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Published: October 12th 2018
Tiles Galore
Portugal is renown for its tiles. On houses on Buildings and these at Sao Bento Station, Porto where every wall has these wonderful tiles telling the story of historical scenes from the 12th through to to 15th centuries depicting battles, coronations and meetings of KingsAfter finishing biking in Italy we were on our way to Portugal. The original idea was that we would continue our bike ride along the coast of Portugal and some of the valleys. After we had a bit of a discussion, we decided that it may be a bit of a handful for us, even with E bikes so, we opted to fly into Lisbon, transfer to a flight to take us to Porto and stay in Porto for 3 nights so we could enjoy looking around this city that is located on the banks of the river Douro. As mentioned at the end of my last blog Di's bag didn't arrive at Porto so after a couple of hours waiting we finally got to our hotel at about 3am. Not a great start to our visit to Portugal. The hotel Teatro had a Hollywood theme running through it and proved to be an interesting place. The staff were fantastic in supporting Di in her quest for her bag and finally after 24 hours Di got a phone call from the desk to say that her bag was on its way. Great.
We spent 4 hours with a guide, Anna,
Porto.
A scenic city on the banks of the Doruo River. Many houses have tiles on their facade. walking the streets and being shown the sites, both historic and new and learning a lot. As we had 2 full days there we did get to see a good portion of this city with the river being the major attraction.
After 3 sleeps we had a lazy morning and then got the train for a 4 hour trip up the river Douro to the town of Pinhao which is very much in the centre of the Alto Douro wine growing region. Settling into the LBV House Hotel, we settled on the patio for a wine and beer and looked at the wonderful views across the river and the valley. An idyllic spot that it was hard to drag ourselves away from but with a need for our dinner we walked down into the town to a restaurant for our evening meal and a few wines. Wonderful big meal and good inexpensive wine. Also, suprised to find 2 other couples from NZ enjoying a meal so a bit of chatter between us. With full tum's we walked back up the hill which was extremely steep with steps and cobbled roads so by the time we got back to our
Steeps and Alleyways.
Very steep but fascinating when walking around. beds we had worn our meals off. On our full day here Di, Viv, Carlie and I spent the morning walking the streets and taking in the sights and also taking a 2 hour boat trip up the Douro. Lorraine and Ian decided to do a walk up into the hills amongst the vines and into a couple of small villages way up high. I think our option was the least strenuous. On the way back to the hotel we stopped at a small bar/ restaurant for a snack and beer plus a bit of wine tasting. Walking in we were greeted by a customer asking how we were and where we were from. Great joy at learning we were from NZ and he and his friend told us they had been just talking to the lady who was the host, about NZ, as she had just arrived back from there a few weeks prior. He was from Italy and was walking the part of the Camino that goes from Portugal to Spain. They were very well equiped and we talked for sometime about the Camino, the equipment that you need and how he had been doing these walks for
a few years. A very Interesting guy. The snack, beer and wine tasting was made all the better by having good conversation, with him and the host, who talked about where she had been in NZ, primarily Christchurch were she was working, but also Wellington and the other areas she had visited. An interesting lady. That afternoon we spent at our hotel in the pool, soaking up the sun and the magic views. Good to have a relaxing time.
Next day we boarded a river cruiser for the journey back to Porto. This was a 6 to 7 hour cruise down the river Douro, through the valley of vineyards and olive trees. It really is an amazing valley with great scenery. The boat was packed with people and we sat on the deck and watched everyone enjoying themselves. I think that some of the people do the trip on a regular basis and so they entertain themselves by all singing and dancing. There was full cooked lunch served along with wine. Although very very hot sitting out on deck for the duration of the cruise, it was very entertaining and interesting with vista's and people watching. Once back in
Grapes Galore in Pinhao.
Truck loads going passed all the time. Yes, we are in wine country. Porto we made our way with some difficulty, due to a taxi strike, to the hotel Dom Henrique. Pleased to get there? You bet. Sit down have a beer or two and relax. The girls all had their new favourite drink, which they were introduced to at a restaurant in Pinhao. A brandy balloon filled completely with ice then half the glass filled with White Port. Add a slice of lemon and some basil if wanted, then top up with tonic water. Very refreshing and highly delightful. A nice meal to finish our stay in Porto.
