Knowmark Travel

Portugal 2006: Abrantes

Saturday, 20 May 2006

After picking up our rental car at Europcar (a nice Peugot 107), we made our exit from Lisboa today quite gracefully, with only one small unintentional detour. We went straight north on N115, pausing for café e pastéis in Bucelas. Then we slowly worked our way north and east through some beautiful country, stopping for a very enjoyable lunch in Vila Chã de Ourique. Unfortunately, we neglected to note the name of the restaurant, which deserves a mention :-{

Later in the afternoon, we arrived at our residence for the next three nights – Quinta de Coalhos, near Pego. It is quite an amazing place, having only three rooms and a suite. We are currently the only ones in residence and so have all the common space to ourselves!

On the owners recommendation, we had dinner in Pego at O Cabaço. It was a great suggestion – we both had porco preto com migas. Migas is a wonderful thing. Our menu reader describes it as “bread cooked with well-seasoned ingredients to form a kind of omelette”, but we think it was more like a giant dumpling. Either way it was great! For wine we had the 2004 Casal da Coelheiras which was very tasty and excellent value.

The weather was a very nice 2.5 today.

Sunday, 21 May 2006

We did a number of things today:

• leisurely morning at the Quinta de Coalhos (after the very tasty pequeno almoço served here)

• wine tasting at Quinta da Côro (an unusual visit)

• lunch at A Lúria – the best meal we’ve had so far in Portugal (and we haven’t had any bad ones!)

• visited Tomar and the castle there, including the Convento de Cristo. Some beautiful gardens make up part of this large complex, started by the Templars in the 12th century

a light dinner at the Quinta de Coalhos – a wonderful repast, as we have quickly come to expect, it consisted of caldo verde which seems to be Portugal’s national soup, delicious bread with some cheese and spreads, olives and a nice bottle of 2002 Dona Ermelinda. For dessert we had wonderful fresh strawberries and the local specialty tigeladas de Abrantes an amazing baked, custardy cake.

Today’s weather was a rather passable 2.0+.

Monday, 22 May 2006

Another lovely day (3.0) found us with a very limited agenda, which is how we like it. First, we visited the Quinta do Casal da Coelheira in Tramagal, about 10km west on N118. They make some very good wine there, which we had confirmed on Saturday night at dinner, where we had a bottle of the 2004. So we bought a bottle of that, plus a couple bottles of their well-thought-of 2003 Reserva.

After visiting the winery, we went into Abrantes (a town of about 11,000 people), which is just north of where we are staying across the Rio Tejo. At the information centre a very helpful young woman answered all of our questions, the most important of which was the location of a good pasteleria! The one pictured below was an excellent choice for our morning café and pastel de nata (for Steve). Susan tried one of the local specialties – palha de Abrantes (which also happened to be the name of the pasteleria). Excellent fare all around. We then explored the old town centre for awhile and in the process picked up some supplies for our planned picnic lunch. There was good bread to be had in a local padaria and we found cheese and carrots at the daily market.

Then, we toured around the area on some of the local roads, eventually stopping for a late picnic lunch at a very pretty spot (see photos below) on N3 between Mação and Penhascoso. We enjoyed the rest of the day at the Quinta do Coalhos, resting and doing some planning for tomorrow’s journey (we are leaving here after three wonderful days). And, we returned to O Cabaço (in Pego) for dinner again, where we had another great meal (including another bottle of the 2004 Casal da Coelheiras). Steve had carne de porco com ameijoas; Susan’s dinner was ameijoas à Bulhão Pato, a delicious dish of clams with garlic and coriander/cilantro. Hosted by Luis Manuel Camões, this is a very nice place to dine.

Portugal 2006: Lisboa

Monday, 15 May 2006

We arrived in Lisboa about 9am after an uneventful direct flight on SATA. We were delighted to be able to get here without changing planes. Coupled with the fact our hotel had our room available only a few minutes after we got there (which was unexpected – we had only meant to drop our luggage and return), gave us most of the day to get oriented and do a few things. Which we took full advantage of.

