Portugal - Road Trip - June 2018

Following on from our hiking along the coast of Portugal we did a little road trip around up through the north of Portugal. Leaving our hotel in Odeceixe we headed north towards the city of Evora (a UNESCO World Heritage Site).  We parked outside the walls of the city and walked around the old historical area - some wonderful buildings and a nice town square.  We had lunch in a restaurant just off the square recommended by our guide book (by Rick Steve’s). Not bad but we ordered wrong and ended up with far too much food.  Evora is a walled city and it has a very nice cathedral and Roman Forum that sit on top of the hill in the center of town. All in all a most interesting place well worth a stop.

Roman Forum, Evora

After leaving Evora we headed towards Lisbon.  We were staying at a Pousada in Palmela, a suburb to the south east of Lisbon.  Pousadas are a chain of hotels primarily in fine old historical buildings. They were originally state owned but in 2003 they were privatized.  This one was in a beautiful old building adjoining an old castle and it sat in a fine location above the town of Palmela.

Castle at Palmela

We explored the town and again around 5:00 pm we found it almost deserted.  Still it was a pleasant enough town and we did manage to find a couple of bars that sold us a glass of wine.  The vinho verde that comes out of a tap and is pressurized is remarkably good and remarkably cheap (1-2 Euro a glass).  We took our evening meal in the restaurant at the Pousada. Quite fine.

Palmela

Next morning after breakfast in the Pousada (with the BMW motorbike riders, and the English horse riding ladies) we headed out towards Lisbon.  We crossed the San Francisco look-alike bridge and continued on through town towards Sintra. We had a reservation in another Pousada in Queluz.  This one was in the guard house associated with the National Palace of Queluz. Again a very fine old building.

Pousada de Queluz

Queluz doesn’t have too much to offer so after checking in we headed out to adjacent Sintra.  Sintra has a wealth of fine buildings and palaces and is another UNESCO site. The most important site is the Palace of Sintra, a complex on top of the hill that is a wonderful example of 19th Century Romanticism.  The bulk of the work was done by King Ferdinand II who was a cousin of Queen Victoria. The palace is a bit Disneylandish in its appearance with towers and turrets and gates all lavishly decorated with tiles or carvings.  We stood in line and did the tour of the palace. A bit of a crush but well worth doing; it is an incredible site.

The grounds to the Palace of Sintra are also quite splendid with winding trails past duck ponds, lakes, stables, stables, rabbit warrens, and gardens.  We only covered a small part of the complex in the time we had available. The Palace was on top of a hill and was shrouded in mist and quite cool. Back down in Sintra the sun was shining.  

Town of Sintra

Sintra itself is a splendid town.  In its day it must have been spectacular - lots of fine homes and buildings and a lovely hillside location above the heat of Lisbon.  The Palace of Sintra is quite an interesting building with Moorish (Mudejar) and Gothic styles. It’s two white spires are immediately recognizable.

Palace of Sintra

We drove back to Queluz and our hotel and then left the car to travel into Lisbon on the train for the evening.  There was a fine train service from Queluz into the city with trains running as often as every 15 mins. It was the evening of the Portugal vs Spain football match in the World Cup.  You can imagine the tension in the air - Portugal scored first then Spain equalized, then Spain took the lead. It was not until the last two minutes that Portugal equalized and everyone was so relieved and happy that they came away with a draw against their rivals.  Ronaldo was the man of the match.

Watching the World Cup, Lisbon

We had a pleasant evening walking around Lisbon and a not so great meal (for me, Nancy loved it) in a Contemporary Peruvian restaurant (Cantina Peruana) that in my mind was trying too hard to be “contemporary” and not what I imagine Peruvians dine on.

The next morning we caught the train into Lisbon again and explored the city some more.   The train arrived at the Rossio station and we walked down to the San Domingo Cathedral and looked around the very fine interior.  Close by there was a little Ginjinha shop - all they sold was shots of Ginjinha - a sour cherry liquor. We sampled a some - not too bad - a little like cough mixture.

Elevador de Santa Justa

We walked down towards the ocean, passing the Elevador de Santa Justa on the way.  This is a wonderful iron vertical elevator built in the early 1900’s. Alas today it is purely a tourist attraction.  We waited in the ticket line for 10 minutes or so before giving up.

Praca do Comercio, Lisbo

Waterfront in Lisbon

It was a nice walk down the busy Rua Augusta to the waterfront (the mouth of the River Taga.  We then walked down the riverfront towards the Mercado Ribeiro. This was once a flourishing market but while it has been preserved it is now full of restaurants and gourmet food stands which is not quite as interesting.  We took the funicular up the hill. An interesting means of getting up the hill but as with the lift it is mainly just a tourist feature now. It was a shame the funicular was covered in ugly graffiti.

