Thanks so much! I will add that to my notes for that area. We hesitated as to whether to stay in town or out near the island. But as usual with a car we sometimes opt to stay outside of towns just for noise mostly. Vila Campina looked wonderful but it was booked up for our dates-so maybe next trip.

I am excited about fresh seafood on outdoor grills! Especially because I haven't been too excited about what I read about some of the more traditional Portuguese dishes. I love seafood but oddly enough, not quite as enthused about fish-at least in salted or smoked versions. My husband on the other hand isn't big on things that are "nata" like-puddings flans, etc. So he will have be the cod eater while I enjoy the desserts. But we haven't managed to starve on any of our trips yet, so I am assuming that like everywhere we visit we find some yummy stuff along the way.

I do like pulpo but it really depends on who is making it. As you know when not in capable hands octopus can be rubbery and not that great. But when someone knows what they are doing-it is delicious. The 2 best I have had in the past couple of years were in Tulum at a restaurant called Hartwood and at a really casual bar/cafe place in Paris called "le 52" on rue du Faubourg Saint Denis. The pulpo-pulvo there was the best I have ever had!

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/12/d...um-mexico.html

Le 52 | Café Restaurant - Paris 75010

Tavira is an interesting visit and even in winter can be good. The main hotel in the centre is in the old tuna factory and is perfectly nice in a large-hotel sort of way. Walking into town at the first approach to the river you'll find 3 or 4 restaurants looking out over the river and each is much the same as the other. Walking up to the Roman Bridge (well this bit fell down an then this bit fell down but maybe with a core of Roman) you pass the odd bar and the council which has an open-air wifi area before leading up to the more Moorish old town, nothing great but very pleasant. The beach is strangely offshore and in high summer has a movable railway on it. Boats depart from south of the salt pans.

Hi jpie,
In my experience, the Portuguese prepare pulpo (polvo) even better than the Gallegos and in more creative ways.
In Santa Luzia my husband had a really great carpaccio of polvo dish, and in Porto and the Douro Valley I've had wonderful "polvo a lagareiro" (octopus, potatoes, bay leaves, garlic & smothered in olive oil), which is a fantastic baked version, not the least bit rubbery. The My Lisbon cookbook by Nuno Mendes has a great version of this classic dish.
I'm not a fan of salt cod, so that's a challenge for me!

On our next Paris visit, we'll hit up le 52! Thanks for the tip!

jpie,
I just noticed that Casa Corvo in Fuseta (Fuzeta) has closed and reopened in a different location with a different name, A da Rui, but Chef Rui offers the same great grilled fish from his outdoor grills (and huge portions!)

https://restauranteadorui.eatbu.com/?lang=en

https://www.facebook.com/pg/CasaA.Co...=page_internal

Thanks for the update on Casa Corvo-I will definitely follow up on that one. Yes salt cod is just something that doesn't hold a lot of appeal for me but I am sure I will still find many good options.

Definitely check out the Le 52. It doesn't take reservations but is a "non-stop" service restaurant so usually I have gone for a later lunch. I discovered it 3-4 years back and when I went back the last time last summer it was because it is pretty close to the Atelier des Lumières show in Paris so it made a good stop for a late lunch. And it didn't disappoint! The food was a good as I remembered. Another new favorite of mine in Paris is right near the Pont Neuf and is kind of a contemporary Indian called Desi Road-really interesting and yummy dishes! We actually eat more ethnic food in Paris than French food I think-because some ethnic food can be harder to find out in the country-so usually in Paris we are craving Indian or Thai food.

I think you are actually headed to Portugal next month aren't you? I will be excited to hear about that trip if I am remembering correctly.

Thanks for the heads up about the railroad bilbo-I saw that but didn't realize it is seasonal-so we probably can't take it while we are there. I am excited to see Tavira off season because it looks like all the Algarve is a mob scene during the summer. We were actually there on on honeymoon 40 years ago-but I don't really have a super strong memory of the area-so it will be interesting to see if the area jogs any memories :)

jpie,
We just returned from our trip and I'm trying to finish composing my notes, which I'll pass along later.

While in Porto we saw your Myo Design House on pedestrian Rua das Flores. I think you made an excellent choice, as other many, many apartments & hotels we saw didn't have as convenient or as nice a location. There is a great deal of construction/renovation currently going on along Rua das Flores (and the entire city!), there are music buskers, and it can be a madhouse in summer, but you'll be there in April. To find the house look for the red door next to Semea by Euskalduna. And reviews note that the windows of the Myo Design House are double glazed so noise shouldn't be an issue.
We also saw the Saba parking garage, Parque das Cardosas, just up the street, open 24 hours with a multi-day rate of 26.45 euros/day (a 34% discount), if you plan to park there. It would be an easy, short walk with suitcases to the Myo Design House. I can't remember what garage you had scooped out for parking.

After a return trip of 5 days of sightseeing, climbing up and down very hilly Porto, we again realized that there's no one single plateau to avoid climbs but instead a number of mesas. To move from one to another there are still steep climbs. We got great cardio workouts. There are electric tuk-tuks parked at the beginning of Rua dos Clérigos if you want to take a (pricey) two-hour ride around the city and out to the ocean beaches and Matosinhos if your legs get tired of pounding the pavement.

Your street location below Aliados has lovely restaurants (Cantina das Flores, Mercearia das Flores, Traça, LSD), coffee spots, wine bars and some nice shops like the Meia-Dùzia for unique gourmet treats. And you'll be around the corner from Santini ice cream, the over-the-top, circus-looking O Mundo Fantástico da Sardinha Portuguesa for canned goods (but cheaper at the temporary Bolhão market) and the newest Manteigaria on Rua dos Clérigos for pastéis de nata and great coffee.
And for culture, there's the nicely done museum of the Igreja da Misericórdia, whose Nasoni-designed Baroque interior is truly glorious with its blue and white tiles. *We really enjoyed this museum and had it to ourselves.

We had a fantastic return visit to Porto as well as to the majestic Douro, and I know you'll enjoy the city.

Thanks so much for the updates! I will add it to my notes. While you were away we discovered that my DH is going to have to follow up on some health issues. Nothing major we think at this point but he may have to hang around Seattle in March for a 3 month medical follow up. So we are now (for the third time) re-looking our Portugal trip dates! We think that the worst case scenario is that we get to France in early to mid-April instead of early March, and we do the trip stretching through May. But at this point we have to leave our dates a bit open until we know more about potential changes. Thank goodness we booked our airline flights with fully refundable rates on Norwegian and all the hotel booking are also still changeable at this point. So stay tuned-I will keep you posted and of course all the information is extremely helpful even if our dates change!

So sorry to hear about your husband's health issues (been there ourselves!!). But very glad to know that you won't suffer nasty cancellation penalties! I'll stay tuned!