The first order of business entailed getting a 5-day Carris/Metro pass, which enables us to use any bus or subway any time for our entire stay here. At 12,90€ this is a great bargain. And in hilly Lisboa, using transit is highly recommended. As you might be able to determine from our view (see photos below), we are staying very near the top of one of the seven major hills in Lisboa. Walking down is not a problem, but climbing back up can be quite strenuous, not to mention time-consuming. Electric tram #28 is already our best friend!

Lunch at O Pitéu was the prata do dia, grilled bacalhau with potatoes washed down with a very refreshing bottle of chilled vinho verde branco … yes, white wine! It is quite a light wine – only 10.5% alcohol.

We did our first major shopping at El Corte Inglés, which has been in Lisboa for five years now. We fell love with the store (which is huge in Spain) in Madrid three years ago. As expected, they had everything we wanted.

And, our first day in Portugal rated a perfect 3.0 on the Knowmark Weather Scale.

Tuesday, 16 May 2006

Our first full day in Lisboa found us quickly establishing our routine. Because breakfast is included at our hotel, we have our café e pasteis later in the morning. Today, we found a nice spot for this very addictive habit near the shopping centre in the Baixa district, which is the major shopping area in Lisboa. And, because it’s such a good idea (café e pasteis), we indulged again about 5pm in Graça, which is the area where we are staying (actually, Susan only had some water and a small bite of the mini pastel de nata that we ordered). There are pastelaria everywhere in Lisboa! It is easier to find a wonderful pastel in Lisboa than a baguette in many parts of France.

We set out later in the morning to get two things: more detailed maps for travel after we leave Lisboa; and a SIM card for our mobile phone. We took the E28 (electric tram #28) to the Chiado stop, which put us very near a large downtown [inside] shopping centre. We headed there because we knew there was a fnac there and that it would probably have what we needed. It did.

Back to Graça (partly on foot; partly on the E28) for a nice lunch at O Jaime, a small, neighbourhood restaurant serving comida regional. We had one of his prato do dia – the bifinhos e cogumelos (veal and mushrooms) – which was very good. Together with a small salad, homemade fried potatoes and some vinho da casa, it made for a wonderful repast. And, for 12€, a good bargain as well! We chatted (very badly, since our Portuguese is nearly non-existent) with Jaime about fado and futebol, because of the photographs on the wall. They have live fado (we’re not sure where they put the players, since the restaurant is very small!) on Saturday and Sunday.

Later, we explored some more via the great public transit system they have here, first walking down to the waterfront through part of the Alfama district and then returning (rather circuitously and precipitously – did we mention that it is quite hilly here?) on autobus route #12.

Dinner tonight was again chez Knowmark – this time we picked up a pre-fab mixed salad and a nice vinho Alentejo at the Pingo Doce supermarket to accompany the frango no churrasco – delicious barbecued chicken – that we bought as takeout from Churrasco da Graça. Dessert was a small glass of port and a small piece of very good chocolate.

Today only rated a 2.5 on the Knowmark Weather Scale, as it was a little too warm later in the afternoon and early evening. However, as we write this, with the balcony open to the night air, it is lovely.

Wednesday, 17 May 2006

We are experiencing some connectivity problems, so this entry is very short and sans photographs. The better part of the day was spent in Belém (which is about 45 minutes from our hotel on the transit system). What we will say is that the pastéis de nata is so good in Belém that they don´t even call it pastéis de nata – they call it pastéis de Belém! They claim to have invented it there and who’s to argue – it was incredibly good at the establishment by the same name (Pastéis de Belém) which was established in 1837.

It was fairly muggy today, so we can only give the weather a nice 2.0.

Thursday, 18 May 2006

We scouted out the location of our car rental (which is EuropCar), which we will be picking up on Saturday. This is actually a fairly long story (in time and distance, because of our failure to look to the right), which we will not detail here. After talking to one of the very nice people at EuropCar, we determined that the best course will be to take a taxi to the car from our hotel, rather than bring the car to the hotel through the very twisted streets of Graça.

