Last night I signed up to take a day trip to Sintra. Sintra is a suburb of Lisbon and it is home to the Pena Palace, which is the Portuguese Royal Palace, and the Regaleira, which is an over the top private castle that a very wealthy Portuguese businessman built in the early 1900s.
When I got to the meetup point there were three buses and I was afraid this was going to be a bus tour. Instead they assigned six of us, me and five twenty somethings, to our own little group.
Instead of a bus we got our own little van.This is our van driver/tour guide Joao.The historic district of Sintra is up on a hilltop.
Our first stop was the Regaleira.
The castle at the Regaleira.
A wealthy Portuguese businessman, Antonio, took 20 years to build this castle and the surrounding 4 acres of gardens. He built it so he could entertain royalty from all over Europe.
The carved stone work here was amazing. This shot is from the bottom of a 4 story deep well.This is alleged to be a fountain of youth. I drank my fill to no avail.
After we toured the grounds and the castle we took a lunch break.
This is the group at lunch.I had octopus š and it was very tasty.After lunch we got shots of cherry liquor in a chocolate shot glass. It is somewhat of a Sintra traditional drink.
Next on the agenda was Pena Palace.
Pena Palace is a collection of mismatched buildings that make up the Portuguese Royal Palace.The dining room at the Pena Palace.Your humble correspondent.Picture of the Moorish Castle taken from the ramparts of the Pena Palace.The five twenty somethings.The whole gang.
It was so much fun spending the day with these young people. They were so open and welcoming and I had a really great day.
Dinner in Lisbon. Vegetable paella.
Thatās it from Lisbon. I hope you had a wonderful day wherever youāre are.
Tomorrow I take the train back to Porto. I fly back to Denver on Saturday.
I decided to sign up for a walking tour this morning to get acclimated to Lisbon.
This is Beatrice our tour guide.
We started the tour at the Comercial Square. In the past when Portugal had a lot of colonies all the ships from the colonies would bring their cargo to the Comercial Square to be valued and taxed.
A statue of one of the Portuguese kings in the middle of The Comercial Square.The gates of the city on the north side of the Comercial Square. After the cargo was valued and taxed it could then enter Lisbon through these gates.
As we started our walking tour we passed through these gates and down a beautiful pedestrian only boulevard lined with shops and restaurants. Two of the restaurants caught my eye.
Goodfellas was a movie about the Mafia in New York. This restaurant serves Portuguese food. Why would they name a Portuguese restaurant after a Mafia movie?This is a restaurant on the same block. I am pretty sure the Godfather was Sicilian, not Portuguese.This is an observation tower they built so they could charge tourists 5 bucks to take panoramic pictures of Lisbon.This is the first cafe in Portugal that started serving espresso more than 100 years ago. They are crazy about espresso in Lisbon.This is the old castle. It is up on a hill and it is quite a hike to get up there. No more uphill hikes for me on this trip.We ended our walking tour in this square. The Portuguese king on the top of this column skedaddled to Brazil when he heard that Napoleon was heading to Portugal. Like Great Britain, Portugal has had good kings and not so good kings.
After the walking tour I was feeling a little peckish so I decided to have lunch.
A burrito in a bowl. It was very tasty.
After lunch I took a walk along the River Tagus to Belem on a dedicated walking/biking path. It was a 10 kilometer walk but the path was lined with bars and restaurants and ice cream shops so I took a number of refreshment breaks. When I got to Belem I decided to take a champagne boat tour. It turned out to be a great decision.
This is our boat. It was me and a couple from Switzerland. This is our tour guide and master of the champagne bottle š¾, Paulo.The people of Lisbon decided that if Rio had a huge Christ the King statue they had to have their own huge Christ the King statue.This is a monument to commemorate the 500 year anniversary of the Portuguese discovering Brazil.This is the Belem Tower. It was built in the shape of a ship on an island in the middle of the river and stocked with cannons to discourage the pirates who preyed on ships entering and leaving Lisbon. Another shot of the Tower of Belem.
After the boat tour and a fair amount of champagne I decided to take a cab back to my hotel, as opposed to walking 10 kilometers. I think that was another good decision.
Lamb saag for dinner. Very flavorful but not too spicy.
Thatās it from Lisbon, Portugal. I hope you are having a good day wherever you are.
I got up this morning and said goodbye to Annie for now and Peter took me to the Metro station where I said goodbye to him. Both Peter and Annie have promised me that they would come to Denver for a visit.
