Portugal Day 6 aka Spain Day 9 - Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Woke up this morning and (finally) had a nice long workout with RRR and Sharpie. We made one final trip to the Sheraton's concierge lounge for breakfast. After we ate, we watched a few episodes of Queer Eye (which seems to be on an endless marathon in Portugal!) and headed out a bit early for the train station. This turned out to be a good thing since my timetable from Rail Europe was outdated and our train to Lisbon was 25 minutes earlier than we anticipated! We got on the correct express train (versus yesterday's 3 hour local train) and were on our way to Lisbon where we will be catching an evening flight to Madrid.

We got off the train and hopped in two cabs to the airport. I was a bit worried about security and customs in a country where I do not speak the language and was bringing farm products across borders but all was for naught. My bro-in-law, Mr. RRR, didn't fare so well, being cited for some water bottles that were in remote pockets of his knapsack. Nothing like being yelled at in a language you don't understand!

We had some time to kill so we ate at the self-service cafeteria. It actually wasn't that bad. I had a cured ham sandwich with some veggie soup with a carrot base and a few green beans, finished with a touch of cream. After lunch, we checked in and waited some more...eventually deciding to have some wine and chocolate - just to pass time of course!

It was finally time to board our plane which was very Jet Blue sans televisions. We all squeezed in a row and Sharpie and I mapped out a loose itinerary for our two days in Madrid.

We got to our hotel which was a bit dumpy but at least it was clean. We went to bed and got ready for an early day of exploring in Madrid.

Portugal Day 5 - Porto, Porto and more Porto

I think the past week and a half of eating and drinking to excess has finally caught up with me. I squeezed in a short mediocre workout (and of course this is the one gym that is fully loaded and modern!) and got ready for a huge day of port tasting.

The RRR's were catching up on some rest (we were all feeling a bit lethargic) and we decided to meet up with them a bit later at Taylor's. Mitch, Sharpie and I took the lead and our first stop was Ferriera, where we booked ourselves on a noon tour and tasting. With some time to kill before we met up with the marrieds, we made a pit stop at Croft.

We started our Croft tasting with Porto Bianco, a young white port drunk as an aperitif. It was smooth with a bit of a burn on the throat. We also tried a Porto Reserva 5 year port that wasn't overly sweet with more qualities of a wine than of a port.

We decided to forgo purchases here and continued up the cobblestone hill to Offley. The tasting room was quite picturesque and the gentlemen pouring for Mitch was quite friendly and knowledgeable and poured some great reserve ports. Mitch made a purchase here and then it was off to Taylor's to meet the RRR's. Little did we know, Taylor's was closed on Saturday's so when the RRR's arrived we headed to Burmester instead.

Burmester had a lovely tasting room a bit off the beaten path from Porto's other bodegas. We had an extra dry white port which was good but I was finding that I preferred the sweeter whites. I was really impressed with Burmester's 10 year Tawny and for 17 euro it seemed like a decent deal. (plus the sausage in my suitcase needed a travel companion).

We headed down to Ferriera and went on an informative tour. Of course there's always "that guy" who asked a million stupid questions but it was still enjoyable. We tasted some nice ports and Mitch went back and tasted some more of the reserves. After all this port, food was definitely in order!

We stopped at Tapas Douro on the water. RRR and I split a tortilla with potato and ham along with half a sandwich on doughy bread with spicy ham, a fried pepper and brie. It was quite good! I am still amazed when simplest of ingredients come together to make a great meal! Having refueled and soaked up some of the port, we walked across one of the bridges to the other side of the Duoro and booked ourselves on a river cruise.

With to to spare before our touristy adventure, we headed to the Salon de Porto for you guessed it, more port. After a long walk to the top of a hill, we eventually made it to the Salon and I enjoyed one of the sweeter white ports from Calem and a LBV (late bottle vintage) ruby from Niepoort. The salon was quite picturesque and I was certainly in need of a nap but there wasn't any time for that of course! Instead, we hopped in a taxi and headed back to the river for our six bridges in fifty minutes cruise.

After waiting on the hot dock for a bit the boat finally came and we piled on along with a bunch of Spanish senior citizen aged tourists. The group was led by a colorful older gentleman and they all started singing in Spanish. So much fun!

