiful backroads but there was just too much traffic to make our way to La Plataforma again.

So we found other places to explore.

Ice by the side of the road at one of the parks where we stopped.
You ever know what you will see on country roads.

After going south through a mountain pass over the Gredos we saw a sign for a Roman road and stopped. We realized that we stopped at this exact same spot on our trip in 2017. I am aways in awe of how well preserved the roads that the Romans built 2000 years ago are! The road is near the top of the pass too!

The Roman road

We stopped later to stretched and saw these guys.

Hello!
Future ham

Tonight we are at a wonderful spa hotel on the outskirts of Cáceres. Duke had a massage while I relaxed in the room. (I don’t like massages.)

Hospes Palácio de Arenales & Spa

For dinner we had a fabulous dinner in the hotel restaurant, Las Corchuelas. The menu was amazing. You can see it here.

Starters – artichokes for Duke and rice, asparagus, mushrooms and game meat for me.
For the main course I had Corvina and Duke had lamb.
Duke’s brownie and ice cream.
Nougat and orange semifreddo

It was a fabulous meal!