Knowmark Travelblog: Portugal 2006

Bom dia • boa tarde • boa noite

2006-06-04T11:15:00.001+01:00

Today we bid a very fond farewell to Portugal after three wonderful weeks here. Our last morning started, as usual, with café (bica for Susan; pingo for Steve) at Campo Pequeno. As we pay for our café (0,50€) we also purchase two fresh pãozinhos (0,10€ each, which are baked upstairs) that we eat for breakfast in our room along with yogurt and fresh fruit (usually cherries). Total cost for a very yummy breakfast (including coffee): about 1,25€. Our hotel is very nice, but breakfast is not included, and they charge 9,00€. Plus, by going out, we get excellent fresh café, which you seldom find in a hotel.

(Note from the next day, after our return) Speaking of food, may we take the opportunity to recommend the Knowmark Portuguese Travel Diet. Collectively, we lost five pounds (2.2kg) in the last three weeks. See earlier posts for meal ideas and wine choices :-}

Strolling through Serralves

2006-06-03T23:00:00.000+01:00

Our last full day in Portugal took us to Parque Serralves, a beautiful converted estate in western Porto (north of Foz). Our Travelzine friend, Helena, had alerted us to a special display of Art Deco furnishings at Casa Serralves (itself an Art Deco structure), which is what drew us to the park in the first place.

Coincidentally, it was Serralves em Festa! this week-end, so admission to everything was free (nice bonus). The Art Deco display was wonderful (we are both fans) and the house was stunning. We had packed our 'standard' lunch, so after touring Casa Serralves, we found a spot to picnic and then spent considerable time just strolling through the estate grounds.

For our last dinner here we returned to O Assadoro Típico, where we had another great meal: frango no churrasco for Steve; picanha for Susan. We had tried both dishes previously in Portugal - these were the best versions.

It actually got a little too warm for a while in the afternoon, so only 2.5+ on our scale.

Casa Serralves

Art Deco at Casa Serralves [1]

Art Deco at Casa Serralves [2]

Art Deco at Casa Serralves [3]

Our favourite restaurant in Porto

Dawdling Along the Douro

2006-06-02T23:00:00.000+01:00

Today was a very busy day. We started off by walking down to the closest metro station and taking the subway to the south side of the Douro. Interestingly, just before the bridge across the river, the subway train emerges from underground and becomes a tram. We had noticed previously that the subway trains looked exactly like the trams in Bordeaux and now we know why. The tram crosses on the upper level of the Ponte Don Luiz I which is the most famous bridge of Porto, inaugurated in 1886. There are several interesting bridges crossing the Douro at Porto including the Ponte Maria, designed by Eiffel, and the Ponte Arrábida which is an interesting concrete structure to the west.

After wandering around the Vila Nova de Gaia side of the river, we walked back over the bridge and explored the Ribeira area. Behind the colourful buildings right on the river is a maze of twisty little streets, alleys and staircases in which we almost managed to get lost. Eventually working our way out we refreshed ourselves with café and pasteis - we're going to miss that habit.

Next up was a tram and bus ride out to Foz do Douro which is where the river Douro meets the Atlantic Ocean. By then it was time for lunch and we found a small place where we had a very tasty version of fish (filetes de pescada) and chips, accompanied by the almost inevitable arroz and of course some wine.

After lunch we walked down on the beach to dip our toes in the Atlantic from the eastern side (a first for both of us). The beach looked quite sandy from a distance but proved to be very coarse sand and hard walking (at least for Susan's tender toes).

Susan decided that she wanted a feed of amêijoas so we had dinner tonight at Gambamar, a marisqueira not too far from the hotel. She had amêijoas á Bulhão Pato which served the purpose nicely while Steve had caldo verde followed by a tortilha de marisco.

Another absolutely gorgeous day - 3.0 on our scale.

