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Ger's September 2014 Trip Report to Galicia and Portugal

Ger's September 2014 Trip Report to Galicia and Portugal

Old Oct 11th, 2014, 08:35 AM
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Ger's September 2014 Trip Report to Galicia and Portugal

Hello all:

In early September 2014, I took a 10 day trip to Galicia and Portugal and, as always, received excellent advice and tips from Fodorites. Here is the trip report.

Itinerary:
Friday 29th August
Flew from London to Porto, by easyJet, arrived early afternoon.
Activity: Drove to O Grove, had an excellent dinner in O Grove.
Hotel: Hesperia Isla La Toja


Saturday 30th August
Activity: Drove the Rias Baixas, visited three wineries. Back to O Grove, and had cocltails in the posh hotel I couldn’t afford to stay in, and some Galician tapas in an hotel I am glad I did not stay in.
Hotel: Hesperia Isla La Toja


Sunday 31st August
Activity: Drove through the Minho. Lazed by the pool in the afternoon drank Vinho Verde, and had an awful lunch and an even more awful dinner.
Hotel: Monte Prado: http://www.booking.com/hotel/pt/mont...4b315dc;dcid=1


Monday 1st September
Activity: Explored the Minho, and visited a winery. Drove to Porto. Returned car. Explored Porto.
Hotel: Rosa Et Al Townhouse


Tuesday 2nd September
Activity: Took the HOHO bus, had lunch on the coast, explored Porto. Had another great dinner on the coast.
Hotel: Rosa Et Al Townhouse

Wednesday 3rd September
Activity: Explored Porto
Travel: Took a train to Lisbon in the early evening. Went for a walk.
Hotel: Internacional Design Hotel


Thursday 4th September
Activity: Took HOHO bus, had a great lunch on the river in Belem, explored Lisbon.
Hotel: Internacional Design Hotel

Friday 5th September
Activity: Took the train to Sinstra, explored Lisbon
Hotel: Internacional Design Hotel

Saturday 6th September
Activity: Explored Lisbon
Hotel: Internacional Design Hotel

Sunday 7th September
Activity: Explored Lisbon
Travel: Flew back to London with TAP in the evening
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Old Oct 11th, 2014, 09:24 AM
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Hi Ger,

sounds as if you made the best of your trip despite some "dodgyness".

looking forward to more....
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Old Oct 11th, 2014, 02:28 PM
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Did you tour any of the palaces in Sintra.?
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Old Oct 11th, 2014, 02:28 PM
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Background:

I discovered quite late in August, that I had some free time between projects, and was likely to be very busy in late September and October, so I thought it would be a good idea to get away for a week or so. It also seemed an ideal time to travel, as families would be traveling back to the UK preparing for school, so hotel availability and pricing would be positive.

My niece [C] is studying the wine industry in a college in the UK, and we are both very big fans and consumers of Alberino, both of us love Galicia, so it seemed appropriate to design part of the trip around the Rias Baixas in Galicia, and northern Portugal. She wanted to visit Oporto, and sample the Port in the country it was made. I have wanted to return to Portugal for years, since my first long weekend visit to the interior about 10 years ago, and I have always wanted to visit Lisbon, mainly for its historic significance and the beauty of its architecture.

SO that’s how it began. As usual, I had little time to plan, compared to you great planners who manage to plan a trip like this months in advance.

Flights were surprisingly expensive from London, but easyJet’s price was not so bad for the outward leg, and they fly to Oporto from Gatwick, which is reasonably convenient for me.

This is the first time I had flown a ‘low cost airline’, so I was tense. I bought the option of reserving the seat and ‘fast check-in’, printed my boarding card, so, as it turned out, it was easier than anticipated.


Day One: Friday 29th August

Flight was delayed by 20 minutes, and we had plenty of time, so we browsed the Duty Free and had a coffee. Suddenly, the screen turned from ‘NO GATE’ to ‘Final Boarding’ for our flight, and it was a good 15 minutes’ walk to get to the gate. I started to dash, and C laughed, as she has taken ‘low cost’ airlines before – this is what they DO to get the passengers to the boarding area. I stopped running, and start walking very quickly. True enough, we get to the boarding area, and they have not even started to board. Worse, the screen then changes from ‘Final Boarding’ to ‘Flight Closed’, and they are STILL cleaning the aircraft. A hoard of people come sprinting in, and I worried that one gentleman was about to have a heart attack. We eventually boarded … 20 minutes late!

