Settling in and Looking back

 Home for 3 days now and our sleep is still off.  Kirk was up early one day, me the next and now me again.  Although I do love being up before the sun.  The stars are kick ass right now. 

So looking back at our trip there’s so much to digest, relive and decided what was best for our next trip. The people were just amazing.  Relaxed, kind, open and very interesting.  Barely any in your face consumerism.  We saw 2 freaks with so much filler it was hilarious but that was it.  2 girls with fake eyelashes. If we saw fancy bags it was on an American. 

The food was TO DIE FOR.  I was most sad to leave b/c of this.  While I don’t really like to cook I discovered I do love to eat extremely delicious, simple, fresh food - mostly fish.  It is hard to describe the wine and how accessible, lovely and every bit as delicious as the wine we get in the states, maybe even more so.  And the price, while obviously commiserate with the living wage there, is still mind blowing.  And we even like port!  Tasting what their ‘real’ port is was eye opening.  Finding out they keep the good stuff for themselves is awesome.  

The sheer amount of roundabouts is hilarious but it does keep traffic moving nicely.  And traffic outside of the cities is very mild.  

The hotels and bnb’s we stayed at were, for the most part, phenomenal. We had one weird innkeeper but the place was great and the last hotel was weird but it was basically for 2 nights, 36 hours so it was fine. The toilets were a bit hinky.  You can’t always flush tp. Old places, old systems.  

As I sit here typing, eating my TJ’s vanilla scone I am reminiscing about the croissants in the morning with fresh fruit, eggs that are a deep yellow and butter I want to eat chunks of all by itself.  And why oh why is Heinz ketchup so much better there?  Shameful.

The not so great.  The instagrammers have ruined things.  Well maybe not ruined exactly but we found the hot spots crowded in the cities with people dressed up to photograph themselves.  Hundreds of sites talk about being at certain spots for sunsets and it was insane.  We decided we get to see amazing ones here so we avoided the crowds and would go off the beaten path to a bar or just exploring.  I thought I would like Porto more than Lisbon but Porto’s main drag is like Venice Beach.  Expensive places, tourist shops, lots of people doing the Instagram things.  We can’t imagine the crowds in the summer in the busy main towns.  It wasn’t crazy busy most places, but busy enough that doubling it would be maddening.  

The smoking.  What the fuck people.  

Kirk was a champ driving all 1100 miles.  Getting to see the coutryside and places almost no one goes for days at a time was divine.  Douro Valley for 4 days didn’t seem like enough.  It’s beautiful and the wine is really wonderful.  As are the people who make it. Having the luxury of time to rest and relax and be ok with plans being changed or canceled made a huge difference.  I am sad we missed the Peneda-Geres National Park.  I would have take a day away from each Lisbon, Porto and the Algarve and gone there for 2-3 days.

I can see why people would want to live there b/c it is inexpensive compared to here.  It has a slower, mindful pace and the food will change lives for sure.  Our food system here is fucked up.  Everything is organic naturally.  Ok, enough of that b/c it makes me so mad.  I for one can’t imagine living there full time. And while I’d like to go back I think i would concentrate on the Douro Valley.  We like our lives here in Cali and while the weather and a lot of the country is very much like here, it just isn’t a place we could live. Again, I think Instagram has made Portugal up to be some magical place that cures all your woes. 

Our drinking streak has come to and end

 Being home sounds so wonderful until the house is a mess!  I was soooo tired and cranky last night I could not fathom writing the last part of our trip.  Everything was testing my patience, including the child size fur balls lurking in every corner.  I’m starting to think Bodie wasn’t completely honest about how clean he left his apartment.  Hmmm.  On a positive note our flight was easy.  All the Lisbon internet shit was mostly right but we had fast track and were through in about 25 minutes with just a brief stop at security b/c they had to take apart my luggage b/c I took a very cool 🙄 large rock the size of a baseball and it flagged the machines.  After all the lovely lovely people of Lisbon the bag check lady was a bit of a turd.  She didn’t think it was funny like I did but to be fare the other people behind waiting to have their bags double searched weren’t amused either.  

We had about 2 hours to be in the lounge once we got all the way through then off to the very small, crowded boarding area where they checked our passports again and then put us in a smaller area. And this is where we saw a woman from Ross who lives off Kanan and is also retired. So our last moments in Portugal we saw someone we knew. Boarded a bus to the plane (apparently Lisbon is now too busy or small to deal with all the planes at a gate) got on and off we went.  Uneventful but long 12.5 hour flight.  We both slept about 2 hours which wasn’t enough. The food was ok but not enough.  I needed more snacks.  I am the snack queen. Thankfully I had some in my pack as well as some candy.  And for the last meal they stopped serving wine.  Boooo.  

Staying awake on the drive home was hard but marveling at the traffic - that we are normally so used to, but came to forget for a minute! - we arrived to be greeted by Bodie and the dogs. A weird, but loving crash back into reality.  

And here I sit on the couch with my coffee and iPad as if we were never there.  I woke up at 2:30, 4:30 and got up at 5:30.  I feel pretty good.  Kirk was up at 4:30.  

And our drinking every day for 26 days has come to an end.  We joke it will be hard to not have a bottle of wine at lunch but then again we aren’t having fresh fish, bread and cheese or black pork for lunch that we haven’t cooked in a charming alley framed by old buildings, hilarious Muzak, and people marveling we’re from Cali.  

 

Tchau Portugal

 Last day.  We slept in and then had breakfast here at our weird hotel. Headed out to walk to our last castle, Sao San Filipe. Wandered thru the fresh market they have next to us on the way So much fish! Octopus, shrimp and fish after fish, clams, mussels. AND THE CHEESE!  OMG THE CHEESE!!  Insane and gorgeous. The walk wasn’t as taxing as many of our walks but it was nice as we wandered through town with people having coffee, espresso, some having cigarettes and beer.  Lots of place in the parks and streets.  So the castle is a huge star shaped castle above the inlet here. Started in 1598 i believe. This one is much more intact with a cute chapel and also a lot of tile work.  Wandered around, had some beer and wine at the cafe and enjoyed the view.  Came back thru town and the center, grabbed some lunch and more wine lol and then some ice cream.  I had mint and it was actually real mint.  I wash shocked at first but it was great.  Kirk had banana and it tasted like banana bread - real bananas! Came back to get some water and chill and then headed back out to the other side of town and an old church. It had the same feel as a church we saw in Porto.  

Decided to stop for some wine and ended up chatting with some expats - one from NY and one from Canada.  The one from NY, Larry I believe, moved her to retire 5 years ago and the other guy has been here about 10 years, down from originally Lisbon.  They play paddle.  Apparently it’s growing a lot here.  

Back to the hotel to change for dinner.  Went to a small place just up the street and had our last fabulous meal.  We had a vegan tartar of minced tomato and black olives on light toast. So good!  Then fried cuttle fish where the batter had the ink in it!.  Ugly but yummy.  Then Kirk had his last black pork which was cooked to perfection with mushrooms and i had a delicious fish in a terrible fishy porridge. It  was too bad!  The fish was great.

Back in the room and packed up.  Ready for our 5:30am car.  OMG. Kirk and I talked at dinner about being ready but not.  We miss the dogs and I miss my friends but it’s nice to have people take care of us and not cook or clean!  

Bye Bye Beach

 Up a bit early for us.  Seriously we’ve been sleeping in and enjoying the slow get up and not go fast pace.  Made it to a cute little breakfast place, Claire’s, that lost its ability to cook the other day so it had simple fare like avocado toast with tomatoes and/or scrambled eggs and some pastries.  Plus their cappuccino was the best we’ve had.  And the tomatoes were in a delicious olive oil.  And both Kirk and I just love the eggs here.  Not sure if they are just better than ours or cooked different.  They seem a deeper yellow too.  

We had to check out by 10 which was the earliest check out we’ve had.  Most are noon due to breakfast being served from 8:30-11.  Well we did it and were on the road by 10:20 even after walking to breakfast, but not before Kirk had to squeeze out of the parking lot.  These people park wildly.  

