Blogs from Central, Portugal, Europe - page 2

I learn so much from Karen at Winespeed. Here are two very interesting facts. Can you believe it costs $90 to pick a ton of wine grapes in the San Joaquin Valley? Minimum cost is $90 to hand harvest one ton of wine grapes in the Central Valley of California. According to a recent study conducted by the University of California at Davis, 5 to 6 agricultural workers are needed to pick one ton of grapes an hour in that large flat agricultural region. The average total cost for picking a 7-ton vineyard would be between $560 to $700 per acre. In contrast, machine harvesting would cost between $275 to $350 per acre. The cost of harvesting elsewhere in California is much higher than in the Central Valley.Sweet 16Sixteen is ... read more

Sunday, Oct 6 Left Lisbon and took the coast road heading to Setubal. We had lunch at a roadside diner that served a famous pork sandwich. My iced tea was way more than the beer and wine that were only 1 Euro each. Good food and good gelato. We also stopped at a famous "Best Mediterranean Tree" for 3 years running. Don't laugh, there is a committee that goes around finding the best tree. It was pretty cool. By late afternoon we arrived at our hotel which looked great from the outside and the inside. All cool tones, light wood and white walls and billed as minimalist. I didn't appreciate this much or our guide's long talk about where, when how to meet etc as I really had to get to the room and use the ... read more

Bonjour à tous, C'est la première journée, où j'ai vraiment eu chaud. La voiture indiquait 38° en milieu d'après-midi, et sur l'immense esplanade en béton de Fatima, on devait pouvoir facilement en rajouter 10. Alors que cette nuit en bord de mer seulement 16. Je ne sais pas comment les gens faisaient hier au soir, pour manger en terrasse, avec en plus un vent frais assez soutenu. Ce matin la mer est toute brumeuse, c'est une déception pour ma visite de Nazaré. Pour me rendre à Nazaré, j'ai 50 km de petites routes, je vais traverser un nombre incalculable de villages, tous les 3 à 5 km le gps me fait changer de route. Je passe pratiquement mon temps les yeux rivés sur l'écran à suivre les indications. Je ne perds pas grand chose au niveau ... read more

How quickly the busy days rush by! We've been travelling in Portugal for a week, and now there are only a few days left on this trip. Porto is a lovely, hilly city; built on both sides of the equally lovely Douro River. On our first evening here we took a short river cruise, enjoying, of course, a glass of port as we travelled. I always thought I did not like port as it is too sweet, but after trying it a few times, with one tasting at the Ferreira Port Cellar (reputedly one of the most beautiful), I find that I can enjoy a good tawny or ruby or white, branco, as the Portuguese call it. We learn so many interesting things when we travel! One morning we had time to explore on our own; ... read more

Tag 17 – Coimbras Gärten & Universität Am nächsten Morgen schliefen wir erst mal aus. Dann liefen wir zur Markthalle Mercado do Pedro, um etwas fürs Frühstück zu finden. Die Markthalle war recht ausgestorben, nur etwa ein Viertel der Stände war belegt. Wir hatten jedoch von unten eine Paderia im oberen Geschoss entdeckt. Hoffentlich war die auch geöffnet. Und wir hatten Glück – da war noch viel Auswahl an vielen leckeren Backwaren, und die ältere Verkäuferin war sehr herzlich. Wir kauften vier verschiedene Pastelerias – die waren hier wirklich günstig – und frühstückten dann im Jardim de Sereira. Anschließend gingen wir in den naheliegenden Jardim Botânico, der 1772 unter anderem für die Heilpflanzenforschung der Universidade de Coimbra eröffnet wurde. Heute konnten wir dort einige beschilderte Bäume, einen Bambushain sowie zwei Gewächshäuser sehen, die leider nicht zu ... read more