A tram/subway on the Vila Nova de Gaia side of the river

A view of Porto and the Ponte Arrábida

The lower level of the Ponte Don Luiz I from the south side

Ponte D. Luiz I - trams on top, cars on the bottom

Ponte D. Luiz I detail

The Ribeiro district (1)

The Ribeiro district (2)

The beach (and the Atlantic Ocean) at Foz do Douro

Booting it in Braga

2006-06-01T23:00:00.000+01:00

Several weeks ago we had decided to travel to Braga from Porto by train while we were staying in Porto. Our research had indicated that this would be relatively inexpensive and fairly straightforward. The research was right on both counts.

The express train from Porto only took 45 minutes and went through some interesting countryside. And, the total cost (round trip for two) was 7,60€. Braga itself was somewhat different than we had expected. But, the most important thing was that one of the semi-finals of the UEFA Under21 competition was being held that afternoon (France vs the Netherlands). So, since the price was right, we decided to go to the game! Actually, we could only attend the first half because of connection times back to Porto, but it was scintillating action in the initial 45 minutes, with the Netherlands leading 2-0 at the break. The second Dutch goal, by Klaas Jan Huntelaar, was particularly impressive.

The second half (which happened as we travelled back to Porto) saw France mount a comeback and even the match at 2-2, which forced extra time. But, the Netherlands eventually prevailed 3-2. Great game! And, the stadium is a beautiful facility.

We had a so-so lunch (actually, it was quite boring) in Braga at the Café Vianna prior to the match. And, dinner was at O Assador Típico for the second night running, which was first-rate once again.

Just before the Under21 semi-final match (France vs the Netherlands)

The introductions for the Under21 semi-final match (France vs the Netherlands)

After 45 minutes at the Under21 semi-final match (France vs the Netherlands)

Puttering around Porto

2006-05-31T23:00:00.000+01:00

Today was our first full day in Porto and most of it was spent just wandering around. It's great to be able to get a lot of walking in again after the heat wave in the Douro. We started by visiting the posto do turismo to buy transit passes and get some general transportation information, as we would like to take a side trip or two while here.

Lunch was our usual picnic in a very lovely park, Palácio de Cristal. The spot we chose had a great view of the port lodges in Vila Nova de Gaia which is just across the Douro. From where we sat we could see Taylor's, Dow's, and Croft. After lunch we wandered around some more. Our tendency to slow travel seems to be improving - we're getting slower all the time!

Someone else who stayed at the same hotel we are in, and reviewed it for TripAdvisor, mentioned that they had eaten at O Assador Típico and recommended it highly, so that's where we ate this evening. We were not disappointed. We shared an excellent arroz de marisco washed down with two half bottles of vinho de casa - a vinho verde (mostly consumed by Susan) and a tinto (mostly consumed by Steve). In addition to the wonderful meal, the service was excellent and since the restaurant is very convenient to our hotel, we will eat there again before we leave.

Another absolutely gorgeous day - 3.0 on our scale.

www.flickr.com

Passage to Porto

2006-05-30T23:00:00.000+01:00

Today's photo gallery

We are reluctantly leaving the Pinhão area today for our last stop in Portugal - five days in Porto. The unseasonably hot weather that we have experienced for the last four days seems to have 'broken' - it is a very nice morning here.

After a pleasant drive from Pinhão, we are safely ensconced at the very nice Hotel Eurostars Das Artes in Porto. We had a rather longish orientation walk (about two hours); bought a few supplies; scouted a likely spot for morning café; checked out a couple of restaurants for dinner. We made a good choice for dinner and had a nice meal of frango no churrasco just down the street from our hotel, which is so very convenient!

And, after the few days of uncomfortably hot weather, we had a perfect day (3.0) on the weather front.

Câmara Municipal in Porto

Down and up the Douro

2006-05-29T23:00:00.000+01:00

Our last full day in the Pinhão region found us once again somewhat limited by the heat. It just means that we don't spend as much time stopping in various places and walking about. But, we managed to do quite a bit. We did the 'formal' tour (week days at 11am) of Quinta de la Rosa, which was quite interesting, followed by a wine and port tasting. Of special interest was trying the 1998 LBV Port, since we wanted to buy one more bottle of port for nightcaps. However, we also tried the 1992 LBV bottle-aged Port and decided to buy that instead, as it was quite unusual.