We had a long journey b/c we decided to just power thru and head to Almeda to drop the car which was about 30 minutes north of Setubal, across from Lisbon.  Kirk was just done driving our weird car and I don’t blame him.  I spotted a castle on a hill in the distance and Kirk commented “I did not intellectualize the amount of castles around!”  It’s true.  Then we started talking about the amount of bad or missing information when planning this trip and just being here - from trying to get a Bolt at the Lisbon airport (nightmare there is a zillion people doing the same thing in small area, the almost train debacle, the lack of signs and trail markers, directions (just go down the hill and pointing down a hill that has 4 small alley ways you can pick from), do you flush tp or not? And it’s just a ‘10 minute detour’ 55 minutes later. Oh and I can’t forget “our credit machine is broken, we need cash”.  

Well 2.5 hours later we find the Sixt drop off in the back alley of an Audi dealership.  Weird but whatever and roll up about 1pm and it’s dark.  Closed for lunch until 2pm with no key drop off.  Yep, been here a month and this never crossed our mind. I think we are just tired!  2pm came and the employee did a cavity search of the car.  Jeezy creezy.  Called a bolt and as soon as that arrived a huge truck hauling cars pulled in to block our ride!  Well we finally got in and had a super interesting gent from Pakistan.  Lawyer and highly educated and what I assume was/is a rich family but couldn’t stand all the corruption there.  Lived in the US for a bit, has his visa, learned English, moved back to Pakistan and then moved to Portugal and is waiting for his citizenship and they just changed it from 5 to 10 years.  He is on year 3 and plans to wait it out and take some classes.  But he was very talkative and not a listener so we just nodded and commented rarely.  Similar to our driver to Sintra.  Arrived in Setubal at about 3 and checked in our hotel.  I’m sad about this one.  I wanted to end on a high note but it’s the least nice of all of them. I had high hopes but its weird and feels a bit cheap.  Oh well!  Mostly amazing places and this isn’t the worst. 

Had some meh food and good wine.  Trying not to be a whiner but I am doing it. Walked around and came back to the hotel and just got in bed and stayed.  No dinner.  Tomorrow we will hit the last castle, have some good food and get ready to head to the airport Sunday morning.  

Off to Silves

 Silves was not on my radar until the couple from Brighton we met at the Napalese restaurant told us it was a quaint little town for a half day. I did, however, have a winery on the list for the day and it was on our route home so it all worked out.  

I did overestimate the time we would spend at each location I had planned.  I think Kirk and I just move quickly and don’t do a lot of the same things tourists do or shop a lot.  Or at all.  I have not been in one tourist shop.  I did step into the entry of one to look at a purse/bag but it was $26 euro and while that is not expensive it was a cloth bag that felt like it should be $10.  It was cute though!  But I definitely don’t need another bag.  lol.  

So Silves. How can 2 way roads be so tiny?  We had to pull over for a bicycle!  A bicycle!!!  WTF. Anyway, Silves.- It had a really spectacular, large castle. But first we had to find parking.  I can’t imagine what it’s like when it is busy b/c we first went to the 3.8 star parking lot (how does a parking lot get 3.8 stars?  is there a turf war?), but it was full so we headed back down the hill to Aldi’s and parked by there and walked up. They have done a bit of excavating and it is just mind blowing to see the layers of life over 1000+ years.  You have to wonder what is even below that.  While walking around the top edge of the castle, Kirk and I were on the outside and some asshole said “that is natural selection” meaning Kirk and I walking on the edge but I’m positive our balance has nothing to do with natural selection so who’s the dumbass?  Yep, him.  

Then we went to the museum which was “down the street” as everyone we asked kept saying but the streets are like serpentine’s and nothing is direct. SIGNING SUCKS!!  It was kind of funny to see everyone on their phones pointing and walking around looking for the same thing. Here they had on display hundreds of tools, bowls/pottery, needles, weapons, rocks and even stone replicas of tombs.  It was really beautiful.  From many different periods from 1000-1600. And also the well where it was so long ago we could look into.  Some Menhir stones as well (think Henge’s).  Lots of writings on stones.  Just amazing to see.  

Went to a Mediterranean restaurant for lunch and had 5star humus, kabobs, cuscous, some kind of chicken stew and wine.  It was delicious!  So happy.  But still the Muzak is so weird.  Good songs sung by weir people in different cadences.  Was going to putz in and out of shops here but decided to head to a winery.  Quinta do Frances.  Cute little place. It was $2.80 euro for each glass of wine.  We each had 3 glasses to taste.  Quite nice.  A bottle of really great white was $11.00.  Insane.  There were about a dozen people when we arrived and then 2 more large groups showed up as well as some couples and when we were leaving another large group was starting a tour.  Seemed to be a popular place.  They also had charcuterie if we wanted it.  A lot of the wineries have that here.  It’s a nice thing to do for an easy lunch.

Back to the condo and a quick dip in the ice pool.  Lol still 72 degrees.  Packed up a bit and are relaxing before dinner up the street.  We leave for Setubal tomorrow for 2 days.  Leave on Sunday for home.  

Dinner was good.  More shrimp for me and we both had a cold octopus salad with peppers and onions  Soooo good! Sat next to 3 guys here golfing. They come twice a year from London and are all in or close to 70.  One guy was a former banker, another also a banker turned contractor and a third is a business guy who is partners in a restaurant with his ex in London.  It’s a floating Chinese restaurant. Kirked looked it up and it has 3.7 stars to 4.1.  Hmmm  He did claim all the famous people go there like Nicole Kidman and famous musicians.  They were interesting and funny and we chatted for a long while.  

Back at the condo and I think just ready to be done.  We are both quite tired but Kirk thinks it could be this place.  Not sure. We do have a dehumidifier running in our room. I think it’s just damp by the ocean but Kirk thinks mold.  Who knows but I think traveling can be tiring even when it’s enlightening, fun and eye opening.  And I think Kirk is worried about Lulu, and the wind at the house that could lead to fire.  Will be interesting to download on this trip and see what we can do the same or differently.  Our hotels/bnbs etc have really been great along with the food.  More later.  On to Setubal tomorrow after breakfast. We’ve decided to just head straight there vs doing more sightseeing.  We have to drop the car about 30 minutes from our hotel.  Kirk hates the car.  It is quite weird and driving in unknown places is stressful. But Kirk does have the round about down!  They are super efficient. The only red lights we have seen have been in small towns at weird pedestrian crossings. Weird as in no one is crossing when the light turns red.

Good night. 

Pumpkin spice what?

 I keep getting pumpkin spice, Halloween, fall sweaters and cozy nights on my feed.  I can’t even pretend to feel sweater weather!  It feels really foreign.  I know it’s incredibly hot back home with fire danger and I’m super concerned but I do feel quite removed from that life right now.  I miss it but it feels foreign to think even about it when I’m overlooking the marina with sunshine sparkling off the water and all the boats lounging there.

Oh and I even got a ‘how to decorate your bedroom for Christmas’ a few minutes ago. Ugh

Beach sausage! Get your beach sausage!

 Enjoying the sunshine and view from our living room/deck.  Kirk had a hair appt this morning and it looks good!  $12 Euro and he gave him a $20 and we needed the change!  LOL Then we went to breakfast and didn’t have enough cash so off to the atm.  Bagel sandwiches.  Mine was good, maybe just ok. Kirk had a meat lovers or something like that w 3 meats. Off to the beach.