I had some time to kill in the Copenhagen airport so I spent a good part of it eating Danish pastries.
The pasteries here are so good. I found out from Annie that my grandfather Marinus was not only a fully trained Danish baker but he was also a pastery chef. That is a pretty big deal.
I flew from Copenhagen to Manchester on Ryan Air. Not a bad two hour flight. Because England is no longer in the EU, I had to exit the airport and go through the whole customs and security check to get on my Easy Jet flight to Lisbon.
The Manchester airport is really old. The security check is in the basement and is really grim. It was a real cattle call. I would recommend avoiding the Manchester airport.
After I finally got to my gate and boarded my plane we had an uneventful 3 hour flight to Lisbon.
I am at my hotel in Lisbon having a glass of wine and relaxing after a long travel day.
Thatās it from Lisbon. I hope you are having a great day wherever you are.
On Friday, June 7, I flew from Porto to Copenhagen. I landed at 2:00 PM and by 3:00 I was at Annie and Peterās house. They have a beautiful home and a wonderful garden. We sat on the porch drinking Danish craft beer and spent the afternoon catching up.
Annie cooked a wonderful dinner featuring frikadelle, which is a pork meatball and a national favorite in Denmark. I love frikadelle and Annie makes fabulous frikadelle.
On Saturday we had breakfast and went to the grocery store. They have a Danish bakery in the store and we picked up Danish pastries. When we got home from the grocery store we had a nice second breakfast of Danish pastries.
After our second breakfast we took the metro to downtown Copenhagen.
This is the Marble Church. It is beautiful. We couldnāt get inside because there was a wedding.
Next we visited the Rosenborg Castle, the residence of the Danish Royal family. We timed our visit just right and got to see the changing of the guard.
The changing of the guard.
After that we went to Tivoli Gardens. Tivoli Gardens is an amusement park with beautifully landscaped gardens in the middle of downtown Copenhagen. It really is a special place.
Beautiful outdoor theater in Tivoli.Marching band at Tivoli.Annie and Peter at Tivoli.
After Tivoli we took the Metro back to the house and took a little rest before dinner.
Annie and Peter made a dinner reservation at a restaurant in the tower of the building, Christiansborg Palace, where the legislature meets. The ceiling of the restaurant was probably 4 stories high and the walls were adorned with carved stone lions and coats of arms.
I had chicken with mushrooms and peas. It was very good.Enjoying our dinner at the Tower Restaurant.What great food and ambience. It was so nice of Annie and Peter to set up this wonderful dinner.
On Sunday morning Annie taught an exercise class at a local gym and Peter and I attended the class. Annie is a certified trainer and her class was fun but physically challenging. My legs are still sore from the squats she had us doing.
Peter, Mark and Annie at the gym.
After the gym we went home and Annie made smorgasbord sandwiches.
Not only are Annieās smorgasbord sandwiches works of art, they are beyond delicious.
After lunch Peter and I went down to Nuhavn and went on a canal tour of Copenhagen.
Nuhavn is really picturesque.This is the Danish royal yacht.The backside of the Little Mermaid.The new Copenhagen library.The Copenhagen City Hall.
After our canal tour we had a beer in Nuhavn and then took the Metro home. Once we got home we walked to a very nice Italian restaurant.
Veal carapace. Very tasty.Tagliatelle with sausage.
Thatās it from Copenhagen. I hope you had a great weekend wherever you are.
Tomorrow is a travel day for me. I fly from Copenhagen to Manchester on Ryan Air and then transfer planes to take a flight from Manchester to Lisbon on Easy Jet.
Today is the 80th anniversary of D-Day. The courage of those young men, many only in their late teens, astonishes me. I have been told that the D-Day sites in Normandy should be on my bucket list. Today I am putting them on my bucket list. A heartfelt salute to all the men and women who are serving and have served in the Armed Forces, and a special salute to all those who were part of the D-Day invasion. God bless you all.
One of the breakfast items at the breakfast buffet today. A group from Great Britain must have checked into the hotel.The Camino is tough on socks. A lot of my equipment is either showing significant wear or is falling apart. Good thing I packed a sewing kit. I was able to keep my clothes together by sewing holes as they appeared and I was able to repair the holes in my shoes with a needle and thread and super glue.Once I get home these shoes go straight into the trash. It is time for comando laundry. Everything goes into the washing machine except for my rain pants and my fleece jacket. The young man who took this picture thought I was crazy. But for the first time in a month I have really clean clothes.
