Sintra
I flew to New Jersey on Saturday midnight to stay with my friend Ginny. I took the red-eye to save $200. It was not worth it. I am officially too old for the red-eye, unless maybe if I go first-class. Monday we headed to the airport for our flight to Lisbon. The food was fine and the seats went flat so sleeping was within the realm of possibility. In Lisbon, I had reserved a car with Sixt, the first time I had used them. Naturally, they tried to upsell us on everything, car, transmission, insurance, etc. The magic word, no, worked just fine. It took me a couple of hours to realize that I had left my hat on the plane.
Garmin found where we were and we were off towards Sintra. Our first stop was the National Palace at Queluz. We later found out there were many many national palaces. It was nice, 8.5€. We stopped at Estrela da Serra for lunch, in Alcabideche. We shared a clam appetizer and soon discovered we should have shared a main, as they were huge. It clouded up and started spitting rain as we searched for the monastery Convento dos Capuchos, 5.50€. It was a hobbit-like a warren of rooms dug into the hill, interesting. From there we crawled over a mountain, past castles, and palaces in the rain, to Sintra.
Sintra is known as a major day trip from Lisbon and is a maze of twisty little streets crowded with tourists. I missed one turn, went the wrong way on a one-way street, made a uiee, and eventually arrived at Villa dos Poetas, 92€. We had a lovely large room on the second floor. That evening we wandered down to Dom Pipas, by the train station, for dinner. It was a darling cafe and the food was divine. I had a big plate of grilled sardines, 10€. We slept like the dead.
Wednesday we wanted to go to the Pena Palace, the top sight in the area. For the less than the cost of the bus, we took Uber up the mountain, 8€. The Palacio dos Pena is a 19th-century romantic Bavarian palace. It is quite colorful and the wall walk was great. From there we walked down to the Moorish Castle, built in the 9th century. It is a picture-postcard stone castle on the hill overlooking the town. Lots of stairs and great fun, as we both love castles. From there it was about a mile back to town, all downhill. It was very steep and twisty and we were beat by the time we reached the train station. Lunch was at Incomun, a trendy spot, and I had the bacalao.
After lunch, we walked up to the Sintra National Palace, which had been renovated from an earlier Moorish palace and had lovely tile work. We Ubered back to the B&B for a nap. Dinner was at O Tunel, by the train station. I had wreckfish in a cioppino with clams and mussels, which was wonderful. A strenuous but good day and we slept like the dead, again.
Nazare
We wanted to visit Quinta Da Regaleira, a must-see, and thought we could drive there on our way out of town. It was less than a mile from our B&B but after circling thru town for an hour, we gave up. Neither Garmin nor Google maps could get us there, they kept trying to send us the wrong way on one-way streets. So we went to Estoril, the town that inspired Ian Fleming’s, Casino Royale. The town is the most expensive place to live on the whole Iberian peninsula. The beach is great but there was not much else to see, but I did buy a new hat.
Mafra had the largest palace in the country, almost 400,000 sf. We walked all around before we found the entrance, 3€. The gardens were lush. I don’t know what they did on the floors but my shoes squeaked like crazy everywhere we went. The library was amazing. All that squeaking made us hungry so we cut over to Ericeira on the coast and ate at Cafe Joy, right on the water. The clam starter was enough for a meal. We were running out of time but wanted to stop at Obidos which was recommended by the hostess at Villa dos Poetas. It was an old walled city built on a Celt settlement and subsequent Roman town. We took a horse-drawn carriage, 40€, thru the town, which managed to push thru the hordes of pedestrians.
We finally arrived in Nazare and Hotel Miramar Sul, 112€. The hotel was quite isolated and only had a buffet dinner. They did have a free shuttle to their sister restaurant in town. It was crowded but the service was as good as the Ritz. I had the best octopus salad ever and we split the bouillabaisse, 21€, yummy.
