We are on another three month adventure in Europe! Our last one was three years ago. We left Austin on April 4th and are traveling with our friends Paula and Dave. So here's the catch up. Our flights were long but easy. Got to Lisbon around noon, found the rental car and were ready to start for a 4 hour drive to Armamar and our friends, Ana and Antonio Chaves. Ernie plugged in the GPS and tried to get the location set, because this place is really difficult to find. You actually have to use coordinates to find it. After much frustration, we determined that when I bought the Central Europe maps, they did not include the Iberian peninsula in Central Europe. So we had to go analog with maps. Of course, none of us have data on our phones. We got to the nearest town to their place and then drove around a bit trying to remember how to get to them since our last visit was 3 years ago. The heavens shone down on us and we found them.
We had planned on eating our dinners with the family so we didn't have to leave their house again that night. I did tell Paula and Dave that they eat on European times so dinner was served around 8. Thankfully Ana provides appetizers so that worked for All of us. After great conversation, food and wine, we all retired to our rooms around 10:30. Ana prepared a casserole of bacalau, bechamel, onions, & shoestring potatoes and it was marvelous.
The next day we toured wineries and Paula and Dave discovered the joys of tawny port. Had lunch in Pinhao and then one last winery were we got to take an audio tour through the vineyard.
Dinner that night, at 8 again, was a lovely pork roast and lots of wine. We all begged off at about 10:30 because we had a long drive the next day to Fatima (2.5 hours) and the Roman ruins at Coimbra. Dave and Paula loved it. We got home around 7:30 and thought we were probably just in time for dinner. Not so! Ana had to pick up her son and he was on the other side of the Valley. I think we ate at 9. Dinner that night was what they called dry soup. You cook a bunch of vegetables and various meats, cut them up and mix them up with the liquid left from the meats, put them in a casserole that is lined with bread and then top it with bread. Bake it all in the oven and eat. It was really good but some of the mystery meat was a challenge. I think we retired around 11 that night.
We decided we needed a slow day on our last full day with them so we took a 2 hour tour on the Duoro River in a Rabelo (I'll pick pics in the blog).
| Love the reflections on the water! |
| Love the reflections on the water! |
 |
| Love the reflections on the water! |
He actually caught something just after we passed him.
This is the new dam that is still under construction.
We are heading back into Pinhao for the end of our tour.
This fellow has the right idea!
So many folks fishing and just relaxing.
Had a lunch of fejoida made with tripe and all parts of the pig. Got back to the house around 2:30 and sat in the sun for the afternoon. Ana and Antonio invited our friends for dinner so we had a group of 16 for dinner. It was so good to see old friends who have become family. What fun! We ate (octopus and rice), drank great white wine courtesy of Toniño, Port from a private collection and laughed until midnight.
Can't believe we will be leaving here tomorrow. Oh well, all good things must come to an end!
Posted with Blogsy
Every experience has been wonderful!
ReplyDelete