After all this drinking and touring, Sharpie decided to hang back at our super cool hotel while the rest of us headed to D.Tonho back along the Duoro. I ordered the grilled octopus in vinaigrette for a starter. There was a small ring of fat around the tentacles and it was so fresh and flavorful. I could have eaten this dish all day!

I followed this with the waitress's recommendation, fried salt cod with potato chips and cabbage with vinegar. The cod was topped with some pickled soft onions, green olives and a bit of grated cheese. I found this combination to be odd but when the tastes all came together complimented by a tarty punch from the cabbage it was absolutely delightful!

For dessert we split a rich chocolate mousse, spongier than most and drizzled with syrup. Just when I thought I didn't have room for another morsel, I certainly had to find room for this chocolate decadence!

We piled back in the cab and decided that tomorrow's plan was no plan since we had a HUGE travel day in front of us... planes, trains and automobiles!

Portugal Day 4 - From Lisbon to Porto

We skipped the gym (shocking I know!) and instead hit the breakfast buffet at the hotel. Mr. RRR was in his glory at the buffet; enough bacon to last for days!

Then the RRR's and I hopped in a cab and headed to Belem. It was a pretty area of West Lisbon full of lined streets with large houses. We started our journey at the Torre de Belem, the well-known defensive tower.

There was a convoy of tour buses and since we were short on time, we simply snapped a few pics and then walked along the river to the Padrao dos Descobrimentos, a monument created in 1960 for the 500th anniversary of the death of Henry the Navigator.

The detail was stunning and there was a map in front of the monument showing the exploits of the explorers depicted in the monument. Interestingly enough, there wasn't a great depiction of Spain on the map, adding further proof to our guess that the Spanish and the Portuguese aren't exactly the best of friends.

From there it was a short walk over to the Mosteiro dos Jeronimos, considered by some to be the greatest monument in Portugal.

There were even more tour groups here and we chose to visit the free church area versus fighting the crowds and long lines to see the cloister. The nave was beautiful and striking and the exterior of the south portal was simply breathtaking. This is also where the tomb of Vasco de Gama is along with the explorer Luis de Camoes. Poor Luis, he didn't draw nearly the crowds that Vasco did, it must stink to be the "other guy".

We decided it was time to get some lunch and start heading back to meet Mitch and Sharpie. When we asked our cab driver to take us to this one market area, he suggested another market, Mercado de Arroios, for a more authentic peek into Portuguese life. As he drove he gave us a bit of a tour and history of Lisbon and showed us areas including the Alcantara where my cousin had told me a lot of the clubs were. (since this isn't much of a club crowd, I knew this would be my only sight of the clubs)

We went into the market and after a few loops around stopped in Charcutario Imperio where I bought 44kg of jamon to smuggle back in my suitcase. ("I have nothing to declare Mr. Customs Agent...") The butcher gave us a few slices to taste and I was sucked in by its garlicky goodness. So was Mr. RRR - he was begging me to cut up my cryo-vac sealed bag! No way!

We rounded out this purchase with some fruit, cookies and olives and I snapped a few pictures along the way. One of the more interesting observations about this market was that the stalls were predominantly run by women; a bit of a departure from the markets in France. There were also some "convenience foods" to be had here - diced celery, carrots, onions, greens, etc. to make things easier on the busy home cook!

After the market it was off to lunch. We stopped in a small plaza near the hotel and I ordered the plancha grelhado with laranjas (grilled steak with oranges). It came thinly sliced, grilled and had a great flavor, due in part to a nice line of fat on the beef. My plate was full of white rice, potatoes, black olives, a small salad and of course a few oranges! The waiter was wondering why I didn't finish but the portion was so generous there was no way I could.

RRR had a nice grilled sandwich of jamon, cheese and butter and Mr. RRR's attempt at a decent cheeseburger was thwarted by the egg sitting top of it. (He's allergic) After finishing up our small bottle of 2006 Porto da Ravessa red wine, we met up with the girls and headed to the train station.

We grabbed some coffee and waited for the train. It was a bit harrowing since the train was packed and the cars were not well numbered. We finally found our seats and were on our way. I wound up sitting next to a lovely Portuguese businessman for some of the trip and found out not only that we were on a local train from Faro to Lisbon (partially explains why it wasn't as nice as this train ride) but got a bit of some history of the area as well. One thing I can say for sure was that all of the people we've met so far have been nothing but pleasant, friendly and really helpful.