Coimbra
We started early on Saturday and drove thru the village of Nazare which has a funicular to the upper village. Since the road went up there we passed on taking the funicular and saw the view anyway. The north beach of Nazare has the biggest surf waves anywhere, 32 meters. There was a 30-foot high statue of a surfer dude with a deer head, which referenced an ancient tale and the current time. We looked out over the cliffs but there were no surfers. From there we drove to Fatima so Ginny could visit while I waited in the car. Everything there is from the late 20th century so nothing historic to see. She did not stay long and we were off to Batalha and the monastery which was started in 1386. It is a stunning example of late gothic style. The castle at Leiria was closed for renovation and we missed our turn three times trying to get close for a picture. We stopped for lunch in Pombal at a hole in the wall cafe and had soup and huge servings of grilled calamari and steamed veggies, 15€ with half a liter of wine for two! The calamari rings were as big as my arm. I climbed up to see the castle in Pombal. It was built by the Knights Templar starting in 1156, on the ruins of a Roman fort. Our last stop was at the extensive Roman ruins at Conimbraga. It was very well done and there were several mosaics too.
We arrived in Coimbra Just before five. The Domus Hotel was just inside the old medieval city. After a detour thru the wrong garage, we found where to park, and walked into the old city. The Domus, 60€, was small but the room was modern with everything we needed. There was no elevator but they took the bags up for us. After checking out several restaurants, we chose Pelisqueiro Portuguesa. There were too many good choices, so we did small plates; garlic shrimp, clams, cod cakes, tomato salad. The sauces were so good we mopped them up and ate all the bread. With an excellent bottle of wine and coffee, 53€.
Porto
We walked around the old city of Coimbra early Saturday morning. They had all the shops open and spilling out onto the cobbled pedestrian streets. The river Mondego river runs thru town and there is a university dating from 1290. We next drove to Bussaco Forest, a world heritage site with a 19th-century luxury hotel. There were several pleasant contemplative walks thru the woods, with frequent tiny chapels. Autocrats always wrap themselves in religion. From there we drove to Aveiro, a seaside town that once was an important port and has two large canals that let ships into the city. We had lunch at an outdoor cafe, three tapas each, soup, and wine, 21€. The canal had numerous old boats, once used to gather seaweed, that now take tourists around, 10€ each for 45 minutes. In addition to fishing, they still harvest salt.
It was getting late so we turned for Porto. We had an Airbnb, $73 a night, next to the music center. It was quite new and had a balcony with a great view. We figured we could do laundry there and Uber around town. We were not very hungry, so we just picked up a few things at the supermarket and ate in. The hostess had left us a bottle of port for after dinner 🙂
Sunday we took an Uber to the train station to see the magnificent tile. From there we hunted up the information center and booked a cruise on the Douro for the following day. We walked out on the high bridge built by a student of Eiffel and took pictures of the Douro river with its boat traffic. I had been to Porto about ten years ago. The most common adjective for Porto then was “gritty”. It has been discovered. It is all cleaned up and there are hordes of tourists ebbing and flowing everywhere. We wandered thru the Historic center taking pictures. One of our objectives was Livraria Lello a historic bookstore with an art deco interior and the staircase that was used in the Harry Potter movies. Unfortunately, there was a line a block long. It cost 5€ to get in, refunded if you bought a book.
From there we wandered downhill (Porto is all hills) and started looking for lunch. After a few misfires, we settled in at Intrigo. We sat on the balcony overlooking the river. I had grouper and Ginny had lamb chops. With salad, wine, and espresso, 45€. It was getting late so we Ubered back to the Airbnb and planned the next few days. So this was our down day.
Monday we had booked a Douro river cruise. We got to the train station at 7:30, as instructed, but the tour did not start until 8:20. About 45 minutes into the trip, the train died. Eventually, they nursed it to the next station and we changed trains. We arrived at Regua 90 minutes late and walked a half a mile down to the dock. There were 25 people on a boat that held 500. We immediately sat down to lunch. The soup was good as was the roll. The rest of the meal was inedible and the wine was worse. It was a beautiful day and sitting on the top deck as we sailed down the river was great but very windy. We were hoping to see vineyards and old buildings, but the vineyards ran out quickly and the last part of the trip was just wooded. One highlight was a lock that dropped 100 feet in a single stage. There was also one with a 45-foot drop. The river flows thru a bit of a gorge and the bridges were dramatic. In spite of the delay, we arrived back in Porto 45 minutes ahead of schedule. We landed on the north side so we walked across the lower level of the high bridge to visit the Port houses. When I was here 10 years ago, I was usually the only customer, now it is like Coney Island. The smaller houses were closed so we stopped at Sandeman and had a tasting, five ports 15€. Since we missed breakfast and lunch was zilch we decided to have dinner at their outdoor cafe. The sardines and the octopus salad were great. All in all, not a bad day.