There is a board walk type of walking path that is quite long around Alvor.  We have to go left to go right on the path towards the entrance to the marina and green and white small lighthouses that flank the entrance.  It’s pretty warm today so we took our towels thinking we will sit on the beach once we get there. Well it was pretty windy and the surf is gnarly and wild so we walked down the beach after we left the boardwalk and stopped in a beachside restaurant, Restinga.  At first we were just going to have some drinks but after 2 drinks we decided it was a perfect spot to stay and have food. Ordered some shrimp, mozzarella and octopus and enjoyed a bit of time in the breeze and beautiful view. A gorgeous German family sat near us as well as what looked like 2 crack heads on the other side. Lol

Headed back down the beach and heard some bells which sounded like a circus and a guy had a cart of what I originally assumed was ice cream but the pictures looked like sausage sandwiches.  This cracked us up and we kept saying “get your beach sausage!”  Maybe it was the drinks…:). headed back to our condo and got in the chilly pool to cool off . It’s 72 degrees and I don’t like it!  But I finally got in up to my boobs while Kirk just jumps in.  Speaking of boobs.  It’s ok to go topless here on this beach.  And it’s always the old ladies.  Kirk said “not all boobies are good boobies!”.  

Now having some wine on the balcony overlooking the bay.  Life is good.

And we continued with the wine and decided to just grab smash burgers up the street.  Kirk said while he loved the burgers he felt he was cheating on Portuguese food!  But they were quite good and it was mostly all families there. This condo is such a good location with a lot of top restaurants.  I will miss this view.  It’s so calm and beautiful.  

Poor Lulu

 Woke up to a text from Bodie that he couldn’t reach us.  Fuck.  Well between the time Harrison left at 3pm and Bodie got home Lulu had shredded her tshirt and was bleeding. He thought she pulled out her stitches.  Off to the emergency vet before midnight which is 8am here.  And then the call wouldn’t go thru.  He was super irritated and upset.  He had to call off work, his first time.  He got her bandaged up and back home and took her to her normal vet this morning (cali time).  Good news is her stitches held.  She is now in the cone of shame forever and on some sleepy time meds until the weekend.  Hoping Harrison can be with them all day for the next 3 days or we have to dial for babysitters.  Kirk feels so bad and it’s hard being this far away.  It was a rough morning for all of us worrying.  

Nothing we can do until later afternoon for us so we decided to plow ahead and do another long walk, like idiots.  Off to Lagos, west.  Yesterday was east.  Another cliff trail but this one is more meandering. Tried to find parking but got a little lost b/c our Google Maps just stopped working. Parked and rebooted our phones and found we were only a little ways away from a good lot across the channel from where we were to start.  

Waded our way thru the tour kiosks and souvenir places that had all the same things as every other Portugal shop - cork purses, Moomoo’s, magnets, olive plates and sarongs.  All.  The.  Same. And realized Lagos is super touristy. Everyone and I mean everyone and the internet said Portugal is slow and “no crowds” mid to late October and it’s a LIE.  And Lagos is the busiest and most populated of the Algarve. Supposed to have a jumping night life. 

For the first part of the walk it was very busy and it was pretty hot.  Great views, people kayaking and boats thru the channel coming and going from tours.  We walked, viewed, walked, viewed. It was stunning.  The sea and the cliffs. Made it out to Farol.  It was not as breezy and we were very hot and needed to stop for water.  Sat at a small bar near another lighthouse for some iced tea and beer plus nice cold water.  Decided to cut thru town on our way back vs going the long way back along the cliffs.  Came to the center of town and it started to feel like old Portugal with narrow streets and white buildings that gave way to a street of restaurants and shops.  And here is where I had my lunch moment:  ordered ‘homemade black pig sandwich’.  And I got a hotdog on a baguette!  While it was quite good I was quite disappointed b/c Kirk ordered black pig with beans and rice on a platter and got small bites of what looked like freshly cooked pork and it was delicious!  This reminded us of Kirks hot dog pizza in Tuscany!  So funny!!!

So the flies are AGGRESSIVE!  And they have no fans anywhere.  No in the hotel rooms, bars, bnb’s!  It would keep the flies away, help with air con.  We don’t know why. We did have a fan next to us at dinner last night and Kirk turned it on b/c the smoke from the people outside was coming in.  So many smokers!  And yes, a lot of vaping too.  

And so very little billboards, promos and shitty signs.  It’s quite nice.  Feels very underconsumption here. It’s been nice. 

So the other weird thing we’ve noticed in our bnb’s and this apartment is they don’t have cleaning products or things like sugar or salt. You know how people leave stuff they don’t use?  And a noticeable lack of instructions about things or places.  I can’t decide if I like the simplicity of that or am annoyed sometimes!

And then dinner. We went to an oyster place Ostaria d Alvor.  It was so good!  Kirk did have oysters, grilled and soup plus we had another delicious octopus salad, fried shrimp and giant grilled shrimp.  YUM.  Plus a lovely bottle of local white that was like a Sav Blanc but not green apple like a NZ one. 

The opposite of sober

 Well day 21 of drinking every day at lunch and dinner and maybe a happy hour beverage as well.  It’s a weird thing but we are on vacation! And never drunk.  Okay, one time I couldn’t count money and one time Kirk thought he was in a Formula one race in Douro but that’s it.  

We decided today would be a moving day. We knew we’d be doing a lot of exploring down here so it was expected. But slow to get going.  Been waking up around 8 or 8:30 almost every day since we arrived but breakfast was always at the hotel or bnb but here we have an apartment and needed to fend for ourselves!  It was hard to find a place just for coffee.  Kirk walked around for about 30 minutes and nothing was open. They either open late or are closed Monday.  There is no 5am Starbucks or Dunkin’ etc.  Mornings are quiet and things just start later, even schools.  It’s really wonderful and the total opposite of home.  You can feel the slower, calm and lovely pace of life here.  No rushing food, days, driving.  

Ended up having a lovely breakfast at a small bakery up the street from us.  Croissant sandwiches, cappuccino and pastel da nata.  Grabbed a 1.5 liter of water for 80cents Euro. Wow. Then we headed out to Seven Hanging Valleys Trail about 30 minutes away in Lagoa.  It’s an out and back thing or you can uber back to your car.  We found a parking lot but so did everyone else and their friends.  It’s so freaking busy there.  Our German friend was right “A lot of Germans in Algarve.” Again. The Benigal caves are here as well and super popular with kayaks, boats etc.  Tourapaloozas.  We wound our way around and around and saw a lot of posts along the road so people couldn’t park which is unlike so much of Portugal that we’ve seen b/c parking has been easier than we thought in most cases.  And it’s free almost everywhere in the small towns at least.  We didn’t have a car in Lisbon and Porto.  We found a pay lot and Kirk said “how much” and the guy said “First, sir, bom dia”.  It was cute and mostly indicative of what we have encountered. So $5 Euro which we can redeem at the bar and restaurant close by.  

So we were off and it was really quite the view on top of the cliffs overlooking the turquoise water.  Lots of boats and a pirate ship.  They seemed to be having fun with pretend cannons shooting at other boats and cheering. I waved of course b/c I’m a dork.  It was quite deserty in some spots and steep drops down the cliffs. Blow holes, small beaches that can’t be reached by walking. We found quite a few shells embedded in the cliffs, which is amazing. It was warm but the breeze made a huge difference.  Passed a still-working lighthouse. Really just a stunning view all around.  At the end we found a bar and had some drinks, fried cuttlefish,  grilled shrimp and a burrata salad. And then we turned around and went back again!  Quite a hike, not in elevation but rugged terrain and some steep steps.  I was pretty tired at the end and my feet were getting sore.  I think I’m just not resting enough trying to do everything.  

Made it home and had to go drive around the block which is actually about 8 minutes b/c we missed our parking spot and everything is one way and alleys.  Annoying.  So jumped in the teeny pool to cool off. Kirk went all in and I just soaked my knees and had some wine. Went to a pub called Lyric for dinner.  It was super casual and our waiter was from Argentina. Sweet kid who we could barely understand but he was very animated and loved talking to us from California.  We ordered chicken wings, seafood chowder (not as good as Scotland or Ireland).  The wings were small but delicious.  I’m sure not pumped up with hormones. And then I had a burger b/c the couple beside us got the last stew!  Damn. But the burger was sooooo good!  And I had the house red and it was also damn good.  The walls were covered with pictures of famous singers and poets.  So cool.  We walked home and I dropped into bed at 9:30 and got up at 8.  

