Portugal and Porto

Moving south of the border

The next day, Thursday 28^th July, we caught a coach from Spain to Portugal or Pontevedre to Porto to be precise. We chose to go by coach because it was significantly cheaper and less complicated than trying to hire a car in Spain and leave it in Portugal. They may have made some advances in the borderless european Common Market, but car hire is not one of them! The coach was supposed to leave the bus station at 1pm - it left at 2pm.  Welcome to Portugal.   

On the bus - heading south over the border, down Porto way.

The journey was actually pretty swift on the great motorways that the EU had funded over the last 25 years, and in no time we were at a modern metro station in Porto.


Luckily our Airbnb host Miguel, appeared at the station just as we were struggling with both the ticketing and the language.  Jane can speak passible Spanish but none of us had much, if any, Portuguese.  But we did have a phrase book!  This was especially useful in the search for public toilets in Portugal, which were considerably less frequently provided.

The metro turned out to be easy to use once you know a few tricks and we whizzed across town to
our apartment.  This was a modernised 4^th floor 3 bedroom apartment (with lift!) about 10 minutes walk from the old city.  Very well appointed, with good wi-fi and and air-conditioned in all rooms.  Larry and Alix particularly appreciated that as it was pretty hot most days, reaching 28C plus some days.

Another wonderfully Baroque church in Porto - which one??

We were here for the next 6 days and so the first trip was to stock up on the local shops where we were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the local fruit and veg and the low cost of the local Duoro table wines.  A good bottle being about 4 euro, a seriously good one 10 euro.  We cooked and ate at home that evening for the first time in a week! And we played cards – solo whist - what fun!

The next day we do the main sights of old Porto, in the Ribedeo area. The Se cathedral, the Sao Francisco church with the fabulous baroque gilt woodcarvings, and a tourist-accessible necropolis, where they keep all the old bones! The old stock exchange, the railway station with wonderful blue tile-work, and other old churches were other highlights seen whist wandering around.

Se Cathedral, from the road, the view from the other side is better!

The walk along the old waterfront and then across the Louis 1 twin level bridge over the river Douro took us to the Vila Nova De Gaia (south) side where all the Port Lodges are.  These are the warehouses where the Ports are stored, aged and blended after their first year up-river, see later about this during the Sandeman winery.  

On the riverside walk, the Dom Louis 1 two level bridge behind.

Whoa, a captive Francesinca!

We had lunch here. Larry and I tackled our first (and last) local toasted sandwich specialty, a Francesinca. Layered meats, bread, cheeses and a sweet sauce.  Not for the faint hearted, but washed down easily with a chilled beer and local wines.

We then walked up the hill to the Grahams Port Lodge for a tasting and tour.  A wonderful 2 hours amongst stacks of barrels and lines of vats.  Port back to 1888 or 1928 or something.

We learned the difference between tawny, ruby and vintage port and how they make white port and all those sorts of things.  And then we had a tasting of 5,10 and 20 year old tawny ports and 10, 20 and 30 year old ruby or crusted ports.  Most educational and tasty.  I can bore you for hours with my new found expertise on the topic of Port if you are interested, just ask!  A long walk home followed, with cable car assistance up the big hill.

Pity you cannot see the Port bottle labels, one was 30 years old!

Barrels of the old good stuff! 

On Sunday we hired a car and drove north to the coastal towns of Viando Do Castelo and Amorosa. The roads were good, the weather sunny but there was a stiff breeze blowing in from the North Atlantic, so we decided not to swim that day. We took the slow coast road back.  We stopped for a great seafood lunch at Esposende overlooking the windsurfers flying along the beach, then we headed back inland as the local traffic became gridlocked.  Larry was very good driving on the back doubles that Alix was finding on Google maps to get us home quickly. 


On Monday we drove up the Douro valley.  The Airbnb hosts had arranged for us to have a complimentary visit to the Sandeman winery “cellar door” vinyard about 100km up the river valley near Pinhaou. This really is the heart of the Port wine growing region and was quire stunning in the vistas that opened up before us round each bend or over each hill as we drove along and up the valley.

The beautiful Douro Vally with terraced vinyards

 The whole area merited more than the one day that we gave it, but it was a great day.  We had morning coffee in an old town with bad traffic and roman ruins called Amarante, and then went on to have probably the best meal of the trip in a converted railway station building at Peso Da Regua.  Beautiful veal for me, fish, a creamy risotto and pasta for others.  Great local wine selection too.

My fabulous veal lunch...

It was a hot day, even this far up the river, and by the time we got to the Sandeman Quintao winery place it was 4pm.  But they were expecting us and the tour started promptly.  We saw the vines, clinging to the terraced slopes with grapes not quite ready for picking. They make the wines by “foot” pressing with fancy machines in huge concrete vats then stop the fermentation after 2 days by adding alcohol spirit to hit 20% alcohol content. It then sits in vats for the first year before being taken down to the Port Lodges for further ageing and other stuff.  We had a special tasting here one Port was 40 years old I think.  