Chaves
Tuesday we planned to check out of our Airbnb at 9:30 but we both woke up early and wished we had set an earlier time. It was raining early but quit by the time we left. We first stopped at Viana do Castelo on the coast. On the hill above the town were the ruins of a Celtic settlement from the 1st century BC. It had round (Celtic) houses and square (Roman) houses. The area had about 2000 people then. From there we drove east to Ponte de Lima to see their Roman bridge from the first century. By this time we thought we had figured out the GPS in the car, but it took us down streets that were so narrow we had to pull the side mirrors in to keep them from hitting the walls on each side. Eventually, it took us to the intersection of two such roads, I guess the geographical center of town. Garmin did find the bridge for us. Five of the arches were original and the rest, rebuilt. There was some kind of celebration going on with school kids lining both river banks and the entire bridge. A boat came up the river, everybody joined hands, cheered and the firetrucks sounded their sirens.
We proceeded to Guimataers, the city that claims to be the origin of Portugal because the first King of Portugal was born there in 1111. We had lunch at Faustini, whole grilled branzino with veggies, wine, and dessert, 11€ each. There were many ancient buildings and a museum around the central square. It is a world heritage site.
Our destination was Chaves, with its 1st-century Roman bridge. There was a lot of reconstruction happening on the local roads but we navigated thru all of it to find the bridge. Our hotel was inside the old Sao Francisco fort, 68€. The old barracks and monastery had been converted to beautiful, modern rooms. We wandered around town and up to the old castle, with its view over the city. We were not very hungry, so we ate at the hotel taverna that evening.
Vila Real
We started Wednesday taking the mountain road to Braganca to see the castle. We wandered thru many small villages with orange tiled roofs surrounded by vineyards and orchards. In a couple of hours, we reached our goal and drove right into the castle courtyard thru a very narrow gate. The castle is built in 1130 on the ruins of a Moorish castle which was built on the ruins of a Roman fort. The keep is 35 meters high but was closed from 12 to 2. There were several cute cafes inside the castle but we had eaten too much breakfast. On the way to Vila Real, we stopped at Chateau Mateus, 9.50€ to tour the gardens and vineyards. We skipped the tour of the inside. We picked a few grapes and they were super ripe and very sweet. Lots of work must go into maintaining the formal gardens.
We had wanted to do a farm stay and had booked into Quinta da Cumieira. They grow grapes and make their own port, which was very good. They had a pool and a tennis court, but it was too cool for the pool and I don’t play tennis. The top-rated restaurant in Vila Real was Cais da Villa but there was so much road construction in that area it was quite hard to find. It turned out to be very avant-garde with lots of unusual small bites, 110€ for two with wine pairings. Breakfast at the farm was ample and served in what must have been the grand hall of the original 16th-century building.
Our objective for Thursday was to see the petroglyphs in the Coa valley. It was about a 90 minute drive to Vila Nova de Foz Coa where the museum was. We had not booked a tour head so we booked a private tour for the afternoon, 20€ each. Lunch was at the museum cafe with a killer view of the Douro valley. They discovered these petroglyphs in 1991 and have found thousands since. They seem to be about 20,000 years old. The tour took us in 4×4’s down some very rough roads and the guide showed us several of the carvings. We took the long way back and had stunning views of the Douro valley and finally understood why it was a World Heritage site. We stopped in Pinhao for a glass of wine while we watched the sunset across the Douro river. Pinhao is certainly wine country, and there are many boat tours from there, probably the right place to take one. We were not very hungry that evening so just ate in the village at Cafe O Pico. The daily special was more fish than we could eat with salad, fries, rice, and half a liter of wine, 15€ for 2!