Now it is time for lunch. While I was walking a group of us started to talk about our favorite restaurants in Porto. One of the women in the group said that her favorite was a restaurant called Novo Mundo. As I was walking out of the laundromat with my clean clothes I noticed that Novo Mundo was right across the street, so I decided to have lunch there.
First course was vegetable soup.Second course was a big hunk of cod with chips and a half carafe of green wine.For dessert I had chocolate mousse.
After lunch I checked into the alburgue that I stayed at in the beginning of my trip, the Best Guest Hostel. They have been storing my big suitcase for me while I was on the Camino. I spent the afternoon sorting through my stuff and packing a small backpack for my upcoming trip to Copenhagen for the weekend to visit my cousins Annie and Peter.
I leave tomorrow, Friday, June 7, to fly to Copenhagen. On Monday, June 10, I fly from Copenhagen to Lisbon. On Thursday, June 13, I take the train from Lisbon to Porto. On Saturday, June 15, I fly home to Denver.
My bunk room at the Best Guest Hostel. Three two tiered bunk beds in a fairly tight space. I have the lower bunk on the right. My cozy lower bunk.
I had a hankering for a Radler but I couldnāt find a bar that served Radler. Finally a bartender suggested I try a white port wine and tonic. Why not!
These things are great. They are so great I had a second.The check came in a sardine tin. I thought the guy was giving me a tin of sardines for being such a good customer. The tin was empty except for the check and after I paid the check he returned the tin with my change. No sardines for me.Big Mac for dinner with a side salad and a fresh squeezed lemonade. I had to find out if the McDonalds in Porto tastes the same as it does back home. The Big Mac was actually OK. It tastes pretty much like it tastes back home, which can either be good or bad depending on what you think of McDonalds.
Thatās it from Porto, Portugal. I hope you are having a wonderful day wherever you are.
On this trip I did three Caminos, the Portuguese Coastal/Senda Litoral, the Portuguese Central, and the Finisterre/Mucia Camino.
My good friend Don Kane sent me a New York Times article on things to do in Porto. Today I decided to visit a few of the sites recommended by the New York Times.
The first place on my list today was the Jardins do Palacio de Cristal. This is a 10 acre park with beautiful flowers and trees. I am staying in the lower part of Porto along the river. This garden is in upper Porto. It took me an hour of walking and serious hill climbing to get to this garden.
Peacocks were strutting their stuff all over the park.The park was beautifully landscaped and maintained.Great view to the west from one of the observation points in the park.
The second site on my list was the Porto Cathedral.
What an amazing altarpiece. All carved wood that has been gilded in gold leaf.Some Portuguese chruches have these walls made up of hundreds of intricately painted tiles.
After touring the Cathedral I visited the Bishopās residence. Bishops back then lived a very luxurious lifestyle. The Porto Bishopās residence was amazing.
There is a grand staircase as you enter the residence and if you look up you see this skylight and the beautiful painted ceiling.
Now itās time for lunch. I stoped by a stir fry place and got a garlic pepper chicken stir fry topped with an egg.
Lunch.
After lunch I visited the last site on my list, the Church of Saint Francis. This church is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and for good reason. The carved and gilded altar pieces are stupendous.
This is the main altarpiece.This is a side altar. The wood carving in the middle is the Tree of Jesse. It is very similar to the Tree of Jesse in the Portico of Glory at the Cathedral in Santiago.The specialty of this restaurant is suckling pig.So I had a suckling pig sandwich for dinner. It was great.
Thatās it from Porto, Portugal. I hope you are having a great day wherever you are.
I got a great nightās sleep last night in my luxury hotel room. On this trip any hotel room that is clean and has sheets on the bed and towels in the bathroom is a luxury hotel room.
This hotel has a complimentary breakfast buffet.
Meats and cheeses and bacon and eggs and fruit. Bread and pasteries.This is my first trip to the breakfast buffet. I went back a couple of times.At 8:30 Pedro, our tour guide, picked me up in this brand new Mercedes van and we headed out for an all day tour of the Douro Valley.This was our tour group. From left to right, Too and Michael who live in Canada and your humble correspondent and Pedro the tour guide and Catherine and Chris who live in England.