The girl who showed us round dressed in the cape and hat that looked like something out of a Harry Potter book, not surprising when you find JK Rowling married a Portuguese man and lived in Porto when she was starting the series.

Smoked meats and pulpo (octopus!) salad, yum!

The last few days were spent chilling and eating in Porto.  We took the hop-on-hop-off bus around the city one morning and I did spend an afternoon in the one major Porto Art Gallery and Museum, but it was pretty average.  All the good stuff is in Lisbon apparently.

A few more meals out and in.   A few more games of cards.  More sightseeing and shopping in Porto.  Lellos bookshop, another place said to feature in Harry P novels, the Majestic Café dinner - all faded thirties glory, but excellent food and service.

Jane at the Majestic Cafe.

 On the last morning we queued up outside a local bar that always had a line of people outside whenever we passed, just to see what was so special.  Well, it was a local version of a “pulled pork” sandwich with gravy or a soft Portuguese cheese.  Very yummy.  Just the thing to bookend the trip, before catching a metro right to the airport and flying back to Blighty on Wednesday 3^rd August. 

Judy and Nigel picked us up at the airport and we had one night at Rooks Hill with us all, that’s Alix, Larry, Judy, Nigel, Pippa, Jane and me.  We started and finished the ports and wines we brought back and tumbled into bed late, but then up early to take Alix and Larry to Heathrow at 9am the next day.  They were on their way back to the USA.  


Thanks so much for coming over A & L, it was a great holiday and we had a lot of fun together.

Travels in Northern Spain

To Santiago De Compostela

Yes I do know we are running about a month behind on the blog - its been so busy!!  Lets see if I can catch up over the next few days.  Here is what we did in the last week in Spain.

 We arrived in Santiago de Compostela (SDC) on Sunday 24^th July.  This had been planned for a few weeks but we did not know it was the date of the Festival of St James.  This is the biggest day of the year for the pilgrims and the cathedral in SDC!  The town was humming with pilgrims and tourists and locals and it all culminated with one of the loudest, most random firework display I have ever been subjected to!

Pilgrims kipping outside the SDC cathedral.

Puppets that attended the church Masses

Because the day of the festival fell on a Sunday they also opened the “special door” on the west side of the cathedral that is only opened one ever 7 years.  How exciting is that?! The queues were outrageous.  Jane lined up for 2 hours to get inside for a “Pilgrims Mass” that they were running as a repeating service!  We did not get to see the huge thurible swinging, only at the 7.30pm service unless someone pays 400 euro.  Everything has a price here!  

 The old city was pumping all day and evening.  We had dinner and then regrouped to try to get a good spot for the fireworks.  As luck would have it we could not get into the main square with our backpacks – it was the week of the Nice truck attack and the policing was very evident.  At midnight the fireworks started, accompanied by a concert in the main square.  We were in another square behind the cathedral and found that we were in fact between TWO fireworks shows.  And unlike the very measured performances we are used to in Brisbane this one went nuts in the last 5 minutes.  Air shells were exploding all around, barely above the roofs of the buildings around the squares, scattering burning cardboard casings all amongst the crowds. What a humdinger.

Inside the cathedral

The next two days in SCD were spent enjoying the old town, the cathedral and other buildings and attending some of the festival events. There were big puppets, musical items, more services, museums and lots of shops.  We did a walking sightseeing tour, which give us lots of background history of the place.  The churches are mostly made of square granite blocks, which gave them a very dour square, squat appearance. None of the lightness of touch in the French or English cathedrals of the same era.  Internally they were mostly 18C baroque carvings and plasterwork, but all pretty  dingy. 

We visited a huge Aussie eucalyptus planted 150 years ago in the main city park. 

I also bought a local white paper hat ‘cos the sun was shiny all day and my head was getting damaged.  The streets of the old town were lined with a range of shops selling both the usual tourist tat as well as others with great spanish goods, leatherwear, hats, local foods cheeses and wines, as well as many restaurants, so at night we ate great food and wine.  What’s not to like?

Then we managed to find the local station to buy train tickets for the trip to our next port of call, Pontevedre.  So lets go. 

Typical street in the old town parts of SDC

After a good hotel breakfast (Hotel Campostela, on the south edge of the old town, good internet, well recommended) we packed and walked to the train station for the 12.15pm. train to Pontavedre.  

The trip was just 30 minutes through the countryside and we were in another gem of a Spanish costal town, with an old city centre surrounded by very ordinary suburbs.  

Alix Larry and Jane outside our Parador in Pontevedre

We were here for one night specially to stay in a Parador.  These are special hotels in Spain, old castles and religious buildings converted into luxury hotels.  This one was an old stately home.  Lots of wood and granite and old oak furniture.  But the beds were big and comfy too.  

Inside the Parador

We had a great paella meal here and then a walk around the old streets and square.  This included a great fresh food and fish market.

Paella and vino!   Beautiful

                                                                     

Loads 'a fish.

This is the end of the week in Spain.  Next stop Porto, in northern Portugal.  

Got to keep moving, so keep up!!