Monsanto
Friday we started late after our huge farm breakfast (great figs again). In a half-hour, my phone started ringing, we left something in the room. So we wasted an hour doubling back. By 1:30 we reached Sortelha and had lunch at O Celta, lamb stew, pork with mushrooms, tomato salad, and drinks, 23€, way too much food but yummy. Then we drove up into walled village to see the castle. The castle was built in the 12th century, on the ruins of a Roman fort that had been built on a Galician settlement. It was restored just like it was when the village was built in the 13th century. It was the best castle so far. We could have spent the day there. Our destination for the day was Monsanto, another walled village on a mountain top. The streets were so narrow the car mirrors almost rubbed the walls, I am getting used to driving on such streets. Monsanto is considered the most Portuguese of towns. Our B&B was Casa de David, next to the main church, 75€. It was cute beyond belief with a canopied queen bed and a canopied single sleigh bed. The only issue was that you had to get in and out of the queen from the foot as it was in a niche. We wandered around looking at the sites, the streets were steep and cobbled. There was a clock tower, several churches, and look-outs over the valley.
Breakfast was on a terrace looking onto the main square. After getting coffee and food, we were ready to tackle the castle 1500 feet further up. The walk was rough and steep but the views were breathtaking. In addition to the castle, there were tombs carved right into the rock, three chapel ruins and a cell phone tower. The way they incorporate huge, in situ, boulders into the walls and buildings is fascinating. Coming down was treacherous and hard on the knees. Then we drove to the next hill town Idanha-a-Velha. It was deserted when we arrived except for the village women buying produce from a couple of little truck vendors. We checked out the high points and stopped for two excellent cappuccinos in the main square. On the way out of town, we stopped at the old bridge, probably built by the Romans but rebuilt often enough that the province is uncertain. Back in Monsanto, we had wine, cheese, chorizo and olives on the terrace. Out hostess, Stela, told us her mother was born in the house we were staying in. Dinner was just down the hill at Adega Típica O Cruzeiro, appetizers, cod, veal steak, and wine 40€. The veal steak was enough for two and delicious.
Evora
Sunday, after another lovely breakfast on the terrace, we reluctantly departed. Monsanto and our hostess were so charming we wanted to stay longer. We drove to Marvao another fortified hill town. The car GPS, Garmin, and google maps all tried to get us to drive thru Escusa and up a no-entry street, so we had to ask for directions. When we finally reached Marvao, it was a madhouse, police were directing traffic and people were parking anywhere they could find a vacant piece of ground. We hiked up and into the walled area. There was some kind of fair going on with people in very tacky medieval costumes and stalls selling food and chachkies. The fortifications were impressive and the entire town was restored and seemed to be occupied. We had a light lunch at tourist prices. Most of the tourists appeared to be Portuguese. We had used up most of the day so we then drove directly to Evora. Our lodging was in a 450-year-old house in the dead center of the old town, Casa de Sao Tiago, 79€. Our host, Francisco, was 79 and very charming. We had a large room and our own sitting room too. Oddly there were hooks in the ceiling of the sitting room, like for hanging meat or the inquisition. Dinner was at Tasquinha do Ze, a delicious local pork and clam dish with a bean salad and a bottle of local red wine, 42€. The host was charming and shared a shot of a local liquor after dinner. Unfortunately, I knocked over all the glassware as I got up to leave. I avoided walking down that street for the rest of our stay.
Breakfast Monday was just okay but the coffee was great. We started walking aimlessly and saw an art class drawing in the nearby square. The tourist office was not much help. In the city hall entrance, there are the ruins of a Roman bath discovered in 1987. They were excavating other ruins under the building but they were not open to the public. The town dates from the 1st century BC and had many remaining parts of the Roman walls and arches, We then set out for the Roman temple of Diana which had over half of the original columns. Most of the museums were closed on Monday. The church of Sao Francisco had a chapel lined with bones and skulls of monks that I felt was just macabre. The public park was delightful, huge, had both a student protest and peacocks. We had lunch in a tiny hole in the wall, soup, tomato salad and stewed rabbit, 20€. In the afternoon we sat at an outdoor cafe, drinking wine and watching the art students. We had dinner at Piparoza, a lovely outdoor cafe. Lamb chops, tuna steak, and wine, 64€. It was morning before we realized they had given us the wrong check and overcharged us about 20€. Oh well, it was a good dinner and a nice evening. About 3 am there was a big ruckus outside our room, and we later found out it was the first day of the new classes for the university.
Tuesday we went looking for the aqueduct, completed in 1500. They had built houses into the arches but it still stretched for many km. The Evora museum, 3€ for two, was small but had a lot of archeological artifacts. The cathedral museum, 8€, had treasures that showed the Portuguese had plundered the world for many years. The municipal market is in a new building but most of the stalls were closed by noon. It was getting quite warm so we had lunch inside at Adega da Talha Velha. Two appetizers, grilled calamari and a pitcher of white sangria, 30€.
