Blogs from Northern, Portugal, Europe - page 16

We picked up our good friends Randy and Nancy who happen to be staying two blocks away (what a great coincidence) using our rental car and drove to Guimaraes. it took us about 45 minutes to drive to the castle. There are actually two castles on the property a newer one that is furnished and a older one that is ruins, there is a small fee to visit the furnished castle. The castle was built for the first king of Portugal. I enjoyed the castles, I always enjoy furnished castles because you see old furniture, art and tapestries. We skipped visiting the town of Guimaraes because we had other stops but it is an Unesco Works site and if you have time is worth a visit. Off to Bragga only 20 minutes away to visit the ... read more

et nous voici ! Nous y venons grâce à Claudine... Merci de nous faire faire cette belle route ! Nous ne venons pas pour la première fois au Portugal... Nous avions l'habitude d'explorer le sud, donc l'Algarve du temps où nous venions régulièrement en Andalousie. Nous avons aussi poussé une pointe plus au Nord et même tout au Nord... Mais cette fois, nous venons connaître un nouveau coin qui est celui de Crato, où nous nous retrouvons en famille avec Claudine et Luis. Ce ne sera pas pour les photos d'aujourd'hui car avant d'arriver chez eux il nous a fallu faire quelques kilomètres... Notre programme change parfois selon la météo... nous avons retrouvé le grand soleil, nous essayons de le conserver ! Nous descendons tout de même plus au Sud, Crato se trouvant presque au milieu ... read more

Thursday - Day 2 Quinta Nova Winery Hotel - Douro Valley, Portugal We arrived here yesterday afternoon from Coimbra after a beautiful drive through central Portugal. Stunning scenery, and it wasn't even totally sunny. The landforms remind me of Northern California, with lots of eucalyptus trees (imported from Australia that are harvested for paper) growing amid conifers of coastal cypress. The housing stock looks quite substantial and well taken care of. We went through only 2 or 3 villages, but there are a lot of folks living on the land in spacious housing areas. We stopped once on the 3 hour trip at a large Pronto station which had one person working it. It was huge though, with a restaurant attached. The roads were in great shape. Our driver Louis explained that the EU Stimulus Money ... read more

We are pleased to say we did wake up in the morning and in fact awoke about 6 other times in the night as we tossed and turned, coughed and spluttered. There is a Spaniard in Santiago who must be feeling red hot pins through his eyes about now! We shall have to cancel today as neither of us is capable of getting out and about today. Anyway at least the weather would be holding us back if it wasn’t for this flu virus we are both in the grips of. There was an almighty thunderstorm blow in off the sea around daybreak preceded by short bouts of hail. After over 12 hours in bed we thought that a nice warm shower might help revive the soul at least. After that we had a very light ... read more

When one gets struck down by a flu virus it is natural to try and remember where and who you might have been with to catch something so awful. Gretchen is putting it down to the guy who hoicked (NZ meaning) on numerous occasions outside our apartment in Santiago. Goodness knows what we walked through each time we walked down the narrow little alleyway when we were going out. Gretchen’s case of the flu has become full blown with the chills and hot flushes, chesty cough and aching joints and there is no way she is going anywhere today. For me it has only given me a sore throat and in myself I feel OK. The weather anyway is awful this morning with showers driving in off the sea and a chilly wind. As I got ... read more