Let me tell you a secret

 In many cases buying wine here in Portugal and then shipping it to the US would be significantly cheaper than buying similar, if not lesser quality or tasting, wine in the US.  We’re talking $10 - $12 for 5 star wine - to us at least.  

So we left our cute bnb in Evora.  But first I have to continue to say the the internet has been wrong a lot about times and places.  You absolutely do not need more than a half day in Evora. And so many places in fact.  While we have truly been enjoying our slower pace driving north to south and especially seeing so much of the coutryside most visitors don’t, we may have been able to do this a different way.  That being said we have truly loved it and having the time and slower pace really changes perspective when things go wrong.  Like today.  Well they didn’t go wrong per se but I wanted to go to a winery that did wine in Amphoras - terra cotta pots.  I found one that was highly rated and we headed that way and found the town.  Well it gave me the heeby jeebies and nothing was open. Lots of locals having a beer at a small restaurant and kids gathered together in the small roads/alley ways.  Nothing in particular that we haven’t seen many place but I just didn’t want to stay.  We finally made our way out b/c I wanted to go and we found another winery down the road that had lunch as well. Funny thing is I wanted to go their originally but it looked too fancy.  But nothing is here so I don’t know why I was worried.  

We ended up having a tasting, which was 4 full glasses of wine and bought 8 bottles for $84 Euro/$100 US and had a Michelin worthy dinner for $64 Euro/$75 us (approx).  We continue to be blown away with the wine and food here. Kirk said it feels like we stumbled upon an amazing little secret.  The export mostly port and Vinho Verde with very little regular wine . I’m hoping to find more when we get back and we are also shipping some. For lunch we had a cold octopus salad with chopped red and green peppers, onions, garlic and olive oil and Kirk had lamb and I had black pork.  It was amazing and we kept  telling each other this.  And our wine guy, Jose, was a gem.  Ribafreixo Wines in Vidigueria.  

We passed massive Cork fields/forrests on the way and realized many other trees we saw driving south were those as well.  Even had a lot on the property we stayed at.  So speaking of the property.  It was nice.  Our room was comfy and had a serene view that looked like we were in the middle of nowhere but when we checked in we were given no instructions or much at all.  He took us down the road to the house and left us.  It’s fine b/c we are grown ups lol.  Here is where we met the neighbors from NC and they gave us the 411. It almost feels like the owner has checked out, has some dementia or something.  There were still grapes on the vines.  Lush bunches!  I don’t know if it was b/c the vines were young and they were dumping them or if he forgot or just doesn’t care.  He didn’t want to answer questions.  So weird.  

But met another couple at breakfast from Seattle.  Chatted a long while.  They booked their accommodations 2 days before they left for Portugal and then proceeded to tell us of all of their travel woes - stuck in LA at Xmas, stuck in Chicago for 2 days then Miami one before Costa Rica.  They were good natured but Willy nilly.  And he is a public defender and she is a therapist.  Sweet as pie.  Kirk thought it was Rain Wilson at first.  Definitely could pass for him!

After we left the winery we drove to Alvor in Algarve and here I sit on the balcony with wine (shocker) watching the sunset.  We walked around looking for a bar where we might be able to see American football.  We are idiots!  Every pub had 5-6 tvs with Football!  We ended up finding a Nepal restaurant just up the street, off the main path and truly enjoyed our dinner.  It was a lounging affair that took about 2 hours while we chatted with a couple from Brighton who live here now and he has since about 2020 and she has been coming back and forth for 90 days at a time but her visa was just approved.  You have to prove $1000 euros of income to live here. They both were originally in IT and he still seems to be.  He has traveled extensively and helped reboot Sierra Leon in the early 2000’s and had also been in jail in Brazil for being a friend of the guy who had drugs on his person.  He said his one year sentence turned 2.5.  AGAIN the question about trump being senile, crazy, stupid and unfit for office.  

Back home for more wine on the balcony and off to bed.

We speak in Kilometers and Euros now

 And liters of wine.

Do you have a henge?

 Our little place on the Portugal Serengeti was peaceful and Kirk slept well.  I got up to take a shower before breakfast and promptly squired water all over the bathroom b/c the hand sprayer was faced outward in our kind of weird shower.  It is a rectangle with 2 doors that meet in a corner.  The drain was slow and level with the floor and running out and the overhead rain shower isn’t working so it was a bit of a challenge! But I made it thru these high class problems!  Coffee was good and so was what we’ve come to love as a normal Portugal breakfast w fruit, croissants, yogurt etc.  Then it was Kirk’s turn to shower.  More water everywhere and he was not happy how annoying it was but we made it thru and out the door to Evora.

Not a far journey.  Looped around the town to the Chapel of Bones.  So insane to think about using all the bones and skulls to make this. A lot of yuck and a bit of awe.  Who thinks to do this?  Why?  Kirk says they dog up all the bodies to build something and just needed a way to ‘honor’ them.  The photos we took don’t do it justice.  Then headed up stairs to the museum where the Friars lived.  Well it was a lot of pictures of Jesus and crosses and at one point I got a bit loopy looking at the hilarious representations of babies - one who looked like Gene Hackman!  And the angels who had eyes moving in both directions? I’m sure people were aghast at my laughing.  😇. Oh and one guy looked like Frodo Baggins and Mary really looked annoyed in quite a few. Then upstairs to someone’s private collection of nativity seems.  Everything from what looked like dollar store stuff to lapis to cork.  Seemed excessive.  Her kids are probably happy they don’t have to deal with them!! off to the Jardins and walked quite a bit around the inside edge of the castle/town area. 

And then, of course, we were hungry.  Just off the square, where they had all the touristy restaurants out front we went down a little alley and found a delicious gem.  We had anchovies, wild boar fritters, cuttlefish, shrimp and an amazing dish with fries, tomato sauce (super light), onions and sunny side up egg and a tad of mayo.  They bring it to the table and mix it up.  I wanted to just lick the plate and eat another who dish! We talked about trying to make it at home. Then we shared some chocolate mousse for dessert which was like brownie batter topped with salt and olive oil!  OMG!!!  Oh and wine and beer.  They attached a wine holder to the table like an old school baby chair. Awesome. Kirk looked at me half way thru lunch and said “what day is it?”  It’s weird not having a real calendar and routine.  I saw some Halloween decor and was weirded out.  

It’s gonna be weird not drinking at lunch.  :)

Walked to the Aqueduct and looked around. They built a lot of homes in the arches of the aqueduct.  Interesting. Popped out of the area and then back in thru some small streets which are a bit outside of the touristy areas.  Back to the car and off the THE HENGE!  

Not called a henge.  It’s called Almendres Cromlech.  We had time and it was about 30 minutes from Evora so why not.  Well it was off the beaten path.  Large holes and bouncy dirt roads going about 5 mph.  But we did see a ton of cork trees.  We thought they were live or coastal oaks but up close we could see they were stripped of the cork and labeled with a number we haven’t looked into yet as of why. So, it was just discovered in the 1960’s!  It’s older than the way more popular Stonehenge.  This one dates back at least 6000 years.  Really not much to see or do so we looped around, took pictures and commented that they needed some seating to relax.  Of course there were tons of signs to not go into the area AND it was roped off but some asshat was walking right thru it all.  