And, because of our connectivity difficulties, we checked out some of the internet points that exist and found one that is not inconvenient. Shahen, on Rua Madalena, is reasonably priced and allows us to plug in our USB memory key. The USB connection makes it quite easy to upload a few photographs. Our pursuit of some improved internet connectivity also took us to the Cafe no Chiado, where we had a nice lunch – omeletas com queijo.

The highlight of the day was meeting Helena, our online friend from The Travelzine who recommended the hotel we are staying at. Helena is a lovely, gracious woman who kindly arranged to spend the evening with us. A drink in front of the opera house, Teatro Nacional São Carlos, was followed by a delicious dinner at Martinho da Arcada, which is the oldest café in Lisboa, founded in 1782. (For those of you keeping track, everyone had carne, washed down with a nice bottle of Herdade Grande 2003 from Estremoz. Helena suggested that we try a wine from the Alentejo region as it is one that we will not be visiting.)

Helena is very interested in history and knows a great deal about Portugal and Lisboa. She acted as our guide as we walked to the restaurant, telling us lots of interesting things about the area that we passed through. At dinner, she phoned her husband João (twice!) to get information for us about Porto. It was a great evening – muito obrigado, Helena!

It was a beautiful day (a perfect 3.0) in Lisboa.

Friday, 19 May 2006

Since we have the chance, we are making a small early post for today. Based on information from Helena, we went to the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, which is in the Lapa district. Last night Helena had told us that a new show – the Grandes Mestres da Pintura: de Fra Angelico a Bonnard – had just opened on Thursday morning. It is the final tour of the Colecção Rau, which is an amazing collection. We will write a little more about this later.

Then a leisurely stroll through part of the Lapa district (western Lisboa), which was an area we had not yet explored.

Since this is our last full day in Lisboa, we have to get organized for tomorrow – packing, planning an exit route, etc.

Another perfect 3.0 today on the Knowmark Weather Scale.

Toulouse Plus 2005: Toulouse

Friday, 7 October 2005

Our last major travel day, as we leave the lovely Corbières region for Toulouse. We travelled northwest from Lagrasse on some secondary roads that we hadn’t previously gone on before picking up the autoroute. About 90 minutes later we were navigating the unknown streets of Toulouse.

We got lost immediately, but recovered quickly; found our hotel, double-parked and unloaded; drove to the train station and dropped the rental car; walked back to the hotel and checked in. Congratulations all around on a job well done (navigating and driving). All of this just in time for lunch, so we decided to take advantage of the gorgeous weather (a perfect 3.0 today) and found a sidewalk cafe near the Marché Victor Hugo, grabbed a table in the sunshine and had some wonderful moules et frîtes.

The rest of the day we rested and oriented ourselves a bit before enjoying the early evening on our small balcony for an apértif anisé (wonderful chilled with fresh lemon and ice). Then a light supper in our room at the open balcony door, enjoying the evening air.

Saturday, 8 October 2005

Toulouse is sometimes known as la ville rose because so much of it is built in red brick. It is a very lovely and vibrant city, with many diverse and distinct neighbourhoods. We are staying within sight of the Marché Victor Hugo, a huge market that is open every day (except Monday) until 1:30pm. So, it is only a short walk to pick up whatever victuals we might need for the day. Our favourite boulangerie is about a 10 minute walk on Place du Belfort, while we just go around the corner for morning noisette and pain aux raisins at the Dame Brioche.

Since we have no specific plans while in Toulouse, we spend a great deal of time just walking around. And, it’s a great city to do that. Just to the south of our hotel is huge Place du Capitol (which was taken over by roller-bladers on Friday night), and a very short walk east of that is Place Wilson, which is circular and has six streets running into it.

We lunched today (al fresco) at La Gourmandine, having a very nice tarte au jambon et oignon accompanied by une salade composée. And, because we ate out for lunch, we ate in for dinner, supplementing our usual fare with some tasty gravlax from a Norwegian stall in the market! It was very good, comparing favourably to Susan’s wonderful rendition. We accompanied our in-house feast with some of the Fitou wine we had purchased on Thursday.

