Evora Day 1

 On Tuesday morning, we woke up and had breakfast at the hotel and then explored the gardens a bit before packing up to leave. The gardens were beautiful but I found the map hard to navigate and I was looking for fountains that were more 3 dimensional than what was actually there. After checking out of our hotel, our driver picked us up to head to Evora which is about a 3 hour drive. We stopped once to use the bathroom and the rest stop was so civilized and organized.

Our hotel in Evora is a little outside the city and is a former convent from the 15th century. It’s beautiful and our room is pretty big. We had to walk through the cloisters to get to our room (and pass a lot of religious art). After settling in briefly we took an uber to our food tour meeting point and wandered a little before meeting our guide Marcus. 

Marcus took us into a wine shop to start and a few cafes before ending in a bakery. We had cheese and olive oil, bifana (but different than what we had in Porto), a pork dish with picked vegetables covered in French fries, scrambled eggs with bacon, and finally a local conventual tart. It was more cakey than custardy. He also took us into a store that sold olive oil, wine and liquor. We had a cherry liquor in a little chocolate cup. We had already had 2 wines and a beer so I had to spill some liquor out. It was so hot in the town, my fan was nearly useless. Today is supposed to be slightly hotter (high of 99) but hopefully the heat breaks soon. We get a tour of Evora today so we will get to know the city better. 

Coimbra

 On Monday, we had breakfast and met our driver in the lobby for the journey to Coimbra. It was about 2 hours away and mostly highway. We had trouble getting out of Pinhão because the bridge was narrow and giant tour buses were trying to pass. Our hotel in Coimbra is on the grounds of the famous Gardens: Quinta das Lagrimas. The garden has a famous love story involving a prince and forbidden love. We are going to explore after breakfast this morning. As I write this, there are mallards wandering around the patio we are eating at like less aggressive seagulls or little dogs looking for scraps. 

After settling in at the hotel, we took an uber to the top of the hill in town where we met our guide, Bruno. This town is also built into a hill. At the top is the university that is partially newer construction without a lot of personality and partially the former palace from when Coimbra was the capital. We toured the old palace and the library which was added on later. The university is really old, founded in 1290. Bruno took us for a tour of the former student jail which had a large common cell for lesser crimes and we went into a solitary cell. If a student was in for lesser crimes they would get taken to class and back. The library is gorgeous but they do not allow photos. We also went into the chapel that is still be used by students and alumni. 

From the university, we walked down hill and saw more of the historic neighborhood, including churches and parts of the medieval wall. Before Bruno left us, we had a convent treat that was specific to that cafe which was connected to a church. It was an almond tart which was so good. Bruno had heard about Trader Joe’s selling frozen pastel de nata and was offended they would try as they aren’t the same. 

After Bruno left us we explored the neighborhood some more and made our way to a Bistro for dinner I had found online. It was really cute and all our food was so good. We had duck, lamb, tomato salad and then dessert. After dinner we walked back across the bridge to our hotel. 

Douro Valley Day 2

 Sunday morning, we woke up on the earlier side to eat breakfast in the hotel and then meet our guide Nuno for our hike. Nuno was a great guide and from a village nearby. He drove us up to a small village to look out on the valley and then we drove a little further up to our starting point. We hiked about 3.5 miles all together (it was very hilly) with stops along the way to discuss the vegetation, the vineyards we saw, the history of the area, etc. After reaching the top of the mountain we were climbing, we walked downhill to lunch. For lunch, we stopped at this structure built into the mountain that had a small oven, sink and area to grill. Nuno’s colleague met us there with a picnic lunch and of course wine. We had homemade jam and homemade port, codfish salad, tuna salad with black eyed peas, egg, homemade bread and cheese. 

After lunch Nuno took us to another winery nearby: Quanta Terra. This winery was different because it combined art and wine. In addition to being a little more experimental with their wine making techniques, the owners also wanted to make art more accessible to the valley so the building was also used for several exhibits. We sat down for a wine tasting which was great. We had so many glasses in front of us, Nuno insisted on a picture. After Quanta Terra, we wound our way back down the mountain in Nuno’s car and went back to the hotel. It was an incredible experience. 

At the hotel, we had time to hang out so Mom went to the pool while I hung out in the air conditioning. After we got ready for dinner, we walked to the train station and ran into Sarah. Our dinner reservation was about a half hour away, so we took the train to that neighborhood while it was still running and took a taxi home. The roads are narrow and curvy here so I’m glad we aren’t driving. 

We had dinner at Castas e Pratos which was in the old train station building at Regua. Everything was delicious. We had duck ravioli, scallops, veal with risotto and sea bass with risotto. We finished with a lemon made of some sort of mousse and a deconstructed tiramisu. 

Today we head to Coimbra for one night. It’s so beautiful here but we have tasted a lot of wine so we are ready for new activities.