I booked row one, so we had ample leg room. The flight and service was excellent, as good as you get with regular airlines. Crew were very charming. I have no complaints. Just make sure you pre-book a seat so you can get priority check-in and boarding.

We landed almost on time in Porto, and took a bus from the Terminal to pick up the car. Service from Hertz was excellent – charming and polite, and everyone spoke English. We upgraded the car, and took the Satellite option, FULL insurance (my decision, not C’s, as she NEVER dents a car, and I ALWAYS dent a car)) so a little more expensive than we had booked, but not excessive.

We were on our way. Its easy to find the road north to Spain, and C is an excellent driver. All I had to do was figure out the radio, and find us a good Classical station. I was a little surprised when I noticed that the journey would take us over three hours, as I was certain when I checked on the internet, it was just over two hours. We discussed, and decided to stop somewhere after two hours for a break.

Of course, when we crossed the border from Portugal to Spain, and the car clock automatically clicked forward by an hour, and distance to destination was reduced by an hour, I remembered that Portugal is on GMT, and Spain on Continental time. How could I have forgotten this - DUH?

Its an easy drive to O Grove, and the scenery is very wonderful as you approach, with the estuary on the left side. We decided to take a break in O Grove, before crossing the bridge to the hotel in La Toja. We parked the car, picked up bottles of water and some wine and snacks, and then parked ourselves in a café on the waterfront, and had wine and tapas, for ONE Euros - lovely local wine that would cost 10 Euros in London! I am already happy.

On first impression, O Grove is an odd town. On one hand, it is a very working-class fishing town – there are gritty bits. Yet it has a very beautiful medieval area, which we would see the following day, with historic walking areas, restaurants and wine bars. It is a tourist destination for the Spanish, and there are hotels for the wealthy, that are comparable to any international Spa town, and others that would be comparable to B&B’s in Blackpool.

Back into the car, and we crossed the bridge into La Toja, where all the posh hotels are located, to the Hesperia Isla La Toja, booked for about 100 Euros per night:

http://www.hesperia.es/hesperia/es/h...n=googleplaces

The hotel has a massive ugly concrete façade, in the Brutalist manner, except I believe it was built much later, so there is NO excuse for its ugliness. Once you get over the façade, the interior is exactly what one would expect – marble, glass and a complete lack of charm. It was exactly as I expected, so I was prepared for it.

I had booked the basic room, and was very satisfied: Large room with two double beds, large bathroom, very clean, nice view of the sea.

We showered and changed, and set out for the evening. Normally, I would have investigated good restaurants, but I hadn’t, so we discussed if we were either going to wander around O Grove and find some place, or ask for advice from the hotel. We decided to try the latter, asking the concierge to book us a table for the BEST restaurant in O Grove. This was the right decision. He was very helpful, and made several suggestions, but decided on one, phoned a restaurant and got us a booking for 8:30pm, which is very early for Spain. He assured us that it had been recently voted the VERY BEST seafood restaurant in Spain, and, as HE said, therefore the VERY BEST seafood restaurant in the whole world. Clearly, we were suspicious. How pleasantly surprised we were!

10 minutes later, the taxi delivered us at the restaurant D’Berto, and we discovered it actually HAD been voted the best seafood restaurant in Spain for 2014 – the shingle was on the door.

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaur...e_Galicia.html

We feasted on several dishes of local shellfish to start: Shrimp (Two dishes, done two ways), Clams, and Mussels, and the calm dish was so good, we ordered a second! Everything was so fresh, and tasted of the sea. The best bread I have ever tasted – we went through three baskets.

We then ordered two fish dishes with vegetables and potatoes - a Sea Bass (pan-fried) and Hake dish (cooked in the Galician way), but they allowed us to order a half-dish each at half the price ( this is common in Galicia). Both were absolutely delicious. Regarding the vegetables, I was introduced to a new ‘green vegetable’ by C, which I think we translated into ‘Turnip Greens’ (i.e. the greens fronds on the top of the turnip), which is outstanding, but never heard of it, never tasted before. The Irish eat the turnip root (boring) and the Galician’s eat the ‘greens’ – the tasty bit.
The service was stellar. Almost all staff spoke scant English, but one waiter had rather good English, and he was assigned to our table. He was so very attentive, and talked to us about every dish served. Typical of the Galician’s, he is very proud of his heritage, the food, the wine, and wants to share all with foreigners. It made for a great evening of good food, good wine, good conversation, and this was a constant theme during our short journey through Galicia the next day.