We got to the Sheraton Porto and it was awesome! One of the more modern hotel I've even been to with glass elevators a la Marriott Marquis. We checked in and made a reservation that evening for the Bull & Bear Restaurant.

The restaurant was located in a more suburban part of town and had a casual bistro up front. Mitch went with the chef's menu and her almond vichyssoise was one of the many highlights of the meal. RRR, Lisa and Mitch all had the salmon tartare and I actually had a taste (loyal readers will know I am not a fan). The dill and fresh cream did give the salmon a very nice flavor and I barely tasted the salmon.

I started with the fresh pasta with shrimp, pesto and pine nuts. It was so flavorful that I continued to scoop up the slightly chewy pine nuts in the nutty oil sitting at the base of the dish. It also satisfied my craving for pasta; it's been way too long since I've indulged in this beautiful carbohydrate!

For a main course, I had the grilled hake with black bean and corn crust. It was sitting atop an herby puddle of sauce and the fish was perfectly cooked; firm and not too tough. It was a nice departure from the classic meat and potato dishes I've been having so far on our trip.

At this point, we were all pretty beat and RRR and Mr. RRR headed back to the hotel while we waited for Mitch's dessert course to arrive. Good things certainly come to those who wait and we were treated to a delicious molten chocolate cake on marscapone cream. They were nice enough to add an extra cake since the three of us were sharing Mitch's - how generous!

We left before we passed out at the table from exhaustion...what a long day!

Portugal Day 3 - Day Trip to Sintra

My eye was still puffy this morning but has deflated somewhat, so today's goal is to hit a pharmacia!

RRR and I started the day at the "mini gym" which had one treadmill, one stationary bike, one recumbent bike and a rower. Well, it served its purpose; all this eating and drinking is certainly having its affect on my waistline and it is getting tougher and tougher to find the energy to work out.

We got ready and finally got through to Delta - we've been extended one day! I'm so excited! Now we just need to extend our hotel in Madrid and we'll be golden!

It was a bit of a mess getting the train to Sintra since I screwed up and sent to the wrong train station (Oriente instead of Rossio). Ooops! Good thing no one held it against me!

We made it to Sintra and found it was overrun with tourists. We jammed on a bus that went up a very, very narrow winding road and then Mitch, Sharpie and I huffed and puffed our way up to the Palacio da Pena. (RRR & Mr. RRR went on their own adventure) The views were spectacular and the castle was a mix of architectural styles. There were some beautiful rooms decorated with furniture of the time and we marveled at how tiny and ornate everything was. After jamming on another bus that came down the very very narrow winding road, e eventually made our way back to town and met up with RRR and Mr. RRR.

We hadn't eaten lunch yet, so we took a bit more time in Sintra and had lunch at the Restaurante a Taverna. After blowing 19 euros on appetizers, a restaurant practice that my Lisbon book warned me about where a server comes around with a plate of tapas and whatever you choose you get charged through the nose for, I decided to have the frago de cerveja which translates to... chicken in beer.

It was tasty thigh meat cooked in beer, garlic, oil and a bit of white wine. The chicken was tender, juicy, simple and delicious. Mitch had a delightful pork with bread stuffing. The stuffing was absolutely sublime! Perhaps it's been that long since I've had stuffing but it was moist and bursting with flavor!

Before catching our train, I made a pit stop in the aforementioned pharmacia, to get my puffy eye some relief. I was a bit nervous getting an eye wash whose ingredients were only in Portuguese but eventually it helped my eye get back to normal.

On the train back to Lisbon, we discovered that we were on the wrong one! The tunnel to Rossio was closed and we had to get off, switch trains, head back one stop and catch the Metro. UGH!

Once we got back to Lisbon, we started wandering in the neighborhoods of Chiado and Alfama. I was pretty beat but since our time in Lisbon was limited, I wanted to see as much of the city as possible and I don't think we've experienced much of its beauty. We went inside the Se Cathedral and in the chapel off to the side of the main altar, a priest was saying mass in Portuguese. Even though I had no idea what he was saying, it was pretty cool.

After that we walked past the Praca do Comereio and took some pictures of the arch. Eventually, we made our way to Rua Augusta, a very long pedestrian street, and there was an interesting group of bohemians with packs of dogs. I tried to be stealth in my photo taking (since they were asking tourists for money) but didn't do such a good job with the photo clarity.