We drove about 90 minutes east of Porto to the area known as the Douro Valley. This is where they make port wine.
The Douro Valley.Another shot of the Douro Valley.
Our first stop was a vineyard and winery where we got a tour of their aging room and then a wine tasting.
Quinta is Portuguese for winery. This is their aging room. They age certain of the ports in these huge barrels.And they age some of the other ports in these small barrels.This is the wine tasting. We sampled a white and a red wine. Then we sampled three ports, a white, a tawny and a ruby.
Port is a fortified wine. They take a regular wine and age it a little bit and then add an 80 proof brandy called fire water to the wine and then age it for up to 30 years before they bottle it and sell it as port. It is a little bit strong and a little bit sweet. I like it, especially the white port.
This Quinta is quite scenic.
After the wine tasting we drove about 30 minutes to get down to the Douro River where we took a one hour river cruise.
Railroad bridge along the river.Steam train running on tracks above the river.
After the river cruise we drove to the home of the owner of the tour company where we had a late lunch.
They set a beautiful table.
We started with a charcuterie plate, then had soup and salad then roast beef and potatoes followed by dessert. And of course wine with lunch and port with dessert.
Roast beef and potatoes.
We got back to Porto at 6:00 PM. What a fun day.
Thatās it from Porto, Portugal. I hope you are having a great day wherever you are.
I decided that I would skip the final stage of the Portuguese Central Camino, Padron to Santiago. I just did this stage a couple of weeks ago and it is a lot of road walking through the suburbs of Santiago. I didnāt really enjoy this walk the last time I did it. I will admit that I was very hungover when I did it last time and that might have colored my opinion of this stage. But I was at a point last night where I was tired and felt like it was time to stop walking.
In addition, I have already walked into Santiago three times and that is enough. It is time to move on to the next stage in this adventure, which means I needed to reserve bus tickets from Padron to Santiago and then Santiago to Porto. Yesterday afternoon I got online and bought the bus tickets. I even walked down to the bus station in Padron so I wouldnāt be wandering around in the dark this morning trying to find the place where I was going to catch my 7:00 AM bus to Santiago.
I got up early this morning and got to the bus station by 6:30 AM. Then I looked at my ticket and realized that there are two bus stations in Padron and I was at the wrong one. The bus station where I needed to be was an hour walk from the bus station I was at. Then I noticed that a number of people were at the bus station apparently waiting for a bus. I used my Spanglish and asked them where they were going. They replied: āSantiago!ā Just then a local bus, Monbus, pulled in and we all boarded and took off for Santiago.
Monbus is the local bus operator.This is the Alsa bus that I missed in Padron. I caught up to it in Santiago. Alsa is the long distance bus operator.
I dozed during most of the 4 hour bus ride from Santiago to Porto. Once we got to Porto I retrieved my backpack and trudged into the city center.
On my trudge into town I passed by this little pocket park. What a beautiful flowering tree.Now it is time for a late lunch. Sardines and onions in a tomato sauce. Delicious!
The couple sitting next to me ordered a hot dog.
This is how they cook a hot dog table side.
This hike has been hard on my equipment. My socks are all falling apart. I sew up the holes and at the end of the day the old holes reappear along with new holes. I Googled āhiking socks nearbyā and found a North Face store a couple of blocks away.
JACKPOT! I found the perfect Smartwool socks in my size.Joana at the North Face store was so helpful. As I was walking to my hotel I ran across this bar. Porto is known as a party town, especially for young Brits. No partying for this tired pilgrim.
After wandering around a bit I finally found my hotel, The Ribeira Douro Hotel. It is a very nice little boutique hotel. Pedro, the front desk manager, was a little surprised and skeptical to see the likes of me checking in. After I showed him my passport and he established that I had already prepaid for my three nightās stay, he apologized profusely for his initial surprise that someone dressed like me and carrying a backpack would be staying at his boutique hotel. I accepted his apology and told him that I get that reaction a lot when I check into nice hotels. He poured me a glass of white port wine and asked me if there was anything he could do for me to make my stay in Porto more enjoyable. I told him I wanted to do a vineyard tour tomorrow. He immediately picked up the phone and called a buddy of his that does small group all day vineyard tours. His buddy will pick me up at 8:30 tomorrow morning in the hotel lobby and I will spend the rest of the day sampling port wine. š· I am going to leave Wednesday free as a recovery day, just in case.