Then, we drove to Régua (about 30 minutes away), because we had heard about a Douro wine shop there. However, there wasn't much there that was of interest to us, although we did buy a bottle of 2004 Quinta do Monte Travesso. We also had a relatively nondescript lunch before slowly working our way back to Pinhão. It is beautiful country here - it is quite stunning. We also drove up the Rio Torto valley to Ervedosa do Douro just to buy some bread at the Padaria Lusitana, where we had found some excellent bread yesterday (hot out of the oven at 5pm). Since we were 'eating in' on our last night here, we needed to have some first-rate pão!

Another very hot day, so only a 2.0 again; however, the evening turned out to be very pleasant.

The port aging room at Quinta de la Rosa

The A24 bridge across the Douro at Régua

Nespera - the wonderful fruit that we have enjoyed here

Multi-level view of La Rosa (it's about equivalent to a 5-storey building)

Up and down the Douro

2006-05-28T18:50:00.000+01:00

Today seemed to be a bit less hot than yesterday (at least to Susan) but it was still quite uncomfortable. Unfortunately, we're not doing much walking because of the heat, but we're eating just as much! Hopefully things will cool off enough while we're in Porto to work off some of this food.

There is apparently marvellous scenery along the Rio Tua, one of many tributaries of the Douro. Many people take the train from Pinhão to Tua and then switch to the narrow-gauge train which runs along the Tua to Mirandela. We thought about taking it, but for a variety of reasons decided not to check it out today. Instead we drove to Alijó again, but by a different, indirect route, starting with the ferry across Douro.

UP. We drove up and up (there's a lot of that here!) on N222 to São João da Pesqueira. On the way, we stopped at the Padaria Lusitana in Ervedosa do Douro and bought some bread.

DOWN. Then we went down and down (see previous parentheses) and crossed the Douro at the Barragem de Valeira.

UP. Once again, up and up, through Linhares (which seemed very historical) to Parambos, all of this on N214.

DOWN. This time, down and down (now on N212) led to the confluence of the Tua and the Douro, in Tua. We could see where the narrow-gauge railway to Mirandela starts, and a bit of the gorge which forms the very dramatic scenery at the start. The part that we could see was very different scenery- even steeper mountains and very rocky and wild with no olive trees and vines as we see almost everywhere else.

UP. Our second trip to Alijó in two days, this time via São Mamede da Ribatua where the landscape levels off for a bit. Still, every bit of land seems to be covered with vines.

UP. A bit more until the landscape flattened out again for quite a while in to Alijó where we had lunch in a shaded spot in a nice park. It is cooler in Alijó due to the higher altitude. It didn't take us as long to get there as we had expected and so we ate lunch a bit earlier than usual, however it was the same old lunch - mmmm: wine, cheese, bread (better than we've been eating so far in this area), carrots and olives.

DOWN. The drive down from Alijó was via the same route (N323) that we took up there yesterday - but it is certainly not a hardship driving that route again. And, it looks a little different going the opposite direction. The views are spectacular; we just can't get over how much of this really rugged landscape has been turned into land for growing grapes and olives ... it is immense!

Again due to the heat, today only rated a 2.0, however Susan is angling for a 2.0+.

Looking down on Ribalonga on our way down to the Douro from Parambos

The confluence of the Douro and Tua rivers from the east side of the Tua valley

Looking down on the narrow-guage railway line along the Tua and the bridge that we drove across the Tua - taken from the west side of the Tua valley

A prickly-pear sort of cactus

Close-up of the terraces that dominate this landscape

Many of the terraces use no mortar

Incrível!

2006-05-27T18:18:00.000+01:00

The Quinta de la Rosa is a lovely estate and we were reluctant to actually leave this morning. Especially since it was cool for several hours this morning (during this unseasonable heat wave). So we took our time - which is not unusual - and finally went into Pinhão for some supplies, et al. After some initial exploration, we found a very nice pastelaria (see photograph below) for our late morning café e pasteis. We also found some wonderful regional cheese and olives, plus carrots (and some so-so bread) for lunch later.