Now we were really tired but continued to walk to Rua das Portas de Santo Antao, a street full of restaurants and people trying to get you into theirs a la Little Italy. We stopped in a small modern ice cream shop/bar where RRR and I shared a light sugary pitcher of sangria and then we continued to aimlessly wander around to find a place to eat.

We finally settled on a place to eat and RRR and I shared arroz de marisco (shellfish rice). It was actually pretty good but no where near as good as our monkfish rice from a few days ago. Still for a touristy restaurant in a high trafficked area it was much better than I had anticipated.

Over the course of the evening, we had decided to take a later train to Porto tomorrow, so the RRR's and I can do a bit more sightseeing and Mitch & Sharpie could hang out and relax.

Once again, we are on the move!

Portugal Day 1 - Okay, technically Day 2

I woke up to Frank (pronounced: Fronk) saying "Hello, time to wake up"... can you ask for a better wake up call than that?

RRR, my still-swollen eyeball and I got up early and went for a run along the boardwalk on the beach, up to the main road and down along the line of hotels, admiring the beauty of the area. This stop has been the highlight of the trip so far for me and I was really bummed that we didn't have more time to spend in Praia de la Rocha.

As depressing as my swollen eye and the thought of leaving the Algarve was - there was at least some good news to be had this morning since we learned via email that we were able to move our Delta flight back one day, giving us an extra day in Madrid!

Breakfast at the Vila Lido was pretty nice. We sat outside and enjoyed a healthy serving of fresh fruit, orange juice, rolls, croissants and some very sweet cakes (my Dad would have been in his glory!). The coffee was pretty good too, but not as good as the cafe con leche we had in Spain.

After we ate, we packed up and headed to the Faro airport to return the rental car. We hopped into the Avis shuttle, headed to the airport, jumped into two cabs and went to the Faro train station. Sounds like a lot of transportation? It was! But we were becoming experts in juggling luggage, planes, trains and automobiles.

We hit the ticket counter and after some confusion got our tickets and boarded the train for Lisbon. It was roomier than the Spanish trains but first class service was much better in Spain. After splitting a suspect ham sandwich and Diet Coke with RRR it was time for a nap. I needed my energy for Lisbon!

We arrived without incident and checked into our hotel, the Holiday Inn which was surprisingly pretty decent. We cleaned up and got ready for dinner.

Tonight's meal was at Bica do Sapato, a modern Portuguese restaurant part owned by John Malkovich. It was in a remote part of town near the Santa Appolonia train station that was reminiscent of a run down South Street Seaport-meets-the-piers-on-the-West-Side- Highway. Inside the restaurant, the decor was modern with funky accents and house music provided the evening's soundtrack.

I ordered the codfish cakes as a starter and shoulder of suckling pig for my main course. Our meal began with some microgreens and an icy light lemon-basil sorbet to cleanse our palates.

The codfish came in a wax-sealed roll of paper and the interesting presentation continued inside with four small filo lined tarts holding the whipped cod. One seemed to have garbanzos, another tomato, another with mushroom and yet another with a mixture of herbs.

When the pig arrived tableside, I immediately smelled the fresh rosemary. While it was not as succulent as the pig in Segovia, it was quite good. The skin was crisp with a small glistening layer of fat underneath and lots of tender stringy meat. At this point, my dining companions were looking at me as a bit of a pork barbarian, however, that didn't stop them from poking into my dish for pieces of the juicy pig. The palate was rounded out by some crisp potato slices, spinach and broccoli (how exciting! more greens!).

We finished our meal with our usual helping of ice cream. This time it was cinnamon and Madagascar vanilla in a sweet cone-like bowl. A plate of pineapple passed by and we were swayed by our lack of fruit and ordered that as well. Definitely one of our more expensive meals but a nice departure from the traditional Spanish and Portuguese fare we've been having during our trip. As we were leaving, the main floor of the restaurant was getting crowded and I'm sure the upstairs sushi bar would start to be crowded as well. Once again, the city's coming alive as we are going to bed.

Oh well, we need to be rested for tomorrow's adventure... a day trip to Sintra!

Spain Day 8 - The Big Drive to Portugal!