My buddy Pedro, the front desk manager.Very nice room!
I had dinner tonight at the BBQ Indian & Kebab Restaurant.
I started out with a tropical fruit smoothie.Then I had the chefās special, curry fish. It was beyond delicious. It was perfectly spiced, not too spicy and very flavorful.This is the waiter, chef and owner, Imran. He just opened this restaurant. What a great guy and what a great restaurant!Dusk in Porto.
Thatās it from Porto, Portugal. I hope you are having a wonderful day wherever you are.
Yesterday I started having a little trouble with my lower back during the last hour of the hike. It was a hot day and I developed a heat rash in the middle of my lower back where the hip belt on my backpack rests. It was pretty irritated and sensitive by the time I got to the alburgue.
I put my Smart Mark hat on and decided to hire a service to transport my backpack from Caldas de Reis to Padron. Best 6 euros I ever spent.
This morning I was up at 6:15 AM and down in the alburgue breakfast room by 7:00. They wanted 6 euros for toast made with stale bread so I hit the road without breakfast.
It was a beautiful brisk morning. The trail was crowded with pilgrims marching to Padron.
Most of these country churches are closed and locked.
It seemed like it took me forever to find an open bar/cafe for breakfast.
The tortilla espaƱola was hot out of the oven and I couldnāt resist the chocolate croissant.The trail today was for the most part smooth country roads.
Shortly after breakfast I started walking with Tom and Jamidawn. They are originally from Indiana and are now living in Portugal. It was so much fun walking and talking with them. The real magic of the Camino is the great people you meet. Jamidawn and Tomās children live in the Denver metro area. We exchanged contact information and we vowed to stay in touch and the next time they are out visiting their kids we are going to get together.
From left to right, Sarni, Bill, Tom and Jamidawn. Bill and Sarni are fellow expats and are driving the SAG wagon for Tom and Jamidawn. We had a nice lunch at an Italian restaurant in Padron. What nice people you meet on the Camino.In Padron today they are having a street fair/festival to celebrate Corpus Christi. There were hundreds of stalls selling all kinds of things and a whole area set aside for pulperĆas.Pulpo š is big here.
Thatās it from Padron, Spain. I hope you are having a great day wherever you are.
The alburgue last night was great up to bed time. I couldnāt figure out the thermostat for the air conditioner so the room was a tad stuffy. Although the beds were comfortable they were a little small. The other guy in the room was from the Netherlands and he was at least six and a half feet tall. I barely fit in my bunk bed. He did not fit in his bunk bed at all.
All was forgiven when I got up and went to the complimentary breakfast. Scrambled eggs and bacon, toast, ham and cheese, fresh squeezed orange juice and a Santiago cake. I rolled out of the alburgue at 7:00 AM and waddled out of Pontevedra.
It was a beautiful sunny day and the Way was backcountry roads and smooth paths through the forests, fields and vineyards.
Most of the day was very peaceful except the 500 or so mountain bikers who were riding along the Way to Santiago.
For a full hour these guys were roaring by us as we walked along the Way.
At about 10:00 I stopped and had second breakfast.
This is a tortilla espaƱola and an Aquarius, the European version of Gatorade.
As I was sitting at this cafe enjoying my second breakfast 100 or so road racing cars roared by.
These were souped up cars with ear splitting loud mufflers. It is Saturday and the locals are out having fun.Whoās complaining? Iām not complaining!I spent at least half the day walking through these beautiful vineyards.These roadside crosses appear every couple of kilometers along the Way. Apparently when you confessed to a significant sin the priest would tell you as your penance you had to erect a roadside cross. The more egregious the sin, the bigger the cross. And everyone in the village and surrounding villages would know who had erected the cross. How embarrassing. So much for the confidentiality of the confessional.This is the river that runs through Caldas de Reis. There is a cafe on the right side of this picture. I stopped there and had lunch at one of the riverside tables.I had beef stew for lunch. It was such a huge serving that I couldnāt finish it.
Look who joined me for lunch.
Ann and John joined me for a nice leisurely lunch.
Caldas de Reis means hot springs. This evening I went down to the communal hot springs and soaked my feet in the warm water along with numerous other pilgrims.
Pilgrims soaking their feet in the warm water.
Thatās it from Caldas de Reis, Spain. I hope you are having a wonderful day wherever you are.
AbeAndMarkontheCamino 