Decided to call it a day and head back to the bnb.  Stopped at the store to get wine, cheese, meat etc to have at our place on the deck. People were drinking beer at the grocery store.  Kirk said “i might go to Costco 3 times a week if they had that!”.  Put the groceries and wine in the fridge and headed for a walk about.  There are vineyards, pools, horses and paths all around.  Our weird host didn’t tell us a thing about this place and it’s actually quite interesting.  There are ancient stone burial sights (that may or may not have people in them), old buildings and A FREAKING HENGE!!!  We have our own henge?????  Well not exactly.  We have a menhir which is a stone monolith.  This one looked like a penis and balls.  Of course we took pics and laughed b/c we are children! Then moved on to talk to the fat horse who definitely wanted some food which we didn’t have but she followed us inside her fence for quite a while.  Her name is Olive but in Portuguese which Azeitona.  Kirk then found some old looking flat metal piece which really looked almost like an arrowhead so we trotted off to the main house and gave it to our host who looked at us like we were loons.  Honestly he might be crazy, on the spectrum or just giving up.  We can’t decide.  They also have 2 pools side by side. No clue why but they look nice and have a lot of chairs.  I could see having a family party here and renting the whole place out but Evora isn’t exactly a wild place.  Well maybe we are just old.  

Sat outside and had some wine, did some internetting and then had our wine and cheese. Oh and the warm, freshly baked bread cost $1.55.  I wanted to eat the entire loaf!  Met a German man who is staying down the hall. He had a house in Florida and recently sold it and bought a place in Nazarre here north of Lisbon and still has a place in Frankfurt.  He also thinks trump is CRAZY.  Those exact words.  He cannot understand how he is still president. 

Breakfast

 I am really enjoying breakfast here.  The white melon is delicious, kiwi and pineapple as well. I have to look at why there has been kiwi and pineapple on every breakfast buffet.  And buffet is not Courtyard Marriott crappy fake eggs and shitty American cereal!  It’s warm croissants, to die for butter, honey literally dripping off the comb. Also cheese, meat and fresh bread.  Yogurt, nuts and toppings.  Coffee has been hit or miss.  In Douro they were using instant but a few places have been sooooo deep, rich and good, including our place today in Evora.  Fresh squeeze OJ!  

I will miss this which is weird b/c I am not a breakfast person and Kirk is.  I think he’s been really loving the scrambled eggs and I have had some as well.  At home eggs sometimes bother me when I have them first thing.  Oh the bacon is more like thin ham. 

Lulu is good.  No broken bones, just stitches and antibiotics. Bodie will take good care of her.  He did say “Loopy Lulu is loopy” from the meds. 

The Road is so straight!

 Left Marvao this morning, sadly.  The hotel was just so cozy.  Kirks was thinking about his lunch yesterday and said “I have never not gotten ham right!”  He was so convinced the meat with his gazpacho was ham when it was actually duck.  Next words were “this road is so straight!”.  Our journey thru the Douro’s narrow, single lane old roads, down to Guarda and then up to Marvao where we had to park outside the walls of the city, could be quite harrowing and annoyingly close to houses and walls. But today it was a short trip heading south to Campo Major.  The landscape looks exactly like Los Olivos to Paso - it’s very desert like with spots of trees.  We weren’t heading to the winery Adega Major.  They make approximately 1.5 million bottles of wine.  It’s huge but doesn’t feel impersonal there.  

The winery is fairly modern but there is a lot of life and history so it’s not stark or cold.  The founder, who sadly passed in 2023 had so much passion and love for wine, history and the town. This quote from his is so beautiful: If we all wanted it the world would be wonderful. The world would be extraordinary.”  Exactly.  And then our tour guide had a shirt on that said “A friend of wine is a friend of mine.”  We had an informative tour and then a lovely tasting with charcuterie.  They pour and leave you alone. Then the other couple on the tour stopped to talk to us and she was very interesting.  She was a journalist and had traveled a lot and was now living in Portugal with her second husband but was British and didn’t want to be identified as someone who spoke English but Portuguese. We wanted to buy some wine but we have to order it off a QR code.  And can’t buy olive oil b/c the shipper only does wine.  Boo hooo.  They had one they put basil and salt in. YUM.

So we headed out to lunch just down the road.  Honestly I was not hungry but when in Portugal you eat!  And drink. LOL. So Google Maps did us dirty. So many one way tiny streets and Google had no clue.  It hasn’t happened often but I think Kirk might have also been hangry.  We finally got back to the city center and parked and walked.  Food was ok.  Air con set on 80 with no fans and the news on all the time (in every restaurant. Weird) Kirk’s octopus still had the cartilage which we haven’t encountered before. I had the special fish soup with a full filet and actually cilantro broth which was quite good.  And then on to Evora - again on a nice, straight rode. Until we hit the single lane farm road to our BnB.  Our waitress chatted with us for quite a while.  We talked about cost of living for a bit and she said her rent is $450 but she only makes about $1100 a month. She actually worked in Spain, 20 minutes away to make more money to buy a car and save money. She was making $1500.  She can’t understand why we can’t get rid of trump since he is obviously ‘senile’ and bad.  

Stopped for a short visit in Elvas. Cool Aqueduct and small castle.  And then a statue of who looked like Lord Farquad from shrek!  LOL

Quite nice. Rural but just outside the city.  Just a visiting spider on the wall which hasn’t moved much. Hope he stays that way!  We chilled for a bit and then I took a spin around the place and found another couple and chatted with them.  They are from NC Outer Banks and also have a house in Nevis.  They were joking about taking a cooking class and he instructor asked them to rate their own food they made and they agreed it was 5 star, maybe Michelin Starr!  LOL.  Super funny.  Well then we got a text and call from home.  Lulu ran into a tree and has a big gash and is limping so our dog sitter took her to the vet and they are going to stitch her up but will have to sedate her and then she is also limping and they are going to do X-rays on legs as well b/c she is limping.  Our poor girl! 😢.  Kirk is trying not to worry. And I feel bad for Harrison having to worry about her and take her to the vet.  Waiting to see how she does.  Bodie is also so worried. 

So we ended up not going to dinner and driving down to the main house to grab a bottle of wine.  Every place we’ve been it’s been so easy to grab a bottle.  The motto: When in doubt grab the white! still holds true. It’s good and the most expensive one we’ve had at $25.  We weren’t very hungry and weren’t going to dinner but our neighbors down the hall had leftover cheese, meat and bread with some olive oil and gave it to us.  So wonderful!  We ate it all up in the kitchen and just chatted and worried about Lulu.  

We feel we are now part of the 25% of Portuguese who drink every day.  We are on day 19.  

In Marvao you can see the birds from behind

 Pretty sure this is a bad translation but this is what was on the menu at the restaurant - In Marvao you can see the birds from behind.  Certain it meant from above!

So Kirk is still fighting a cold so we decided to stay up here just in Marvao, walk around and see the castle.  And of course eat and drink.  Woke up about 5 am to see the sunrise over Spain in all its glorious red and orange but promptly fell back to sleep!  We had our window open all night and it was divine! Lovely, simple Portuguese breakfast here at the hotel with fruit, cheese, fresh on, eggs, cheese, meet and of course croissant and butter. Mmmmmmmmm.  Then off to the castle.

It is quite big and was built in the 800’s by Islamic knights then taken by Christians in the 1100’s and eventually recaptured by the Portuguese in the 1200’s and expanded and taken and taken…by the 1800’s it was in Portuguese hands and designated as a monument in 1922.  I think this is all correct -ish!  The views are amazing and really I could have sat and stared out for ours at the small towns and landscape.  

Great lunch at Ninho, which come to find out is owned by the owner of the hotel as is the Veranda where we ate last night. Jorge also picked us up outside the gates last night, took our luggage up to our room and greeted us at breakfast this morning.  We had no idea until we went to visit the museum attached to our hotel which has a collection from his friend in Albuquerque.  This hotel has only been open since April.  it does smell new.  Back to lunch - Kirk had gazpacho with fresh onion, pepper and duck on the rim to put in and I had a tomato soup with fresh chucks on tomato, not puréed. Giant grilled shrimp filleted open omg and then he had octopus salad and I had seabass with cabbage (very light sauerkraut flavor), over mashed potatoes. Plus a local white wine.  Man are we eating like kings.  I hate to think of eating back home honestly. We have only had one chicken dish - it was mine - yesterday.  Chicken seems blah right now!