By this time it was 90 degrees so we returned to our Casa to read and siesta. Around five we ventured out to a nearby square and enjoyed a glass of white wine 2€ each, and watched the world go by. I cannot think of a more civilized thing to do at 5 pm. The restaurants open at about 7:30 and we checked the two top-rated places, but they were fully booked. We wound up at Le Coeur Bistro, a cozy little place with wood and stone walls. We started with a salmon ceviche that had strawberries in it, very nice. Ginny had the local black pork and I had an outstanding duck breast, perfectly cooked. With wine, 56€.
Faro
Just west of Evora there is one of the largest collections of neolithic megaliths in mainland Europe at Almendres Cromlech. They are in a rough circle and some have carvings that are hard to discern. You do have to bounce several kilometers on a dirt road to get there. Close by is a large standing stone, 8 feet high. It is in the middle of a farm and you walk down a narrow track between two fences about a meter apart. The track is badly eroded with a ravine down the center. Sometimes you can only get one foot in the bottom and sometimes you had to straddle the ravine. The stone was impressive. We then headed for Beja which had a small but significant Visigoth museum which, unfortunately, was only open from 9:30 to noon and we missed it. We parked on the main square and stumbled into Tasca da Su. We ordered the Sopas de Cacao which is dogfish soup, probably the best fish soup either of us had ever tried. With a pitcher of sangria and fried green beans 35€.
We had piddled away the day so we turned for Faro. The AirBnB did not have a street number but we eventually found it in Quarteira a suburb of Faro. It was a nice 2 bedroom 2 bath place, 90€ a night and half a block from the beach. We swung by the supermarket to pick up supplies for breakfast including lots of fruit, the persimmons were perfectly ripe. My cold, which had started the previous day, was filling up my head and I felt like I was drowning. It had been, maybe, 10 years since I had a cold and I was not doing well. For dinner we just wandered down the beachfront broadwalk to a nice Italian place. I ordered the spaghetti vongole but it took two tries for them to get it right. When I went to get in bed, I discovered that there were no sheets, ugh.
Thursday I did nothing while Ginny wandered up and down the broadwalk. I had completely lost my voice, which some people might say was a good thing. We had lunch right on the beach at Coral Beach Bar, sandwiches, soup and wine 15€ for two! The local farmacia gave me a couple of things and my voice started to come back. Dinner was at Marisqueira Sol & Mar an upscale seafood place. Most people were getting these huge boats with clams, crab, oysters, and shrimp; but we were not that hungry. I had a perfectly grilled sea bass, Ginny had fish soup and clams, 63€ with wine, pricy for Portugal.
Friday we awoke to a high overcast sky, our first day without sunshine, but at least no rain. We had heard a lot about Lagos which was about an hour west so we headed out mid-morning. We parked in a garage in the center of town and wandered thru the old cobbled streets, which were charming and clogged with tourists and the usual tourist shops. Then we turned back and walked down the waterfront, which had vendor tents, with very low prices, so low we actually bought things. On the south edge of town is Farol da Ponta da Piedade, a secluded beach with a magnificent view of the rugged coastline. We wanted to get a bit away from the hordes for lunch so we drove to Alvor and Restaurant Dom Joao. The owner was extremely gracious and the clams cataplana were the best yet in a red sauce to die for. All the clams we had room for, wine and coffee, 40€. Later we took a nice long walk on the broadwalk, which was almost deserted. That evening we had dinner at Alphonsos, monkfish, octopus salad, a side of mushrooms, and wine 39€.
