Casa da Seara- a lovely Inn B & B- just wow

Casa da Seara- a lovely Inn B & B- just wow

in Casal de Loivos, Portugal (10 min above Pinhão)

How did we find this slice of heaven?

The Casa da Seara...absolutely beautiful

Breakfast casa

Sunrise

Grapes EVERYWHERE

The B&B on the hill

The lovely gates to the vineyard

The view. The view. The view

 

Pinhão to Porto

After our adventures in Pinhão, we decided to take an earlier train and have 5 hours in Porto.  We wandered the streets of Sao Bento, ate at a GF restaurant (Joanne thrilled -- she finally tried the Portuguese beer Super Bock GF), wandered over the famous Luis 1 Bridge to Vila Nova de Gaia to see our AirBnB we rented for later in October when we're here with 'the boys" (Tony and Sergio), found a fabulous park-- Jardim do Morro--and then walked back (a lovely one hour walk through Porto) to the Porto-Campanha train station.  It was a full day.  Porto is VERY crowded with tourists, but it is one heck of a city.

Pinhão!

 The Pinhão train station- famous tiles and train

Porto!

The Jardim do Morro- in Vila Nova de Gaia 

              .      

                                                                        In Sao Bento

Pinhão, Douro Valley Portugal- a magical place

 

History tour of Coimbra

We ventured (day 2) to take a history tour of Coimbra.  Of course, it began at 16:30 and I made dinner reservations for 19:00.  So, we only did half of the 4 hour tour! Yikes.  Here are some pics of Coimbra with whatever info I remember.

Up that narrow street is the Jewish quarter.  Did you know that Jews made up a big amount of 

the Portugese population?  

 

The woman of Coimbra

Woman (non-traditinal) Fado in front of a church

Coimbra University Faculty of Sciences

An ancient entrance to the old city

Main Street, Coimbra (lol)

Joanne, acting as a Coimbra person

First few hours in Coimbra

Day 1 Coimbra

Arrived at our AirBnB around 3PM.  We live in the historic sector of the city.  All I can say is -- the hills on cobblestone! After shopping for water, milk, etc at the neighborhood (small convenience) market that is 150 meters from our door, we ventured to get something to eat. We realized that we live next to one of the oldest churches in Portugal (never bombed, never fire, never earthquake) and there are many shops and restaurants and bars here.  Additionally, the university students frequent this area because it is just under the university.  So bravo to Joanne for picking the location.  We stumbled upon a restaurant Tapas nas Costas where we had the best lamb chops, peppers, papas fritas (lol), steak, and sangria.  I heard a lot of English (patrons of the restaurant), so I started talking to this lone young guy, who was originally Israeli but from Seattle.  And, the couple next to us were from Lake Como, Italy.  I spoke broken Italian, Spanish, and English to them.  As I walked to the bathroom, I passed two women speaking (a bit loudly) English.  I asked them were they from the US, and they said, "yes, ex-pats living here."  They asked me if I am on the FB ex-pats group (Joanne is), and I invited us to sit with them to chat.  One thing led to another, and they invited us to drink with them.  We had to give up the table for a reservation at 8 (16:00), so we walked through the historic city.  They HAD to show us this authentic Fado bar (not the touristic Fado house)- Diligencia as we were greeted by the bartender/owner (Josh pronounced in English, not spelled that way) and had traditional beverages. See pictures and video below.  The Fado guitarists/singers showed up around 9:45 (17:45) and it was history after.  Wow.  Two older gentlemen and two younger.  Portuguese (or Spanish) guitar.  Coimbra certainly welcomed us with open arms. 

More pictures will be coming.

On the train from Lisbon. 7.80 Euros - wow.  

How much would that cost on a train in the US?

The view from our AirBnB

Dinner (tapas) - Tapas nas Costas

Fado Bar

Fado

Regional drinks- Joanne's favorite- Liquor Beirão

A day in Lisbon... what to do?

The 25 September bridge from the river cruise -- great last minute idea!

 

From the boat on the river (1.5 hour cruise)

(Praça do Comércio)

 

Padrão dos Descobrimentos (Moument to the Discoveries) from the river cruise

Another vantage point of Padrão dos Descobrimentos 

Stumbled upon an amazing view- MAAT (museum) Cafe

Praça do Comércio from the boat

Belem Tower from the river boat

Literally stumbled upon Pink Street

MAAT from the river boat

Cool sail boat (from our river boat)

Urban Art Exhibit in Belem