We then set out on an incredible (incrível) journey north up the Rio Pinhão valley to Alijó (on the east side of the valley). Coming back, we crossed the Pinhão to Sabrosa (which required going waaay down and then waaay back up) and returned to Pinhão on the west side of the valley. The scenery is simply spectacular - there is no other way to describe it. We don't have the proper camera to capture what this looks like. The terraced vineyards are everywhere, built over many centuries.

We went back to Restaurante Residêncial Ponto Grande tonight where we had the cabrito with tomatoes, onions and peppers that the owner, Senhor José Vieira kindly promised us yesterday. It was very good, especially the potatoes which seemed to have been cooked with them (see photo below). There was a simple but tasty salad and some plain rice which went very well with the meal. As wine, we chose the 2001 Vinha de Mazouco which was fine but not as good as the Quinta da Poça that we drank last night.

Since the weather is uncomfortably hot, today only rated a 2.0 (zero points for temperature).

The outside of our suite at Quinta de la Rosa (Steve is locking the far door, which is quite a bizarre exercise!)

One of the views from where Steve has his morning tea

Photograph of Quinta de la Rosa taken from the railway station in Pinhão (with the Douro in the foreground)

The railway station in Pinhão

The Princesa do Douro, our pastelaria of choice in Pinhão

The confluence of the Pinhão and Douro rivers at Pinhão. This photograph is taken from the west side of the Rio Pinhão valley looking down on the town on Pinhão (on the left). We are staying at the Quinta de la Rosa (see yellow rectangle in the upper right).

Where last night's wine was made (that's our car in the background)

Cabrito with tomatoes and peppers and wonderful potatoes

Destination: Douro

2006-05-26T10:38:00.000+01:00

We are having a late morning at the Estalagem de Santa Bárbara, partly because it is so lovely and tranquil here. After a café at the Pastelaria Primavera (our favourite pastelaria in Oliveira do Hospital), we are heading north to Pinhão in the Douro valley. We are expecting some rather warm weather and our connectivity will probably be spotty during our four days there.

Our arrival in Pinhão was rather different. After an amazing drive along the Douro and our first glimpses of the vineyards, we arrived near the town only to be faced by a long line of cars stopped in front of us. It turns out that the bridge is under repair and the only way over the river is by ferry. We subsequently found out that the ferry only runs at certain times of the day and it had just started running again as we arrived. It took us 40 minutes or so before we finally arrived at the other side and 3 minutes later we were at Quinta de la Rosa.

Our room is actually a two room suite and feels like a little house. It seems to be very old, is remarkably cool inside (without the assistance of air conditioning) and has one bathroom wall which is mostly carved out of rock.

Dinner was in Pinhão at Pensão Ponto Grande where we shared a dish of roasted pork which had been marinated in vinho tinto for two days before cooking. It was accompanied by cabbage and some good tomato rice with chickpeas. The wine was a 2003 Vinho Comprida from Quinta da Poça which is just up the road from La Rosa. The very nice owner told us he would be making cabrito with tomatoes and peppers tomorrow, so we will return for dinner on Saturday.

The weather is heating up, so only 2.5 today on the Knowmark Weather Scale.

Our pastelaria of choice in Oliveira do Hospital

Getting ready to leave Estalagem de Santa Bárbara

Our view of the town of Valdigem and surrounding vineyards as we neared the Douro [1]

Our view of the town of Valdigem and surrounding vineyards as we neared the Douro [2]

Our view of the town of Valdigem and surrounding vineyards as we neared the Douro [3]

Our digs for the next four nights (photographed while waiting for the ferry to take us across the Douro because the bridge was out and we couldn't drive there directly!)

Pursuing pão

2006-05-25T19:59:00.001+01:00

After a very slow start today, we went into Oliveira da Hospital for a quick café and to buy some good bread. At the same time, we picked up a queijo fresco de ovalha which is a local specialty made daily. We then headed out to try to pick up some wine at a place just past Seia, the Quinta de Pellada. There, a very helpful young man showed us what they had to offer and we ended up buying two bottles.

