Coimbrãs Botanical Garden

Fran and I both like gardens and gardening.  Coimbra had an interesting botanical garden associated with the university.  Fran is all about the flora - you’ll see these are mostly my pictures as I love the structures in a garden.  If you ever end up here (or note to self we end up here again) I’d recommend spending an hour or so in the gardens.

Coimbra

Loved Coimbra.  Our favorite part of Portugal so far.  Lot’s to do, amazing sites to see, great restaurants, and friendly people.  The old town is situated on a (steep) hill at the base of which is a river.  At the top of the hill is the university with the town radiating out down the hill.

Ran into the set up for a Fado (sort of the blues of Portugal) concert - I was too tired to hang around - these things don’t start until 10 or 11 pm and go late into the night.

This shot is from our hotel up the hill - it’s steeper than it looks.

Pedestrian bridge crossing the river

The main pedestrian mall leading with large squares at both ends.

There are a few statues around, not as many as you’d think and mostly academicians,this one was interesting because it was so different.

Obligatory church and portico shots.

Fangas Mercearia & Bar

Because we love variety and trying new things we, as a rule, don’t go to the same restaurant twice if at all possible.  We made an exception in Coimbra for the Portuguese tapas.

Nazare

Here’s the thing.  Nazare (nah-zah-RAY) is like Rotenberg, Orvieto, Sarlat, etc.  Towns whose character change dramatically from day to night.  During the day busses of tourists (and I mean no disrespect because I am a tourist) come in and flood the town.  All the trinket shops and bad food stands with menus in five languages trying to draw you in are in full swing. It’s crowded and feels “touristy”. But then about 6 pm the busses clear out.  The gaudy tourist shops close and their proprietors come out and are no longer sales people trying to make a living but residents of the town out for the evening. The bars and restaurants are more relaxed and “homey” feeling.  And Nazare actually turns into a pretty cool place. A   few shots from around town.

Evora

A few shots around Evora.  

The walls around Evora were still fairly intact.

Romans (my people) were here first...

Town Square

 

Old gate - the walls surrounding Evora are impressive but most of the gates are crumbles.

Carolyn Diving into the infinity pool at our hotel - Vitora Stone - seriously nice hotel with a rooftop pool.

Just an interesting ally way.  At the end was a restaurant called “O Patio” - which was, not surprisingly, a big open patio.  Good light lunches available here.

Had the best meal we’ve had this trip at the Vitora Stone Hotel Restaurant, 5 Almonds.  Unfortunately neither of us brought a camera but oh well I took a picture of the car so I’d remember it…We shared a mushroom starter, Fran had Veal and I had Pork.  All of it cooked to perfection by someone who obviously cared.   

First meal in Evora

Just a food post.  After our drive here we were hungry.  We walked the 5 minutes from our hotel into the old walled town and stumbled on a place called “Winetime93”.  No idea why they called it that but they had some light lunch specials.  We ordered two glasses of “Branco” (white) wine and told the hostess to choose something regional and dry for us.  She was apparently thrilled with our trust cause she gave us about 3/4 of a bottle of wine for the price of two glasses (2.80 each).  We also ordered a lunch plate:

I really like the Portuguese and Portugal.  I can’t tell you how many nice little things they’ve done for us because we were friendly or trusted them.  They are really fun loving and laid back.  And they really know good food and wine.  

Pousada Do Convento

In Tavira we stayed in a Pousada.  These used to be cheap state run hotels in historic buildings.  I mean like 50 Euro’s cheap.  Several years ago the state realized it was going broke running hotels and partnered with several international hospitality companies.   

The result is a great hotel in an historic location that’s not so cheap (I think this was 175 Euros a night - probably the priciest place we are staying short of London).  

The place was gorgeous, the staff extremely friendly (great recommendations etc), breakfast was amazing blah blah blah.  It was darned near perfect except for one thing: The beds were crappy.   I mean old school Europe $50 a night hotel sag in the middle, springs in the back crappy. The 100 Euro a night hotel we’ve got in Evora has a comfortable bed - why can’t the Pousadas?  Anyway I’d stay here again in a heartbeat except for the beds.  I think we’d need surgery if we spent another night in one.

Evora -1

Made it with zero trouble - Hotel Vitoria Stone in Evora is REALLY NICE.  Our Renault Migraine (so named because it keeps randomly beeping at us and we can’t figure out why or how to turn it off and subsequently we get migraines) is equipped with a GPS and is a fine car, as French cars go.

O Patio

Just a quickie from Tavira.  We ate at a place called “O Patio”.  Again not fancy but good food.  A bit tired of fish (I know weird) I ordered veal.  I swear a 16 ounce portion of veal was delivered - with a total cost of 12.80 euros.   I guess economic forces are in play because that big a piece of veal would have been 40 or 50 dollars at a minimum in the US.  I wrote this mostly to remember the name of the place in the event I return to Tavira.  If you go try it out.