I wonder about the small towns and their schools.  We saw a large, kind of commercial tour bus dropping kids off yesterday. I have to look up if small towns share schools.

Another luxury of our travel is we are now resting in the hotel room.  Originally we were going to do some exploring of nature trails and parks off the hill but deciding we are going to miss some things is ok.  Tonight we have dinner in the hotel.  Beautiful 73 degree day. 

We headed to have a bottle of wine and enjoy the view and sunset before dinner. It was chilly but oh so beautiful! We feel so lucky to be here. Then off to dinner and it was just fantastic! Nice to just walk downstairs and sit and be served.  It was a fixed menu and we had pork, gnocchi, cod, langostino all small bites and grilled bread all paired with local(ish) wines. I was stuffed and had enough wine and Kirk even got to drink some of mine.  Fell into bed and zonked out but Kirk was up for a while.  

He’s crazy

 Interestingly people seem to have a genuine love for America here. Surprising given our president.  But here they don’t quite hate him.  They just know he’s crazy, old and not smart.  They ALL say he’s crazy.

Hiking

Sad to leave our amazing bnb.  So sad I forgot to give them back the keys but luckily he called us only a few minutes after we left and could turn around easier.  Man I’ve been scatter brained.  First the wrong restaurant last night, then I told Kirk he had the keys and I actually did and then I had the keys in my pocket and forgot to give them back!  Thinking about too many things at once!

Since it was raining yesterday we decided to head to the Mondego walking trails.  It was really beautiful and at times looked like Malibu and other times Cali.  So many old mills and there was a good amt of information on them.  7.5 miles and then we called a taxi from the bar we stopped at at the end, had a few beers and then were apparently in a F1 race! Our taxi driver, Nuno, was cruising at top speeds around corners and up and down hills!  We shared the taxi with another couple and Kirk was in the back with them and said they were freaking out!  $15 was worth it not to hike back but a total ripoff compared to what we’ve paid here.  Nuno was making bank and pretending he was Mario Andretti.  

Off to lunch, where we asked for a menu and were told they only had specials. She didn’t speak English so I got most of it but didn’t know chicken so she did the wing thing with her arms.  Lol.  It was good, and Kirk had fries, covered with ham, covered with an egg.  And a carafe of wine.  $33.  Small town gouging us!  Then we really really wanted to see Monsanto and Castle o Branco but we had over a 2 hour drive to our next location, Marvao (pronounced Mar-vow like a cat meow).  Bummed but once thing we try to do is be ok with what we miss.  We really liked the hike so that’s ok.  And we needed it after days and days of eating and drinking more than 2 bottles of wine a day!  Skinny legs and big bellies may be our new physique!  

Nice drive thru Portugal, south.  Solar farms, castles, cows, sheep and then a long drive up a hill to the castle Marvao.  We parked outside the walls and got.a ride to our hotel.  The ‘roads’ are barely one car wide so it’s one road in and one out but thru at tiny entrance.  Our hotel is super nice. Thankful for all the great places we have stayed!  

Not sure if i mentioned tail gating is normal here . Kirk still doesn’t like it!  

Dinner at one of the 3 places to eat here.  Octopus and Veal SOOOOOOO GOOOODDDDD!!! And a bottle of local wine.  DELICIOUS!!!!!  $87 total.  Back at the hotel with our window open b/c our air con is weird. But it is nice.  

Storming (at) the Castle

 Decided to switch gears and head north to Almeida on the suggestion of our host.  Off we went and within a few minutes were on a ‘road’ that led us to what seemed like a pedestrian bridge so we laughed and just couldn’t believe this was on Google Maps!  Turned around and headed the other way and it gave us a real road.  Lol. Sometimes it’s hard to come by here.  It was under and hour drive on a quiet highway that seemed mostly to be used by trucks so traffic was not an issue.  Or maybe it never is here. 

Of course we talked about lunch.  Kirk said I keep saying “Could I be hungry?” Literally every day about noon.  I feel like I eat a big breakfast!  Also chatted about money here in Guarda.  It feels like a big small city.  Like there is money here but not in the Beverly Hills way, or maybe it’s more affordable here. In many places we have been, Lisbon, Porto (big cities) and even Douro with tiny villages it feels like 30% or more houses/apartments are abandoned.  Some are completely gutted on the inside, not from workers but it looks like time took its toll. While there is obviously a lot of building going on in the cities I’m not sure if it’s rebuilding, fixing or new.  Porto is building one of 2 new bridges - one for trains, the next for cars.  

Well we arrived at Castelo do Rodrigo and the minute I opened the car door and it started to rain, then 30 seconds later total down pour!  Kirk immediately looked for a close lunch spot. He’s the best. We ended up at Tasca da Janota and at first we had a language barrier so we were google translating and then a young man came over and helped us.  Basically they had a menu but they were out of a lot so they had 3 specials and a soup. Kirk ordered the pork with potatoes and I ordered the bachalau. It came with olives, bread and jug of wine for $26 euro total.  Kirk’s was in a pot and had clams, onions and strangely but deliciously for him, pickles! And his soup was insane and simple - olive oil, garlic, onions, carrots and pumpkin but it didn’t taste much like pumpkin, just a hint.  OMG so good!  Mine had fish mixed with onions, garlic and tiny string potatoes which i ate too much of.  And the jug of wine was 4 glasses.  Oh and when he asked us what kind of wine we wanted Kirk said “something with low acid and minerality” 😂😂.  I said “Kirk it’s blanco or tinta.  That’s it.”

Rain stopped while we were eating so we hustled over for Kirk to get some medicated cough drops at the pharmacy for about $10.  Weird but we think they are actually prescription strength?  Then back to the castle. $1 euro entry.  It was really an amazing ruin and we could see for miles and miles. It seems like people still live in the area attached but sometimes it’s hard to tell.  Another castle I need to research b/c there was not a lot of info but it seems to have been started in the 1200’s. We think we found the kitchen and there was a sketch of what the entire castle looked like.  Again, damn not loading photos.

Then we went to the 12-star castle in Almeida.  It’s huge!  Built in 1300’s, redone in the 1600’s and mostly destroyed in 1800’s.  And definitely people living within the walls.  We walked around, climbed all over and again another amazing view from all sides.  We talked a lot about life there back then.  

So little information and I may have said this in an earlier post the Portuguese don’t really like to talk about the bad history.  But then again there isn’t a lot of information in general at any site. But like Kirk said ‘we like to compress history to a sentence and these are centuries.”  

We love the olive bowls. They have small side parts for the pits. And we also noticed in many many of our meals they aren’t served piping hot.  In fact today a lady came in carrying a huge pot of food.  Wondering if they cook elsewhere.  Again, willy nilly rules.  

Back to the hotel and hung out deciding if we really wanted to eat.  I didn’t but thought we should and I thought we were going to a casual local place but it ended up being some pretty hot spot that’s been around for 40 years. They turned us away at first and we said ok but then they made room for us.  It was totally empty but after about 30 minutes a lot of large groups came in and just one small one.  It was lively and obviously a popular spot, even for a Tuesday.  I felt a bit awkward but we ordered and had some really good food, steak and fried octopus (ok, this was just ok) and excellent wine.  The gent who seemed to be the owner came over to us and he really resembled my dad.  He didn’t speak English all that well but we managed to communicate. He said he was only about 6 years older than us but he looked about 20.  People kept looking at Kirk and I joked he should just stand up and look around but he had to go to the bathroom and I had to watch what the other diners did - and most of them stared at him.  He’s 6-8 inches taller than everyone!  Plus blond.  

Kirk is still fighting a cold.  

Dinner and a storm

After check in at our sweet bnb and some time chatting with the dog (of course), we settled in and headed into town for dinner which was right next to a giant fortified church/castle. Literally in the middle of town! Lovely dinner at a wine bar which seemed to be the only place open. We had a wine similar to Pinot Noir grape called Rufete. Delicious.  