Yesterday in Seia we learned that they had a very good Museu do Pão (Museum of Bread). Obviously we couldn't pass that by so we headed up (and it was up!) to the museum where we spent an hour or so looking at the very interesting displays. They showed all the steps involved in the traditional making of bread (starting from sowing seed) but also had a fascinating display on the political and social aspects of bread in Portugal. The museum is part of a large complex that includes a shop and a restaurant which is apparently very popular. We had packed our lunch and decided that a bench near an old mill stream at the museum was a good location to eat it. And it was!

Our route back was through the countryside that we can see from our room. And for much of the way, we could see our hotel in the distance. It was a lovely drive, partly on N231 through São Ramão and Valezim; then on to another road which passed through a number of villages perched on the mountainside, including Sazes da Beira and Corgas.

Back to Johnny's (in Oliveira do Hospital) again for dinner tonight. We split a large seafood salad and some salmon spaghetti - the spaghetti in particular was excellent. Washed down with a 2001 Nelus, a very nice local Dão wine from Nelas.

Another amazing day, a perfect 3.0 on the Knowmark Weather Scale.

Quest for queijo

2006-05-24T23:00:00.000+01:00

Today was our first full day at Estalagem de Santa Barbara which is near the Serra da Estrela, the highest mountains in Portugal. The hotel is about 35 years old, and was designed by a famous Portuguese architect, Manual Tainha. A quote from the hotel brochure by Arq. José Manuel Rodrigues states: "Interactions of man, landscape and architecture, on the one hand, and the understanding of the need to preserve a cultural architectonic legacy, on the other, are represented here in a unique way." It is a little worn around the edges but fascinating none-the-less. Our room is large, comfortable and has a fantastic view from the balcony. We are the only guests which feels a bit odd.

The area we are visiting is part of the Dão wine region and today we set out to visit some wineries. However, apparently they operate differently here from what we are used to. We picked up a Rota do Vinho map in Nelas and headed out to a place which was listed on it (and which Steve had researched previously) only to discover that we could not do a tasting and there was only one wine we could buy and that one only by the case! We headed back into Nelas to the Cooperativa Agrícola de Nelas which had a small shop where we purchased two bottles that we had also previously researched (one of which we may open for lunch tomorrow). On Thursday we will try to call before visiting any other wineries.

Part of the day was spent foraging for lunch (what else is new?) This led to an interesting adventure in search of the local cheese, queijo da Serra. We saw a little cheese symbol indicating that there was a licensed cheese maker in Santa Combra so off we went. In the village we asked a young man if he knew where we could buy cheese. He didn't, but kindly popped into a nearby café to ask for us. He then drew a very detailed map which led us to a place where cheese was made. The entire family proceeded to take part in the attempted transaction which unfortunately did not lead to the purchase of one of their wonderful cheeses as they were so huge we knew we couldn't possibly eat all of one, and we had nowhere to store it. Eventually we think we managed to communicate (in our virtually non-existent Portuguese) what the situation was and there seemed to be no hard feelings. They did seem to be somewhat amazed that we had found them.

Another part of our day was a visit to Seia which seems to be a lovely old town. There, we managed to buy a smaller version of the local queijo de ovalha curado (the one we picked was quite young and runny inside) to go with wine, olives and bread for lunch, which was eaten in a local park. Dinner tonight was back in Oliveira do Hospital at O Túnel where we had chanfana, which tasted pretty much just like the one Susan has made at home.

A fabulous day, 3.0+ on the Knowmark Weather Scale.

The view from our balcony at Estalagem de Santa Barbara

An interesting building in Seia

Visiting Conimbriga

2006-05-23T23:00:00.000+01:00

Today was a transition day, as we leave Quinta do Coalhos and journey farther north to the village of Póvoa das Quartas, which is very near the small town (about 6,000) of Oliveira do Hospital. Our total travel time was between three and four hours, interrupted in the middle by a visit to the incredible Roman ruins at Conimbriga.

Conimbriga was a Roman town (dating from the 1st centurey C.E.) built on the road which connected Lisbon with Braga. It is located near the present day city of Coimbra and has very extensive ruins with many wonderful mosaics. We spent quite a bit of time wandering around the site and ended up having our lunch at a picnic spot located there. (The usual - cheese, wine, bread and olives!)