Tavira

So I felt like I finally got here today.  Those of you that travel a lot know what I mean.  You spend several days in a haze of new sights, different foods, unknown languages, and strange customs.  Typically you sleep poorly,have a minor headache, your back is “crunchy" from different beds, and you have slight but not significant gastrointestinal issues.  Then it stops.  You’ve arrived.  So I’m in Portugal now.  Carolyn showed up a few days before me.  

Tivera is a resort town.  The weekend was dead but today the town sort of came to life.  Here are some shots of the city.

 

The town is on an estuary.  At low tide this isn’t much more than a pile of rocks but when full it’s beautiful.

Lot’s of old world charm and the associated decay.  You simply can’t maintain a city for 500 years without some bricks falling off buildings but for the most part the city is clean and friendly.

 

Left = Old world charm, Right = Decay,  As I said still a pretty town.

The clock tower in the center of a lot of towns.  Attached to, what else, the church.

Not the church the clock tower is attached to but the first church in Tavira.

This isn’t a regional wine (well it is but it’s from Douro way in the north) but it capped a pretty nice day of sight seeing and walking. 

I fear I’ve become addicted to Octopus salads.  There are more varieties than Sangria.  This one, at a tiny no-name place on the main street into the square was one of the more memorable ones.

Clams and Sea Bream from a restaurant called Brisa do Rio (Breeze on the River).  Carolyn had sea bass with shrimp (we’d call them prawns) in an orange butter sauce. The food was excellent.  The restaurant 1) Required reservations 2) Has no pretense (e.g. water is served in the plastic jug) so if you’re looking for something “special” don’t go here 3) is close to the river - if you get there at the right time or know someone (Carolyn became friends with the woman at the desk in our Pasada) you just might get the best seat in the house (we did).  Get seafood - you’ll rapidly  tire of pork

Overall the town has been fun (we leave tomorrow).  There are plenty of restaurants (lots more than Portuguese if you are so inclined - gotta be 10 Indian places) and things to do for a day.  Honestly two days was probably a bit much for us but today, as I mention above, was sort of a day to regain my equilibrium.  If you just want to chill by a beach and eat great food stay as long as you like - but you’ll exhaust the sites by noon of your first day.  Worth it but when you have limited travel days you feel guilty about just sitting around.  Would I come again?  Maybe - but bring shorts and t-shirts!

Lisbon

I’ve struggled with motivation to blog our trip.  It’s been fine but nothing outstanding to date.  I’ve posted several pictures below - with some captions.

 

Mostly Lisbon was a big city.  Not the elegance of Paris or the energy of London - just a big city with all the amenities and hazards (cab drivers) that go along with a big city. The hotel we stayed at (Brown’s Central Hotel) was run by friendly helpful English speaking people with great restaurant and entertainment recommendations.  But it’s a big city that just somehow wasn’t all that charming.

I know shut up and let us look at some pretty pictures.  Here’s our trip to date.

 

They ran out of peanuts and coke on the airplane so we had to have this.  Flight was good.  Love the A380.  Quiet and roomy.  

There’s this weird tower thing downtown Lisbon.  Offers a great view for those too lazy to walk up the hill(s).  Lisbon is situated between and on two hills.

Portuguese are known for their fish dishes.  This was fresh sea bass.  Dirt cheap meal at 8 euros.

Here’s Lisbons Arc de Triump.

And Fran out in the square by the water just beyond the arch.

It’s been warm here - in the 80’s in Lisbon.  They say unseasonably warm.  We’ve been trying to keep cool by trying all kinds of Sangria.

We took a day trip to Sintra - a little town with a ferry tale castle.

Sintra was a cute town but VERY touristy.  I’d recommend it off season and mid week (we went on Friday and it was a bit much).  Did find a restaurant for lunch that had good house wine and salads for lunch.

And of course the Pena Palace (castle).

Some of it looked like it was out of an Escher painting, or at least the inspiration for an Escher painting.

 

And back to dinner - the best dinner in Lisbon at a place called Manic.  I ordered a gin and tonic.  This is what showed up - probably 16 ounces.  Again dirt cheap.

This was black pork cheek in a wine reduction and tomato rice.  I should mention in the competition for food Carolyn has pretty much won every night.  Not this night. Those of you that eat with us a warning:This will likely show up on our table.

We walked up both hills surrounding Lisbon.  We were up at the castle that you see in this picture in the morning.  In the afternoon we walked up the other side and took pictures of the castle.

Last of the Lisbon post.  After walking all day (25k steps according to Carolyn’s fitbit) we needed some refreshment.  There was a place called “Dr Wine” right across from the hotel.  They had good tapas and cheese plates.

That’s it for now.  As I write this I’m in Tavira.  It’s been unusually warm in Portugal for this time of year (according to people we’ve spoken to). It’s in the 80’s.  We weren’t really packed for it but we’ll survive.  Tavira is nice but slow (think resort town off season).  But I’ll write about it in a day or two.