We knew there was a possibility of rain but it held off as we drove home and then later, around 11pm the thunder and lightening started. It was awesome.  We just don’t get that in Cali.  I loved it!  Kirk was mostly asleep as he’s fighting a cold, poor guy.  With the rain last night we may change our plans today. We are thinking of going to the Park here and doing a 7.5 mile trek which is a UNESCO heritage site.  Not sure.  We are taking it easy on the porch right now.  Cool, cloudy day.  It’s quite peaceful and as much as I want to go explore it’s just nice to sit.  Our kind and lovely host gave us some other options and is looking for dinner for us tonight.  He really is just the sweetest.  Our breakfast was fresh cheese, meat and eggs with finally a real cup of coffee, warmed milk and sweet bread.  Oh and a fresh yogurt with fruit and granola.  I hate to leave the food here.

Seriously a bike race?

 When we went to Italy 4 years ago we got off the train and were going to grab an Uber and they kept canceling so I walked down the road a bit and talked to someone about it and come to find out there was a bike race that closed the entire road around Lake Como for the day!  We shlept our luggage to town, over cobblestone and sat in a restaurant for a few hours drinking and eating.  4 hours later our hotel had to come get us! So today as we were finishing up breakfast over looking the Douro River Kirk mentioned to our host we were heading to Vila Nova de Foz Coa and she said the road was closed so we had to go up and over the mountain and then down back to the road 3km a way.  We had a good laugh and then after we packed up went back down to get her directions with our map.  Well, it was quite the journey.  Everyone had to do it on our side of Douro and while at first it was easy, it soon became crowded on the teeny tiny roads!  “This isn’t stressful at all” said Kirk in a death grip on the steering wheel, yelling at drivers like he’s in LA while the obvious local in front of was had his arm leisurely hanging out the window.  🤪 And then a bus came.  Thank goodness it was going down and not up but this road had hair pin turns!  Bus drivers here are fucking bad ass.  We were both astounded and nervous! I can’t imagine what the passengers felt.  OMG.  

45 minutes later, of what should have been 5 minutes we were on our way East.  More twisting roads through tiny villages and towns but much wider in general.  Gorgeous views of the patchwork of vineyards a thousand feet up, terraced.  The ride was a bit more enjoyable and we came to a castle so we stopped!  We love a good castle. Castelo de Penedono. Got to climb all over and Kirk still had to really duck through all the door ways! I’m so mad my photos aren’t uploading.

Then we headed to Vila Nova de Foz Coa.  I can’t remember why I wanted to go here.  I thought we’d walk around a quaint town but it was really just nothing. And today is a National Holiday so almost everything was closed. Well a lot of things are closed here on Mondays anyway.  We found the only restaurant opened and no one spoke English which was ok.  The internets have been so wrong about a lot of things but ‘just order the special of the day’ is not wrong.  I got the fried fish and rice with wine and Kirk got the veal stew with beer, rice and fries. IT WAS TO DIE FOR and only $30 euros.  Then off to storm another castle!

People tend to stare at Kirk a lot.  He’s blond, white and larger than almost every person we see.  He said “it’s not just me right? I get looks right?”  They can’t figure out why a Portuguese woman like myself is with him.  Haaahahaaahaaaaa!!  

Castelo de Marialva was enormous. We climbed all around on the walls, looked over its domain which was very evident from the old homes - some occupied and butt up to the castle itself- and walls. It was fantastic.  Need to research its history b/c they do not put signs up everywhere -which is so nice.  And to be able to walk on the walls was pretty awesome.  Looking towards Spain we imagined is what they were doing. 

Then headed to Guarda and our cute little bed and breakfast. The freeway here literally reminded us of driving from Malibu up Kanan with rocks and less green but some spattered around.  We could see so many ancient walls.  So many.  I just love thinking about what people were doing and how many people lived.  The last castle had so many old walls for miles around.  Lots of ruins.  We were talking about how there wasn’t livestock in Douro.  We saw nothing but a few dogs who seem to just lounge in the road, sweetly.  So our BnB is the cutest thing.  Our room is sparse, almost like a white washed castle room, but it feels so cozy and it’s just beautiful.  We also have a balcony where we are currently drinking wine, overlooking and old farm with old orange tiles.  Cows to our right and mountains in front of us.  Feeling so insanely lucky right now.

Lamego

 Slept in again.  Enjoyed breakfast on the porch overlooking the Douro.  It’s so tranquil and the birds were singing.  Sounds cheesy but it was wonderful.  Kirk commented we don’t get a lot of birds songs at our house.  The crows love us though.  

Off to Lamego where we were a bit worried about the 626 steps up to the cathedral b/c of yesterdays crazy ass climb but we wanted to see it! Stopped at a cute grocery story and bought some $1.99 euro shampoo and conditioner - not too confident in it but beggars can’t be choosers!  Kirk said it will probably be better than what i usually have.  We shall see.  As we drove up to Lamego we noticed it seemed way more suburban than other towns in Douro - a lot more apartments, homes, wider streets with REAL parking spaces! The downtown near the Santuario’ was full of people strolling, sitting in the park chatting and a lot of people having coffee and pastries.  Seemed like an after church thing.  Very lively. But we did remark that we heard that many people in Portugal don’t leave their towns.  Feels evident when you see an old woman or man in their yard with their laundry, or walking down the cobbled street with their grocery bag.

Up we go and honestly b/c it’s like 15 steps, landing with tiles, 10 more steps around the tiles, landing and on and on like that it, wasn’t bad. Got to the top and there was a wedding happening!  Actually 2 bride and grooms going in the church. According to a quick google search it is not common but will be done for friends or family. It was a fantastic view of the city.  Stopped at a huge stone water feature/grotto towards the bottom on our way down.  It was a feat of engineering!  Not sure what it was used for. Once again the lack of signs is good and bad.  

Tried to find some lunch only to be underdressed at one place, turned away at another, found another one closed due to injury and finally found a cute place up a small alley way in the shadow of the castle.  After we ordered our beer, wine and food we just started looking around the alley we were sitting in, watching some tourists. Many classifications came by and Kirk called one of them “tour-ons”.  I thought he made it up but he heard it somewhere. You can tell who are Germans b/c they are always dressed to hike and move around, with packs and water!  Did I mention every other person we met yesterday hiking up and down were Germans save one?  Also we noticed tons of electrical wire just running all over the sides of older buildings that would definitely not pass any codes we have in the US! 

My basic white wine at lunch was delicious and Kirk had his local favorite Super Bock. It just seemed so normal to be drinking in an old alley way. My ham and cheese sandwich was to die for and Kirk had the wildest concoction of sausage, mushrooms, black olives, and onions topped with string fries and a fried egg! It was to amazing!  He was kind enough to share (as he always is).  Might be hard to replicate but we may try. Eating here has been a lot of fun. Besides last night we haven’t had too much fancy food but it’s all made us very happy.

Headed over to the Castle which dates back to 1000bc which is insane!  Nearby they found ruins and dug down and found pottery, objects used as weights for looms and a few skeletons which one was on display as well as money.  600 total coins!  Then they sent us over to a restored cistern that was used in the city to save water in times of trouble.  Very cool structure.  

The speed limits are wild here.  You can go 70 km on a winding road that really should be 35!  It’s almost a suggestion.  Then you’ll be on a straight away with a 90 km speed limit and people are going 50.  Maddening! Headed back and decided to stay at the hotel instead of go to dinner. They made us a charcuterie board and we can grab a bottle of wine they make.  Bottle is $20.  FaceTimed with Bodie and the dogs for a bit. Made me a little homesick but gotta soldier on! Leaving Douro tomorrow, heading for Guarda for 2 days.

Just a little hike today :)

 Slept well! The hotel is quiet and calm.  Nice, fresh breakfast and once Kirk figured out where to park b/c I had no idea, we left to check out Pinhao. Pin-owww.  Kind of sounds Asian.  Anyway we drove down the tiny stone street to the main road without running into any cars thank goodness. It’s so tight and one mirror on one corner when there should have been many more for each corner!

