progol

Wow, Mel, what a difference! Thanks for the photo! It’s fascinating to see the changes.

progol

Well, I’m skipping ahead to the Douro Valley,, where we are now, and will return to a chronological order shortly. It’s just that it’s so beautiful that I want to share these with you! Thanks to the recommendation from Maribel , we are staying in the Quinta do Pego, such a gorgeous place.



Dinner time view

Evening skies

Evening

I did not finish this! I couldn’t! L to R: white port spritzer, glass of red wine, glass of port

Morning, waking up and looking at our terrace

Morning view from the room

Reflections

Percy

I obviously am coming waaay late to this thread

I spent a couple weeks touring Portugal and it is so nice to see places and that I have visited BUT more important to see place I did not see.

Thank you for posting and as usual your pictures are terrific.

I followed you through Croatia and I am happy to follow you here.

I know it takes time and dedication to do a trip report ... so Thank You !

travelplannerfor2

Progol, looks like you are in “our room”. We were there last week. Are you in room 3? We spent 3 glorious nights there. Wonderful food and staff.
Right now we just checked into a Lisbon airport hotel for flight home tomorrow. ☹️

progol

Too funny! Yes, we are in Room #3! It’s beautiful here! I only wish I had my bathing suit since the weather is perfect for the pool with the prettiest views ever!

I’m going to slightly disagree about the food, however. We had dinner here last night and I’ll say it’s the least good meal we’ve had in over 3 weeks. Except the dessert. It was amazing!

Safe travels home!

Maribel

Room 3 was "our room" too! The views from there look as glorious in late May as they are in early November--just different. Looks like you've had perfect weather, progol. Looking forward to hearing about the rest!

tripplanner001

Wow! The Douro Valley is really beautiful. Looks like an area we would enjoy long walks in.

progol

Maribel, the weather here has been beautiful! We had a few days of iffy weather in Coimbra, but it has been mostly wonderful weather. I have to make a confession, though - on our way to the Douro, we had a slight mishap with the car and (we are safe, no one is hurt) but driving has become a bit of a headache and put a bit of a damper on our plans. The car is safe and functional but not one you want to drive through twisty/tiny roads and up and down hills. We took a drive first to Pinhao and thr. to Lamego today and, while we enjoyed the town (had a great meal, too),the drive was really too much. We tried to go to Tedo for the tour that I booked, but the parking lot was full and we just gave up on it.

Quinta do Pego is beautiful and is easy to chill out here but no plans for driving a whole lot more in the region. Tomorrow we plan on taking the train from Pinhão to Pocinho.

One thing I will acknowledge, though - we are really not drinkers (I can manage about one glass of wine and that’s really it) and we are not late eaters, and that’s been something of a struggle here for us. And we did eat dinner here last night and (as I wrote a few posts up), it was probably the biggest disappointment of all our meals! I think we’d enjoy the Douro a lot more if the car didn’t become an issue, but it has. Don’t get me wrong - it is beautiful and we are enjoying it, but there’s a slight tinge to the experience.

tripplanner, I know there are places where there are walks and I’m sure Maribel will have plenty of info when you’re interested, but we’ve mostly just walked around the quinta here. Oh, and I even went swimming in the infinity pool they have! It was that warm today!

Maribel

I understand about the driving in the Douro, progol. It's definitely not easy. And the evening meals at the Pego have been a disappointment for me as well (can't fault the breakfasts though). When the Danish owners are in residence, the meals seem to improve, but perhaps they bring their own chef. That's why, after our last disappointing dinner, from then on, we either had sandwiches on the terrace or had them call a taxi to take us down to Pinhão to the Veladouro that opens at 7 pm. And the LBV also opens at 7.
Hope you enjoy your train ride tomorrow!

progol

Thanks,Maribel, a train ride sounds like a good way to spend part of the day!

And I did remember your comments about the dinners at Pego, so was not surprised that it was disappointing. I was hoping it had changed but I guess not. We picked up cheese, bread and ham in town and enjoyed our supper on the terrace, too!

Percy

progol , glad that everyone is safe and that you are going to take the train.

I was there end of June so you know how green those winery hillsides were.

Stay Safe.......... I am enjoying following.

progol

Thanks, Percy! I appreciate your kind comments and your earlier post as well. I do promise to post more pix soon!

virginiafish

I really appreciate your journaling! Hope everything continues to go smoothly. I am healing, and walking better, so hopefully we will be there someday. Sending lots of wishes for continued wonderful weather and adventures!

Percy

-------------

progol:
I was wondering, when you were in Lamego, did you walk up those 686 steps to that Church of Our Lady of Remedies at the top of the hill !? !

travelplannerfor2

The Danish owner was in residence while we were there and he seemed to have several groups of guests he was entertaining, so maybe that is why the food was exceptional while we were there.

progol

We walked up several flights to discover a diversion due to some construction. We decided we weren’t up to the walk, went back to the car and drove to the top, then walked down to the next level. It worked for us- we were tired!

progol

You were lucky then! Whoever is in the kitchen now is not exceptional - our dinner on our first night was a very tough pheasant. We felt that they were trying too hard to be inventive but it missed the boat.

progol

Thanks virginiafish! I’m glad you’re getting better! Thank you for your sweet words - I’m pleased you’re following and enjoying this.

Maribel

travelplannerfoor2,
That makes sense--when the Danish owners are in residence with their family members and guests, they must bring their own chef to pull out all the stops.

progol, we also were just too tired to try to walk up that staircase and had friends with us who didn't want to do the climb, so we drove up to the top through the park and walked down the first flight and visited the lovely church with its gorgeous tiles. I can hardly wait to see more photos!

progol

About Lamego, we did go inside, of course, but I didn’t take photos at the time (I know, a crime!), but of course, I did take photos from outside!