I woke up around 5:30am to a very large swollen eye! Good thing I was today's designated driver! We left under the cover of night and it was a bit tough to navigate out of Rota in complete darkness but after second guessing ourselves a few times we finally we on our way!

Even with the odd route of having to head north to Sevilla before heading west to the Spain/Portugal border we made good time. Not quite sure what I expecting (machine gun touting border patrol perhaps?) but the actual crossing over to Portugal was pretty anti-climatic.

We set our watches back an hour and found our way to Praia de la Rocha. I dropped the ball a bit and neglected to print our directions to the hotel - oops! Good thing we bough the map in Spain and ironically, the one hotel we did not have directions for was the easiest to find!

The Vila Lido was absolutely adorable! It was at the very end of a street filled with high rise hotels and across the street from the beach. And Frank, our delightful host, couldn't be friendlier. We checked in and decided to explore the Ponta de Piedade (Point of Piety) in Lagos.

Before we hit the point, we stopped for some lunch in town. After our usual debate, we wound up at the Bar Milenium. There a mother and son waited on us and RRR and I decided to share a shrimp omlette and some pork piri piri. The pork was a thinly sliced grilled chop and was decent but most importantly hit the spot!

After lunch, it took a bit of work to find the Ponta de Piedade, but it was well worth it! You simply could not drink in enough of the natural beauty of Lagos! The natural caves and deep blue water of the grottos was breathtaking! We snapped at least thirty photos each!

And since this wasn't enough, we headed back to the hotel and hit the beach across the street. The beach was wide and there were sections of chairs and umbrella rental stands along the beach with some small snack bars as well. We walked down the many stairs, forked over a few Euro for some chairs and checked out the water.

It was a bit windy but Mitch and I sucked it up and went in the water. The ocean wasn't as warm as it was in Spain but it had less rocks and the waves were a bit calmer. We all did our own thing: RRR and Mike hit the snack bar, Sharpie read, Mitch swam and I went for a walk. I stayed on the beach a bit longer than the gang to soak in the natural beauty and peaceful atmosphere of the beach until the jarring tantrum of a British child disrupted my moment of tranquility. Thanks kid - you little wanker!

But I digress... we showered and went to the Dockside for dinner, a restaurant recommended to us by our congenial host, Frank. It was a short walk through a fort located at the end of road and past the exclusive Nikki Beach club. First impressions of the Dockside was that Frank sent us to a tourist trap, but it wound up being one of the best meals of the trip! NOTE: Looks can be deceiving!

We ate like champs! We had two bottles of a delightfully big bottles of wine, a 2004 Casa de Santar Reserva from Dao. After a few visits from our waiter we finally decided on our meal. For a starter, I had delicia de Mexilhoes ('delight of mussels') and Sharpie and I split the arroz de Tamoril (monkfish rice) as our main course.

The mussels were excellent! Large, plump, juicy and drowned in a creamy seafood broth reminiscent of a seafood bisque with a teeny tiny dice of carrots and onions. The rice arrived tableside in a large ceramic pot with two large prawns to put it over the top. We asked for an extra bowl since it was much more than two people could handle. The rice had more broth than this paella-eating girl expected and you could totally taste the sea in every bite! I basically had to stop myself from cleaning the pot since we needed to save some room for our evening ice cream.

We walked down to a small shop and finished the night off with a double scoop of banana/chocolate and tiramisu gelato.

One of the best days of the trip! I seriously could have ended the trip here and been completely satisfied. This was paradise!

Spain Day 1 - Travel, Chili's and JFK

I arrived at the airport without incident with the exception of the irritating women from Staten Island who screamed at me for 'cutting' the security line (I did not cut by the way I just arrived there a second before them) and then proceeded to have no clue how to navigate the whole shoes, liquids, coats off process thereby causing Granny to get pulled aside by the TSA and hand searched. Classic!

Met up with RRR and Mr. RRR on the other side and we grabbed a bite to eat at Chili's where we imbibed in a few cocktails, some Tex-Mex eggrolls (quite tasty by the way) and chicken and steak quesadillas. too tired for pics...

That being said, we skipped Delta's dinner along with the cinematic gem "Georgia Rule" and tried to get as much sleep as possible. Thanks to a Tylenol PM and an exhausting week in Vegas this wasn't much of a problem and I was fast asleep before the plane's doors were closed.

Next stop... Madrid!