So the climb was pretty insane.  900 ft of elevation which felt basically straight up.  There was no one on the trail and we met a woman at the top who was German.  Kirk said if this was Germany there would be so many people hiking and the funny thing is the only other people we saw after her were all German! It was quite hot going up and I stopped a lot. About 2 miles up hill to the winery - our reward!  And it was so beautiful!  We loved it. Well, the view, not the wine.  It was pretty bad but we suffered thru it with a giant meat, cheese, fried veal, olive board and aistened to the people around us.  One couple was talking about wine but it was not good stuff.  She said “good wine has legs” and “the only wine I’ve ever liked was $100”.  And then he said his friend was a Sommelier but pronounced it completely wrong with a hard R . I also overheard another woman talking about her kids “in a small school, private of course.” And “she’s about to take her LSATS. And my husband is a lawyer but doesn’t practice exactly since he left the firm.”  Heavy EYE ROLLS!!! So we finished up and headed back by another route, a bit less steep. Wound around some olive trees and vineyards and ended up at the Pinhao train station. Not as impressive as the Sao Bento one in Porto but sweet.  I don’t really recommend the town. It needs a bit of love. 

Back in the hot as hell car and back to our lovely hotel. Kirk only swore at the drivers a few times. Can’t take LA out of the man. We actually got our bathing suits on and got in it pool which according to Kirk’s watch was 67 degrees.  I only made it up to my boobs but Kirk got in and swam.  It wasn’t bad once we were frozen.  lol.  Grabbed a bottle of wine and enjoyed it by the pool.  Heading to dinner at a fancy place tonight just down the hill.  It may not be real food for real people who hike!  Wish we could walk but it’s really too far and straight up about 2 miles.  

DOC by Chef Rui Paula was where we had dinner. I didn’t realize, b/c I’m not a foodie, this restaurant was a place on peoples bucket list. I prepaid for a pre-fix dinner thinking it would be fun and it was!  We did not have to choose the pre-fix, come to find out. They also had other meals and options but we went for it - 14 courses paired with wine.  Of course almost every course was about a tablespoon but that didn’t make it any less delicious. First we had fresh bread and ‘olives’ but the olives were actually a filled shell that exploded in your mouth.  Insane!  The dinner was mostly fish that included some local that we had never heard of, Turbot (a really ugly fish our server said lol), and also smoked eel, trout, squid, amberjack, crayfish, pike, trout, prawn, seabass and then the only other-than-fish was suckling pig.  I did not like the pig but Kirk happily enjoyed it! The wine pairings were amazing and they were all Portuguese.  Hopefully we can find some here to send back.  Kirk was gaga over the rose even!  Ended with a light tomato pallet cleanser and onto a chocolate dessert with a special hard chocolate box surprise.  It was really an experience!  

All the wine and deliciousness gave Kirk a confidence boost driving home on these skinny cobblestone roads so he was zooming up the hill like an F1 driver.  Granted it was night and easier to see if people were coming!

Wine tour

 Tough getting up this morning.  Our curtains were drawn so it was dark and cozy!  Definitely not b/c of the wine we drank last night. Breakfast upstairs - similar to others ones with fruit, croissants, meat, cheeses, yogurt, eggs.  The butter isn’t as good though.  

Daniel picked us up for a full day wine and Douro tour.  We kind of zig zagged around and realized you can’t really drive on both side of the river.  There’s a train track, not a road so you have to use this side of the river for all travel.  Started of at a small producer, Pedros Melanos who does 8-11000 cases. Learned so much! Most people sell their grapes for Port - 20,000 growers (10 years ago was 38,000) of which 30% actually make wine - dry and port. And many of these are on 2 hectares or less. His father worked for the company that bought the grapes from smaller growers and saw that’s not where the money was so they encouraged their son to go to school for it and take over to make wine.  Took a while to sort it out b/c he tried to make wine to get a score but then realized he was better off making wine how Douro demanded.  It’s all good. The wine was $20.  It would be $65 in the states.  They do all of it by hand, foot stomping included!  Really wonderful to see and taste.

Then headed to lunch way up in the hills. Mountains? Quinta dos Magusteiros.  Cod, veal, fresh veg, fruit and bread. Delicious!  And beautiful views.  But this high up everything is a beautiful view. Really.  Full and ready to go we headed to the river to do a short cruise.  I thought it was going to be more private but it was with 20+ other people and we just cruised 15 minutes up and back, no discussion about the area, vineyards or ruins. Pretty disappointing but fine. Speaking of boats, the locals and environmentalists really hate the cruises here. They hurt the fish and the river.  They are quite ugly.  The ones from Porto to Douro literally travel 2 hours, stay and hour and go 2 hours back.  Not worth it.  Only if you want to check Douro off your list vs staying and enjoying the area.

Headed off to our final wine tasting at a huge winery but it has a small feel. They do 300,000 cases but they have a 7 Quinta's under the Alves de Sousa family.  It’s very confusing b/c you can’t use the family name.  You can trade mark it.  I have to look more into that to be sure that’s what they meant. They make a lot of small batches and our host, Andrea, was the best host we have ever had.  Her knowledge of the history of the valley, the wine and and interesting note about the sexism.  Her father sent her and her sister to Lisbon to study bc, while they did wine all of their life, there were no females in the wine industry and no other opportunities for the.  She taught French for many years in a school and happened back into the industry when she tutored a son of a wine maker.  Now she is a big part of Alves de Sousa, after a stint at the original place she started.  The wines were very good. We even had a white port tasting and really learned about the history of port and how they drink it.  The port they sold the world is not the port they drank.  It is not syrupy or thick.  And they drink it as an apertive, not a dessert. An open bottle can last 6-9 months in the fridge, depending on its age. 

It was kind of a long day but we made it back and Daniel was fantastic. We rallied and after he dropped us off we headed to dinner in Regua’ at Aneto and Table.  Fish, veal, wine. The end.  

Tcau Porto!

Loved our hotel.

Bolt to Porto airport to pick up our car.  Lovely grandpa, Bop, chatting with us most of the way.  Car pick up was long but fairly easy.  They did tell us if we wrecked the car it would be $60k Euros.  No way this car is worth that! Headed off to Alamante for a brief stop before Douro. We decided not to do Geres National Forest and I’m kind of bummed.  But in hindsight I would have booked an overnight there so we could really just enjoy the hiking but it was 1.45 hrs away and then another 1.5 back to Douro so we made the decision to not go.  

Arrived in Alamante and it wasn’t quite the right spot so we headed to a different area about 6 minutes away and come to find out it was literally right across the little river/creek and we could have stayed there.  Oh well.  Parked and took about 10 minutes to figure out how to pay our 86cents (euro) to park for 2 hours and wander around.  We, of course, were starving so we found a highly rated restaurant but it had a lot of American food on the menu like hamburgers and hot dogs.  We opted for the Portuguese food and while my sandwich was good, Kirk declared his amazing.  It was a smoked pork.  Got some wine and round French fries to round out the meal.  Headed down to the water, over the water way and town.  They are famous here for the pastries shaped like penis and balls! 😂. But that’s about it.  Kind of lame but a nice meal break. Wouldn’t recommend stopping here really.

They have weird highway entrances - no easy right to get off and merge.  We literally had to get off and go around left, left, left to go right.  And lots of round abouts. Thank goodness driving is on the right side of the road like we are used to.  Tight quarters.

A three mile tunnel and amazing bridges as we drove into Douro.  Then up up up along tiny winding roads to our small hotel.  Quinta Vale do Lobos.  Our very small statured host met us and showed us around.  She has to be about 4’5” max! Speaks German fluently so she and Kirk exchanged some words . We sit high above the river in the vineyards that we recently picked. It’s so quiet here.  We sat outside on the patio with some other couples and had a delicious charcuterie board and the wine they make here.  The white was good but the reds not so much.  So we had 2 bottles of white, chatted a bit and headed to bed . The skies are not polluted here so the stars were amazing.