After that we continued our journey to our next spot - more about that later.

Dinner was at a placed called Johnny's in Oliveira do Hospital. We both had a Brazilian dish called picanha which was very thin, tender slices of grilled beef served with baked potato, rice and black beans. It was very yummy!

A great day (2.5 on the Knowmark Weather Scale) for travelling.

Last day on the Rio Tejo

2006-05-22T23:00:00.000+01:00

Another lovely day (3.0) found us with a very limited agenda, which is how we like it. First, we visited the Quinta do Casal da Coelheira in Tramagal, about 10km west on N118. They make some very good wine there, which we had confirmed on Saturday night at dinner, where we had a bottle of the 2004. So we bought a bottle of that, plus a couple bottles of their well-thought-of 2003 Reserva.

After visiting the winery, we went into Abrantes (a town of about 11,000 people), which is just north of where we are staying across the Rio Tejo. At the information centre a very helpful young woman answered all of our questions, the most important of which was the location of a good pasteleria! The one pictured below was an excellent choice for our morning café and pastel de nata (for Steve). Susan tried one of the local specialties - palha de Abrantes (which also happened to be the name of the pasteleria). Excellent fare all around. We then explored the old town centre for awhile and in the process picked up some supplies for our planned picnic lunch. There was good bread to be had in a local padaria and we found cheese and carrots at the daily market.

Then, we toured around the area on some of the local roads, eventually stopping for a late picnic lunch at a very pretty spot (see photos below) on N3 between Mação and Penhascoso. We enjoyed the rest of the day at the Quinta do Coalhos, resting and doing some planning for tomorrow's journey (we are leaving here after three wonderful days). And, we returned to O Cabaço (in Pego) for dinner again, where we had another great meal (including another bottle of the 2004 Casal da Coelheiras). Steve had carne de porco com ameijoas; Susan's dinner was ameijoas à Bulhão Pato, a delicious dish of clams with garlic and coriander/cilantro. Hosted by Luis Manuel Camões, this is a very nice place to dine.

We had our morning café and pastries here

Our spot for picnic lunch

Our spot for picnic lunch [2]

Dawdling on domingo

2006-05-21T22:20:00.000+01:00

We did a number of things today:

leisurely morning at the Quinta de Coalhos (after the very tasty pequeno almoço served here)

wine tasting at Quinta da Côro (an unusual visit)

lunch at A Lúria - the best meal we've had so far in Portugal (and we haven't had any bad ones!)

visited Tomar and the castle there, including the Convento de Cristo. Some beautiful gardens make up part of this large complex, started by the Templars in the 12th century

a light dinner at the Quinta de Coalhos - a wonderful repast, as we have quickly come to expect, it consisted of caldo verde which seems to be Portugal's national soup, delicious bread with some cheese and spreads, olives and a nice bottle of 2002 Dona Ermelinda. For dessert we had wonderful fresh strawberries and the local specialty tigeladas de Abrantes an amazing baked, custardy cake.

Today's weather was a rather passable 2.0+.

Yana at Quinta da Côro

Aqueduto de Pegões near Tomar

Our car (and Steve's arm)

The Convento at Tomar

Part of the Convento at Tomar

Leaving Lisboa

2006-05-20T23:26:00.000+01:00

After picking up our rental car at Europcar (a nice Peugot 107), we made our exit from Lisboa today quite gracefully, with only one small unintentional detour. We went straight north on N115, pausing for café e pastéis in Bucelas. Then we slowly worked our way north and east through some beautiful country, stopping for a very enjoyable lunch in Vila Chã de Ourique. Unfortunately, we neglected to note the name of the restaurant, which deserves a mention :-{

Later in the afternoon, we arrived at our residence for the next three nights - Quinta de Coalhos, near Pego. It is quite an amazing place, having only three rooms and a suite. We are currently the only ones in residence and so have all the common space to ourselves!

On the owners recommendation, we had dinner in Pego at O Cabaço. It was a great suggestion - we both had porco preto com migas. Migas is a wonderful thing. Our menu reader describes it as "bread cooked with well-seasoned ingredients to form a kind of omelette", but we think it was more like a giant dumpling. Either way it was great! For wine we had the 2004 Casal da Coelheiras which was very tasty and excellent value.