The great weather continues – another perfect 3.0 today.

Sunday, 9 October 2005

As our trip slowly winds down, so do we. Nonetheless, there is lots to explore in Toulouse, and we are doing so (after a fashion). This morning we stumbled into a huge flea market, which completely circled Basilique Saint Sernin (we subsequently found that this particular market is weekly and called l’Inquet). It took us some time to get out, because at the time we were just looking for a place to enjoy our second café of the day. Because it was Sunday, there were fewer places open and it took us some time to find an appropriate place, finally settling for a sunny spot on Place du Capitole. The coffee was good, but a bit pricey – location, location, location. So, we enjoyed the continuing good weather (yet another perfect 3.0) while doing a little Sudoku and people-watching.

We were also able to get the week-end Guardian (which isn’t available in Toulouse on Saturday) today, which we both enjoy. The weekday versions (Monday-Friday) are available same day. Occasionally we also buy l’Equipe to stay abreast of the latest French football goings-on.

Our meal out today was a very nice Italian lunch at Piazza PaPa, which is a small chain (ten stores) in southern France. Homemade pasta for both of us, which was excellent. After our evening repast, our post-prandial stroll found us back at la Garonne, where we tried some night photography (only somewhat successfully). However, the river and the bridges are quite beautiful in the conditions that we enjoyed tonight.

Monday, 10 October 2005

One thing about Toulouse that stands out is the amount of well cared for public space that exists. There are parks (small and large) everywhere. Today we picnicked in one of them – the Jardins des Plantes. While today’s weather was not perfect (rating a strong 2.0), it was great for a long walk to the park; a leisurely picnic; and a long stroll back (different route, of course), which included a stop for café.

Today is Thanksgiving in Canada, so we went out to dinner in France at an Italian restaurant. Seemed about right!

After a shared entrée of insalata caprese, Steve had pasta à la carbonara and Susan had tagliatelle à la mer – everything was very tasty. As we have been drinking very good wine at lunch, we simply had a pichet of red with dinner. A while later, back at the hotel, we had dessert – amazing chocolate bought at a nearby artisan chocolatier the other day. Yum!

Tuesday, 11 October 2005

Our last full day in Toulouse (and, France) was ‘typical’ (for us). The Marché Victor Hugo was open after a one-day respite, so we were able to fill a couple of small orders for supper tonight: smoked salmon and a tomato. This went nicely with our remaining chèvre and a flute campagne.

Earlier, after another great lunch at la Gourmandine, we took a long walk southwesterly to Pont Neuf and crossed to the left (west) bank of la Garrone. We explored there a short while and returned via Pont Saint-Pierre.

Mostly, we just got sorted out for our return tomorrow, packing, etc. We scouted our route to the nearest pickup point (there are four in the downtown area) for the airport shuttle (la Navette Aéroport), so that there wouldn’t be any surprises in the morning. And we cleaned out our wine cellar (kept nicely on our north-facing balcony) with dinner. We had parts of four bottles remaining, all purchased in the preceding two weeks and all rather good.

Another nice day, easily hitting 2.0 on the Knowmark Weather Scale.

Wednesday, 12 October 2005

We were able to leave this morning without undue haste, as our flight (from Toulouse to Paris) didn’t depart until 10:35am. So, we indulged in our morning café (noisette) and pain aux raisins at Dame Brioche before checking out. One of the great things about a place like Dame Brioche is that by the third morning (sometimes the second!), you are a ‘regular’: just a simple confirmation when you walk in, because they remember you (and your order) from prior visits. And, that is the rule, rather than the exception.

After checking out, we trundled our bags to the pickup point for the airport shuttle. It was only five minutes from our hotel door, so with rolling luggage it was a snap. The shuttle is a great deal: 3,90€ (each) and we were at the airport in about 20 minutes. The return to Peterborough was somewhat tiring (as usual), but uneventful.

Until next time (we were humming April in Paris on the way back). And, as you often hear in France upon leaving any commercial establishment (whether you’ve purchased anything or not): Au revoir, merci!