Saturday we drove east to Tavira, probably the most charming of the Algarve towns. It sits on an estuary that opens to the sea. It has the usual castle, fort, church, and cobbled streets but felt more laid back and less touristy. After a cappuccino and wandering a bit we drove back to Olhao to see their fish market. It was crowded with locals and winding down but still quite impressive. Half the building was seafood and the other side was fruit and veggies. There were more farm stands outside and the expected flea market. It was a bit early for lunch, and every place was jammed already, so we drove on to Faro. Faro was the most western settlement of the Phoenicians. We walked into the old walled part of the city and had lunch outside at Tertulia Algarvia, we split a fabulous shellfish cataplana with clams, cockles, razor clams, and toasted bread to soak in the divine sauce. On our way back to the condo, the car GPS decided we needed to see some backroads and directed us down some very tiny pig trails thru the country. That evening we walked a half-mile to the east end of the beach to A Gaivota for dinner. Eventually, we may learn that the main courses in Portugal are big enough to share. Ginny had six lamb chops and I had two squids, each as big as a baby’s leg. With the usual bread, fish pate, olives, and wine 50€, OMG. Some places automatically give you the bread and olives, some ask, and some wait for you to ask, usually 2€.
Lisbon
Sunday we departed our beachside home. It was fortunate for Ginny that we had separate bedrooms as I was up a lot and probably contagious. We took the tollway to Setubal, a lovely port without tourists. The indoor market was especially nice with beautiful fish and produce and rock bottom prices. They have a 2km long treed esplanade thru the center of town. It is a block-wide with fountains, paths, and sculptures. At the end of the esplanade we turned toward the fishing port and waterside restaurants. Almost at the end was Baluarte do Rio, which looked nice. I had grilled sardines, 8, and a nice salad. Ginny had as many clams as she could eat. With wine and coffee, it came to 48€ and we were totally stuffed. We turned the car in at the airport and they found a half-inch scratch that looked like a hair and claimed it was damage, never use Sixt. The taxi into town was 33€ and our accommodation was the penthouse of an apartment building in Chiado, the hippest area now. They wanted a pin for my Visa which I could not provide and the elevator stopped a floor below our unit. It was a nice studio and 120€ a night. Neither of us were very hungry, so we picked up a few things at the grocery store. The hike back up the hill to our place was a killer. The streets were swarming with young people and street musicians.
Monday started with light rain and we headed out at about 11 am. We tried the tourist information office which had a small rack of maps and the least helpful people in the entire country. Close by was the Arco da Rua Augusta built to commemorate the rebuilding of the city after the 1755 earthquake. It was a grand arch with an impressive public square right on the water. From there we went into the Alfama district, which was the old Moorish quarter, The narrow cobbled streets quickly got very steep and we started looking for lunch. O Tripeiro looked cute and had a few outside tables. I had the tomato salad and grilled grouper while Ginny had the seafood soup and the octopus salad; with a jug of sangria and coffee, 38€. After lunch we climbed to the Convento Carmo to see the ruins of a magnificent church that was destroyed in the 1755 earthquake. Recently they have excavated some neolithic relics from the site which are displayed in the museum. I then went for a nap and Ginny kept going and taking pictures of the patterns in the marble cobbled sidewalks. We were not very hungry that evening but we walked to a place called Fabulas which had a lovely patio nestled inside a block of buildings. We split a salad with chevre and poached pear and a rice dish with shellfish, 43€.
Our last full day we Ubered to Monasterio dos Jeronimos, a world heritage site, 6€ each. The attached archaeological museum was not much, but the stonework in the cloisters was worth the trip. The place was built between 1501 and 1601. The duty of the monks cloistered there was to pray for the king’s soul (he was too busy committing atrocities). From there we Ubered to the Castelo Sao Jorge on the highest hill in town, 8.50€. The site has been occupied since the 8th century BC. The castle was built by the Moors and extensively renovated after the Reconquista. There was a lot to see, unfortunately, the archaeological site was closed. We took a short cut down the hill thru Alfama, many many stairs, and had lunch at a lovely outdoor cafe, Ceru Concha Douro. It was tourist prices but we splurged anyway. A plate of cockles, tomato salad, a large skewer of grilled squid and shrimp, veggies, a liter of white sangria, and coffee; 93€, yum. We passed the elevator Sao Justa, which connects the upper and lower neighborhoods, but the line was too long so we just walked back to the apartment. The steepness of the streets really took the spring out of our steps by mid-afternoon. That evening we had our last Portuguese dinner. We had not had clams in several hours so we ordered them again along with codfish cakes and some tomato rice (like risotto) with wine and coffee 42€.
We Ubered to the airport in the morning, 11€, and had an uneventful flight back to EWR. I tried Mobil Passport, which worked just fine, but the CBP agent, in the Mobile Passport line, was clueless about what he was supposed to do with it and had to ask another agent.