We decided early in the planning to spend our last few days in Portugal in a rural area. We had read so much about the beauty of the Douro Valley we started researching there and went no further. There are many Quintas (rural historic estates) that rent rooms or small houses to tourists. Because it…
Category: Portugal
Braga is Not Too Far From Heaven
Today was one of those special days that you just don’t want to end. We hired Pedro as a tour guide to get out of the city and head North to the Minho region. I’m not sure if it’s because we are rural people but we love the days that we venture out to smaller…
Porto – first day and the last day in the city.
Porto and the Porto area is our next stop. We will spend 3 days in the city but will take the middle day to tour North into Minho. I did a separate post about Braga and Minho so this will cover our other two Oporto city days. Our arrival and first morning in Porto was…
Lisbon – Day 2,3 and 4!
On Day 2 we ventured out walking and soon negotiated with a TukTuk driver to go on a tour and help us climb those hills. It was fun and he was great. We saw more in 2 hours than we would have seen all day. Pedro our guide shared the beauty of his city and…
Pasteis de Nata, Porco Preto and Bifana
I am a foodie and a good part of travel for me is enjoying the regional foods and trying new things. We have had some delicious tastes and some wonderful meals. I am sure you will hear more (if you choose) about the food from this trip but right now we are in Portugal and…
Arriving to the Real Hills of Lisbon. Day 1 to Sintra and Caiscais.
After arriving and getting a glimpse of Lisbon, I have to go back and qualify that what I thought were hills in Lagos were just little mounds compared to the seven hills of Lisbon. This is a city where you are either going straight up or straight down. (And I have the sore calves to…
The (little) hills of Lagos – renamed after visiting Lisbon!
We are staying in the historical centre of Lagos that encompasses three hills so very seldom are you walking on flat ground unless you are near the ocean. Everything is close but up a hill and if you are going down hill, you know that you have to go up again. It has been great…
Train Strike and Burgers
We had a great landlady in Tavira. She called us to let us know that the train strike had been set to begin in the morning, she then researched what trains were going to be affected, alerted us, and then offered to drive us to the train station. Now that’s what you call a Superhost….
Tavira to Lagos
AM. Last day in Tavira today. We are going to join a local history teacher to go for a historical walk through Tavira. We found the ruins today that are being excavated near the castle that are dated at 900 BC. These ruins show that Tavira was one of the first Phoenician settlements on the…
Obrigada Tavira
Obrigada means thank you in Portuguese if you are a woman – men say Obrigado . We hear it often and try to say it many times in a day. We have found the Portuguese people to be welcoming, friendly, kind and proud of their country and it’s bounties. And bounties there are many. We…