31 October to 3 November

After flying into Porto airport we hired a car and drove straight to a farmstay in the Duoro Valley. Incredible place, a cottage well over 200 years old in the most beautiful, quiet countryside, right adjacent to the Duoro River. While there we did some lovely drives but mostly just enjoyed the ambience of the place.

This included cooking Zelma’s (Christine’s Mum) rabbit casserole in the ancient wood-fired oven. The entire rabbit (less the head, which the butcher kindly kept) did two very nice meals.

3 November to 7 November

Porto. We stayed in an “apartment hotel” which was fairly modern but not without some drama first when we were first put into a wrong room because of a “mistake”.

Porto is a very pretty and interesting city of some 1.7 million people in the greater Porto area. It is right on the Duoro river and has six magnificent bridges, all quite unique, over the river, and brilliant views from the river. It’s a very easy city to get around, with a lot of broad pedestrian streets.

Despite being destroyed by invaders many times over the centuries, the bones of old ruins peek out almost everywhere you look.

We took a gondala ride on the Gaia side of the river, which came with a free port tasting at one of the many port tasting rooms. Wanting to sample more we were a bit taken aback at the price of 5 euros per taste, and happy later to see that 5 euros at a tiny cafe brought 5 massive tastings that were all very nice, ranging from white to ruby. We decided we should drink more port.

We did lots of walks through the old part and saw a stunning cathedral, Sao Francisco (St Francis of Assissi), amongst others.

7 November to 14 November 

Lisbon. Lisbon is a city of some 2.8 million people in the greater Lisbon area, and you can see why so many people talk so glowingly about it. It’s beautiful, friendly, safe, and has incredible character. We stuck to the old part which for us was the most fascinating and stayed in an old building which was nevertheless very comfortable and one of the most comfy beds we’ve had on the entire trip. Our street was near the top of one of the seven hills, on a narrow cobblestone street lined with restaurants. It seems that every second door leads to a restaurant.

The little restaurants are really interesting, some look very old and amateur, others more slick, and appearance doesn’t necessarily indicate price. The terrific little old place almost next door has very expensive seafood, probably fools the tourists. We had Indian one night because the owner actually helped us get our luggage up the massive steps up the hill.

The many walks (thank you Rick Steve’s guide book on Portugal) took in lots of streets, monuments, churches, museums, and more.

Apart from the museums, highlights were the Sintra district, and also Cascais (pronounced Karshkaysh), with incredible histories and buildings.

Porto Image Gallery

Lisbon Image Gallery