The weather was a very nice 2.5 today.

The main building at Quinta de Coalhos

The resident horses (just beyond our back door)

Enjoying a late evening Port in the sitting room

Art and Culture

2006-05-19T23:00:00.000+01:00

Since we have the chance, we are making a small early post for today. Based on information from Helena, we went to the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, which is in the Lapa district. Last night Helena had told us that a new show - the Grandes Mestres da Pintura: de Fra Angelico a Bonnard - had just opened on Thursday morning. It is the final tour of the Colecção Rau, which is an amazing collection. We will write a little more about this later.

Then a leisurely stroll through part of the Lapa district (western Lisboa), which was an area we had not yet explored.

Since this is our last full day in Lisboa, we have to get organized for tomorrow - packing, planning an exit route, etc.

Another perfect 3.0 today on the Knowmark Weather Scale.

Just up the hill from the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga in the Lapa district

Transportation and Communications • Helena

2006-05-18T23:00:00.000+01:00

We scouted out the location of our car rental (which is EuropCar), which we will be picking up on Saturday. This is actually a fairly long story (in time and distance, because of our failure to look to the right), which we will not detail here. After talking to one of the very nice people at EuropCar, we determined that the best course will be to take a taxi to the car from our hotel, rather than bring the car to the hotel through the very twisted streets of Graça.

And, because of our connectivity difficulties, we checked out some of the internet points that exist and found one that is not inconvenient. Shahen, on Rua Madalena, is reasonably priced and allows us to plug in our USB memory key. The USB connection makes it quite easy to upload a few photographs. Our pursuit of some improved internet connectivity also took us to the Cafe no Chiado, where we had a nice lunch - omeletas com queijo.

The highlight of the day was meeting Helena, our online friend from The Travelzine who recommended the hotel we are staying at. Helena is a lovely, gracious woman who kindly arranged to spend the evening with us. A drink in front of the opera house, Teatro Nacional São Carlos, was followed by a delicious dinner at Martinho da Arcada, which is the oldest café in Lisboa, founded in 1782. (For those of you keeping track, everyone had carne, washed down with a nice bottle of Herdade Grande 2003 from Estremoz. Helena suggested that we try a wine from the Alentejo region as it is one that we will not be visiting.)

Helena is very interested in history and knows a great deal about Portugal and Lisboa. She acted as our guide as we walked to the restaurant, telling us lots of interesting things about the area that we passed through. At dinner, she phoned her husband João (twice!) to get information for us about Porto. It was a great evening - muito obrigado, Helena!

It was a beautiful day (a perfect 3.0) in Lisboa.

Pursuing pastéis

2006-05-17T23:00:00.001+01:00

We are experiencing some connectivity problems, so this entry is very short and sans photographs. The better part of the day was spent in Belém (which is about 45 minutes from our hotel on the transit system). What we will say is that the pastéis de nata is so good in Belém that they don´t even call it pastéis de nata - they call it pastéis de Belém! They claim to have invented it there and who´s to argue - it was incredibly good at the establishment by the same name (Pastéis de Belém) which was established in 1837.

It was fairly muggy today, so we can only give the weather a nice 2.0.

A typical day in Lisboa

2006-05-16T23:00:00.000+01:00

Our first full day in Lisboa found us quickly establishing our routine. Because breakfast is included at our hotel, we have our café e pasteis later in the morning. Today, we found a nice spot for this very addictive habit near the shopping centre in the Baixa district, which is the major shopping area in Lisboa. And, because it's such a good idea (café e pasteis), we indulged again about 5pm in Graça, which is the area where we are staying (actually, Susan only had some water and a small bite of the mini pastel de nata that we ordered). There are pastelaria everywhere in Lisboa! It is easier to find a wonderful pastel in Lisboa than a baguette in many parts of France.

