[At the beginning of April 2024 I decided to publish this Portugal blog without further ado. I have not yet covered Oct. 2023 at Little Dix Bay in Virgin Gorda or Thanksgiving 2023 at Harbour Village in Bonaire (which was preceded by a few days in Aruba and Curacao.)]
The wonderful trip to Portugal in October 2022 (Porto, the north, Douro Valley, side trip to Salamanca Spain and down to Lisbon to finish) was too active for me to keep a running blog. So now, in May, 2023 I am attempting one gigantic entry covering the walking, the hiking, the eating and the sightseeing.
But first, a great oddity, a number of hotels in Portugal had the the narrowest toilet seats I've ever seen, just wide enough to cover the lip of the toilet bowl.
We flew from Newark to Porto on TAP, checked into the Pur Oporto Hotel. First room was too quirky and we chose from three others. Then we hit the streets. It quickly became clear that the Portuguese like to decorate buildings with porcelain tiles, mostly blue and white.
Also, even though the weather was on the warm side, roasted chestnuts were being sold on the pedestrian street near our hotel.
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| Our first in-depth stop is usually the main food market - and a fine one it was, mushrooms, spices, fruits, vegetables, bacala (dried cod) and barnacles, along with many places to eat . |
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| Percebes, known to us as barnacles, a very tasty shellfish. |
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| Giant green-lipped New Zealand mussels are available. This is a detail from a Don Quixote-themed restaurant on the other side of the river in Porto. Ate there twice I think. Wine and rice shown below. |
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| Canned fish tycoon, aside from his glittering chain of stores, has some baroque fantasies for the tourists. |
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| Standing on the other side of the river. In the background the bridge over which we will walk back to our hotel. |
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| Bridge walk |
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| Many, many stairs up to our neighborhood. |
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| This big show of Cindy Sherman's work impressed us. |
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| The museum grounds also had some beautiful elevated walkways. |
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| Álvaro Siza, the architect of the Contemporary Art Museum was also the architect of the Boa Nova Tea House, a restaurant with 2 Michelin stars. We had lunch there.
Here was the menu: The 21 courses, called "Takes," sounds like too much to eat but it did not stuff us. Take I Toast Take II Geoduck / Coriander / Garlic Take III Razor clam suquém Take IV Mango / Charru mussel Take V Vegetables Take VI Seafood taco Take VII Sea urchin brulée Take VIII Oyster / Tuna Take IX Octopus curry Take X Sea bass in its habitat Take XI Roja Prawn / Broccoli / Kaffir lime Take XII Scarlet shrimp / Pineapple Take XIII Lobster / Olive oil / Olive Take XIV Crawfish / Korean soup Take XV Red mullet / Bean Stew Take XVI Cod / Chickpea Take XVII Take XVIII Dejá Vu Take XIX Late harvest Take XX Citrus / Pistachio Take XXI The Abbot, the Nuns and the Angels |
Another great experience was hiking the Pasadicos de Paiva,
a beautiful wooden-board path zig-zagging up and down rocky hillsides along the left bank of Paiva river for 8 kilometers.
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| The finish of a major accomplishment. |
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| Great restaurant Don Quixote |
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| Enormous green-lipped mussels from New Zealand |
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| Train station |
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| Birdwatching was sparse. |
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| Rather ordinary meal in seaside town near Porto |
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| Surprising hand laundry facility in that town. |
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| Model tourist on the way to Villa Foz for a great dinner. |
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| Bubble |
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| Poof! |
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| Egg? |
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| Our breakfast place in Porto |
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| Guimaraes, a fascinating town, especially interesting on a day when university students gathered for ceremonial marching and hazing of freshmen |
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| Guimaraes castle was filled with interesting modern art. |
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| Ment in Salamanca, probably the most wonderful meal of the trip. |
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| Mexico-born chef Óscar Calleja earned our respect and affection. |
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| Salamanca graffiti is carved in stone. |
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| Pork is legal in Salamanca. |
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| The Salamanca cathedral across from our hotel allowed a very interesting roof walk. |
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| An interesting subtlety distinguishes this counterclockwise church tower stairway from a castle tower stairway: The latter would probably rise in a clockwise direction to force attackers to ascend with sword in their left hand, allowing defenders to fight with sword in their right hand. |
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| We were awarded honorary doctorates in microbiology by the University of Salamanca. |
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| Picnic specially designed by Emma for overlooking the vineyard landscape of |
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| A hot and crowded fado club where we didn't last long. |
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| A fort above Lisbon. |
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| From a high point in Lisbon, we see six levels of reality. Top to bottom: Sky, land, water, ship, housing and stickers. |
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| Dancing starfish. If you are lucky you can catch them performing a pas de deux from Les Sylphides. |
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| Our hotel was located off the far right end of this fine plaza. |
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| Guards - or I could say, "The entrance to our hotel." |
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| It rained only one day. |
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| Food |
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| Satisfied tourists. |
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| Gleeful tourists. |
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| Nata making. |
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| Our Rossio hotel in Lisbon was well-located. |
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| Up the hill from our hotel was what I took to be a quarter occupied by North African immigrants. |
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| When there are no seats available in the airport lounge the savvy traveler is not embarrassed to use a wheelchair. |