Picking up a nice people mover in Porto we drove out of the town and started our tour of Portugal between Porto and Lisbon. Staying 3 nights in Obidos , 1 night in Sintra, then 3 nights in Lisbon. The aim was to follow the coast with some detours, driving out from our accommodation, visiting places of interest along the way. Once again I was pleased to be beside the seaside and we made numerous stops along the way to view towns and villages where a lot of the focus was on surf. Some of the beaches were spectacular and there seemed to
A Refreshing View.
Our patio at our Hotel in Pinhao. be surfers every where. I know when Chris was living in London he used to go to Portugal for the surfing and I can understand why. Great coastline with some quite beaches but on most, the surf just kept on coming.
Obidos is a walled town with lots of history but great to just walk around, especially the wall. You can walk almost the entire town on top of the wall and parapets. Very high up in lots of places, with no rails or safety walls, so I discovered that, although I never used to have to much trouble with heights, I certainly have a problem now. There is no way that I could convince myself that a walkway on top of a wall that is 50, 60, 70 or more ft high in some places and the walkway is less than a mtr wide and if I stumble, down I go, No, I couldn't do it. Clinging to the parapets to take some photos, hugging the wall and telling other people not to pass me, I soon retreated to the lower levels. The others didn't seem to have to much trouble although they did look a bit nervous
Hotel LBV House in Pinhao.
Great patio overlooking the Douro River and a magic view of the vineyards across the valley. Very relaxing. on occasion. This is a great place to visit and our hotel was very quaint and the patio where we spent the evenings with pre dinner drinks was fantastic with great views of the area surrounding us. Another high light was going to Fatima, famous for the sighting of Mary by the three child shepherds in 1917. The town has grown and is very much a tourist/ pilgrims town but still well worth the visit. The cathedral is so impressive and the whole story and what goes on there is a must to visit. We meet up with Viv and Charlies friend, Chris from London, and he stayed and toured with us for 3 days. Good to catch up as we had meet him when boating down the Thames in England in a few years back.
We were only in Sintra for one night but we managed to get a lot in. Jumping on a sightseeing bus does help when time is limited. Ideally I think you should be there for 2 to 3 days as there are a lot of things to see and the landscape with the woodlands is lovely. I would walk a lot of it
between the attractions. We stayed in the Hotel . Then onto Lisbon, sightseeing on the way
We arrived in Lisbon and amid the hurly burly of the traffic we finally got into our apartment where all 3 couples spent the last 3 days of our holiday. We returned the people mover with relief in the city, but it was exactly what we needed during the previous 7 days. Viv did 99% of the driving and handled it amazingly well, as driving in built up areas on the right hand side of the road with strange street signs etc is certainly a stress inducing scenario. Charlie was the navigator as always and he gets us to where we need to be. I find that when I'm driving with him, which I have done on a number of occasions overseas, I am really at ease. For the next few days we explored Lisbon and found that, like all that we had seen of Portugal, it was a great place to visit. People were nice the food and wine was great and the history, of course is amazing. We were also blessed with amazing weather during our time here in Portugal, very
Seeking Shade.
An amazing river valley with great vistas. little wind, sunshine every day, which makes it so much easier when going from place to place. Lots of places to eat, good coffee, great beer and wine and of course the amazing new drink, White Port. Di and I flew to Heathrow where Stephanie met us, took us to her and Robins house where Robin had dinner ready and we all caught up on the news and gossip. Next morning we went exploring with them, then a neat luncheon a 15th Century Coach Inn, The Bell Inn, Horndon- On- The -Hill and finally they dropped us of at Heathrow for our flight out to NZ. Home again, Home again. What a wonderful feeling after being away for 3 months. Where did that time go.
Arrived back into NZ to sunshine and a not to cool temperature. Butch and Marriane meet us at the airport, delivered us home and, there you go, thats it.Always nice to be home but still a bit nostalgic about the trip. Pip/Rod
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