C ordered a great bottle of local wine to accompany the meal, was congratulated on her choice by the waiter as a perfect choice – an excellent Alborino at an astonishing low price. We followed by two glasses of a very decent red from the Duero. They then delivered three bottles of ‘digestif’ (not sure what the term is in Galicia, but will ask C), to drink as much as we wanted. We both had small samples of each - just a tasting.

The bill was SHOCKING, in a positive sense! It was 75 Euros. It was far less than any very ordinary dinner in London, with a very ordinary wine. To get the equivalent, the fresh seafood, we would, we have to take a four-hour train ride to Cornwall, stay overnight and probably still pay twice that!
We left a very large tip for our lovely waiter, and took a taxi back to the hotel.

This was a great start to the holiday.

Tomorrow:

Exploring the Rias Baixas Wine region

http://www.riasbaixaswines.com/
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Old Oct 11th, 2014, 02:31 PM
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Percy: Yes, but you will have wait for that instalment

Best .. Ger
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Old Oct 11th, 2014, 03:16 PM
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okee Dokee !
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Old Oct 11th, 2014, 11:59 PM
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75 Euros is expensive for Galicia. But for "the best sea food in the world" (probably) that is not so bad. I do know of other restaurants which will cost more.
The digestives you had were chupitos... Aguardente. Some times you get them free, sometimes they are on the bill.
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Old Oct 12th, 2014, 01:36 AM
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If this report gets you thinking about visiting O Grove, (and why not?) then maybe think about visiting in the first week of October.Festa do Marisco.
http://www.lavozdegalicia.es/album/a...2330589999.htm
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Old Oct 12th, 2014, 04:32 AM
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GER, glad to see your trip report. Will follow along to enjoy the scenery, fine wine, and dining...
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Old Oct 12th, 2014, 07:57 AM
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Flights were surprisingly expensive from London, but easyJet’s price was not so bad for the outward leg, and they fly to Oporto from Gatwick, which is reasonably convenient for me.

This is the first time I had flown a ‘low cost airline’, so I was tense. I bought the option of reserving the seat and ‘fast check-in’, printed my boarding card, so, as it turned out, it was easier than anticipated. >>

Really Ger? we've been travelling on easyjet for years; though probably living where we do we have less choice of the scheduled airlines than you do. BTW, there really isn't any need to pay for priority boarding etc unless you are desperate to sit with your travelling companion - we rarely bother nowadays.

The meal sounds lovely, and you're right, you could come to Cornwall and eat just as well - we were at the Falmouth Oyster Festival last night and as well as the oysters, there was some great food available - I had an absolutely delicious king prawn dish and rice for only £6. I also noted that Rick Stein was offering a three course set lunch for £15. So no need to spend a fortune here either. [though you can if you want to!]

I'm not familiar with this part of Spain or with Portugal at all, so I'm really interested to follow your trip.
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Old Mar 26th, 2017, 01:52 PM
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Ger, I went looking for your Dordogne report and found this instead, but much to my dismay, this is The End! I loved Galicia and would love to read more, a little late now though, I guess. But thanks for what you did write.
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Old Mar 26th, 2017, 01:56 PM
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Could you possibly give me a link for your Dordogne TR? I don't see it on your profile. Thank you!
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Old Mar 26th, 2017, 02:03 PM
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The best sea food in the world?! Okay I'm sold. I'm a seafood maniac, growing up in a country that's practically a long coast and nothing else.

And the Seafood festival in october that ribeirasacra mentioned sounds great.
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Old Mar 27th, 2017, 12:43 PM
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sundriedtopepo;

Unfortunately I have many half-finished trip reports on this site

I do have one completed trip report from the Dordogne, but it is ancient, from 2004.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...e-dordogne.cfm


Thank you for reminding me of it. StCirq helped me plan it, and I enjoyed reading the feedback for her, Mimi and many other friends from the 'old days'.

StCirq is now living the dream in the Dordogne, so, if you need help planning a trip there, reach out to her. She is still as kind and helpful as ever, and very proud of her region.

Best regards ... Ger
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