Funicular

To complete the tourist transport options we took a trolley bus across town.  These old yellow trolley buses have become the emblem of Lisbon, and while there were a few locals on the trolley they are again primarily for the tourists these days.

A Lisbon Trolley Bus

After the trolley ride we walked back to the Rossio station and caught the train back to the hotel and our car.  We had only seen a small part of Lisbon but we had had enough - it was hot, it was crowded and we wanted to get out of town.  We headed towards the north and Coimbra. We stayed the night at a Pousada in Condeixa a small town outside Coimbra.

In the evening we walked into town and watched the final stages of a World Cup game in the town square.  The Portuguese love their football.

Monastery of Santa Cruz, Coimbra

Next day we went into Coimbra, a historic town and another UNESCO site.  We walked through the old town and went inside the Monastery of Santa Cruz and then made the climb up to the top of the hill where there is a University with the oldest library in the Portuguese speaking world.  A beautiful city but we didn’t stay long, we pressed on towards the Douro region.

Coimbra

On the way we took a side trip into Viseu another lovely old town with yet another beautiful cathedral. There are so many you get blase about them.

Cathedral in Viseu

From Viseu we drove on to the town of Lamego which is just south of the Douro River.  A sampling of the local wine in town and then we drove out to our hotel which was on a vineyard just outside town.  The hotel was quite a spectacular old home amidst acres of vines with beautiful gardens and even a swimming pool, which we took advantage of.  In contrast to the fine hotel we were staying in we took a trip into town and bought cheese, fruit and wine from LIDL (a low cost German Supermarket chain) and ate back in the courtyard of the hotel.

View from Hotel in Lamego

We left the next morning and drove over to the Douro valley, meeting the river at Peso da Regua and driving east on the river to Pinhao.  The river valley was quite beautiful, lined with vineyards all the way and spectacular views. We stopped at a vineyard, Sandeman’s I think, or at least adjacent to the big Sandeman sign on the hillside.

The Douro Valley

It was tough to drink port wine in the hot afternoon sun with the prospect of a long drive into Porto facing us, but I did my best.  I did learn one thing - Tawny Port is filtered and can be drunk at leisure over weeks, months, whilst a bottle of Ruby Port has to be finished off in a week or else it will sour.  I had always assumed Tawny Port would spoil too.

The drive to Porto was a slow one.  The roads were winding and hilly and though the distance wasn’t long it took us the rest of the afternoon.  We stopped in Valongo (I think) to get our bearings and find a hotel, and overstayed our welcome in a parking spot so we got a ticket.  Fortunately we found the appropriate kiosk in town to pay the ticket. I can't imagine what the cost would be if the rental car company had billed us.  After 72 hours the price of the ticket increased significantly.

We found a hotel in Porto - a modern one for a change - and cleaned up before walking into the city.  It was World Cup football night again so there were lots of screens in bars and squares showing the game.  Another beautiful city.

Cathedral Porto

The next day, our last before departing for the UK in the evening, we Ubered into the city center.  It was crowded with tourists as expected/. First stop was the Sao Bento railway station. This magnificent building dating from the early 1900’s with the most wonderful interior hall you could imagine.  It is adorned with beautiful painted azulejo tiles depicting battle scenes, kings and queens, etc. It is still a functioning station but it’s vestibule is a major tourist site now.

Sao Bento Railway Station

The next stop was the Clerigos Church with its impressive tall tower.  We looked inside the church (yet another wonderful church) before heading downhill to the River Douro.  It is a nice waterfront with river taxis crossing the strongly flowing river, cable cars floating across overhead, and the beautiful Dom Luis bridge spanning across the valley.  

Riverr Dourp in Porto

Then it was back up the hill to the center of town for a quick lunch before paying a visit to the bookshop, Livraria Lello.  This is one of the finest bookshops in the world by any standards. It has a beautiful interior with a stained glass skylight, a spiral staircase, beautiful art deco light features everywhere.  Lately it has become famous because of its association with Harry Potter and JK Rowling. She apparently visited the shop often when she was living in Porto and it is rumoured that it was the inspiration for some of the things in the Potter books.  As a result it is now mobbed by tourists, so much so that they have to charge 5 Euros to get in, and even then there is a line. It certainly is a remarkable bookshop.

Livraria Lello

Livraria Lello Interior

As it was now mid afternoon, we walked back to the hotel, taking in a ride on the dodgem cars in the fairground on the way.  It had been a while since I was in dodgem cars - great fun. All that was left was to pick up the car from the hotel and drive to the airport for our BA flight back to Gatwick.  A most enjoyable trip indeed.

There are more photos here.