We set out later in the morning to get two things: more detailed maps for travel after we leave Lisboa; and a SIM card for our mobile phone. We took the E28 (electric tram #28) to the Chiado stop, which put us very near a large downtown [inside] shopping centre. We headed there because we knew there was a fnac there and that it would probably have what we needed. It did.

Back to Graça (partly on foot; partly on the E28) for a nice lunch at O Jaime, a small, neighbourhood restaurant serving comida regional. We had one of his prato do dia - the bifinhos e cogumelos (veal and mushrooms) - which was very good. Together with a small salad, homemade fried potatoes and some vinho da casa, it made for a wonderful repast. And, for 12€, a good bargain as well! We chatted (very badly, since our Portuguese is nearly non-existent) with Jaime about fado and futebol, because of the photographs on the wall. They have live fado (we're not sure where they put the players, since the restaurant is very small!) on Saturday and Sunday.

Later, we explored some more via the great public transit system they have here, first walking down to the waterfront through part of the Alfama district and then returning (rather circuitously and precipitously - did we mention that it is quite hilly here?) on autobus route #12.

Dinner tonight was again chez Knowmark - this time we picked up a pre-fab mixed salad and a nice vinho Alentejo at the Pingo Doce supermarket to accompany the frango no churrasco - delicious barbecued chicken - that we bought as takeout from Churrasco da Graça. Dessert was a small glass of port and a small piece of very good chocolate.

Today only rated a 2.5 on the Knowmark Weather Scale, as it was a little too warm later in the afternoon and early evening. However, as we write this, with the balcony open to the night air, it is lovely.

Landing in Lisboa

2006-05-15T23:00:00.000+01:00

We arrived in Lisboa about 9am after an uneventful direct flight on SATA. We were delighted to be able to get here without changing planes. Coupled with the fact our hotel had our room available only a few minutes after we got there (which was unexpected - we had only meant to drop our luggage and return), gave us most of the day to get oriented and do a few things. Which we took full advantage of.

The first order of business entailed getting a 5-day Carris/Metro pass, which enables us to use any bus or subway any time for our entire stay here. At 12,90€ this is a great bargain. And in hilly Lisboa, using transit is highly recommended. As you might be able to determine from our view (see photos below), we are staying very near the top of one of the seven major hills in Lisboa. Walking down is not a problem, but climbing back up can be quite strenuous, not to mention time-consuming. Electric tram #28 is already our best friend!

Lunch at O Pitéu was the prata do dia, grilled bacalhau with potatoes washed down with a very refreshing bottle of chilled vinho verde branco ... yes, white wine! It is quite a light wine - only 10.5% alcohol.

We did our first major shopping at El Corte Inglés, which has been in Lisboa for five years now. We fell love with the store (which is huge in Spain) in Madrid three years ago. As expected, they had everything we wanted.

And, our first day in Portugal rated a perfect 3.0 on the Knowmark Weather Scale.

Peterborough · Toronto

2006-05-14T11:00:00.000+01:00

We leave today on our first trip to Portugal, which will last for three weeks. Our journey begins in Lisboa (after an overnight flight from Toronto on SATA) and ends in Porto on Sunday, 4 June.

Some initial research indicates that we will be quite comfortable in Lisboa, since the people there have a "... passion for drinking red wine with fish, ..." (MacDonogh, Giles. Portuguese Table Wines. London: Grub Street, 2001.)! Helena, one of our Travelzine friends in Lisboa, has offered a counterpoint to this statement, viz "Portuguese wines are very good, especially the red wine from Douro region or Alentejo region. They are better then our white wines but Portuguese people don't drink fish with red wine. With fish we drink white wine (usually…)". One thing we are certain of: there is quite a lot of good wine in Portugal!

We have reservations in the following places:

Albergaria Senhora do Monte (Lisboa for five nights, starting Monday, 15 May)

Quinta de Coalhos (near Abrantes on the Rio Tejo for three nights, starting Saturday, 20 May)

Estalagem Santa Bárbara (in the Dão region for three nights, starting Tuesday, 23 May)

Quinta de la Rosa (near Pinhão in the Douro Valley for four nights, starting Friday, 26 May)

Hotel Eurostars Das Artes (Porto for five nights, starting Tuesday, 30 May)