We decided to stop in Sintra, a town just northwest of Lisbon which numerous historical sites including a Moors Castle. Somehow we timed our arrival perfectly because we landed a prime parking spot, but just a minute or two later, nearly all the spots were filled. Knowing the drive to the Duoro was long, we fed the parking meter with money for an hour and went on foot to the center of town. There, we got our first glimpse of the castle, which was wayyy up a mountain.
See it? At the very, very top?
Being optimistic, we thought we could reach the walls in 30 minutes. As you can imagine, it was lots of stairs and uphill walking, yet we still enjoyed the forests and views of the valley, towns and sea.
We pressed forward, all the while watching our meter time tick down. We were so devoted to reaching the walls, we even occasionally jogged. Within 40 minutes, we arrived at the wall.
Although we didn't have time to go into the castle, there were a number of current archaeology dig sites with information regarding the area's history. Seeing as we had about ten minutes, we rushed down the hill. Martin went to protect the car from meter cops, and Kate bought two quiches for the road. Phew! No tickets.
We enjoyed the town so much that we decided to take a driving tour. We realized that there is much more than just the castle, and that in the future, we want to dedicate more time to the area, as it was one of our favorites in Portugal.
Continued our long drive to the Duoro. Not many people were on the road so we found ways to entertain ourselves... Starting with knowledge cards which taught us lots of things including which four US Presidents were assassinated (and when), what the 15 cabinet positions in the US government are, which are the nine noble grape varieties, etc. However, we didn't bother memorizing all the Canadian provinces and their respective capitals. Martin did offer some wisdom, thinking that flying chinchillas were one of the Biblical plagues of Egypt. We got a good laugh out of that. (He actually was pretty good coming up with the answers to random facts.) Other ways that we found amusement included styling Martin's long hair.
It's the convertible hairstyle. And adding to our nativity scene. He's pretending to be King Kong.
Finally we arrived in the Duoro Valley, just after 4pm. The Bouchard family again graciously opened their home to us for three nights. They have a quinta (winery in Portuguese) where they make porto, red wine and olive oil. Attached to the quinta is a newly renovated bed and breakfast where we get to stay. The Bouchard family lives in Italy during the school year, so we were greeted by Tiago, who oversees the hospitality at Quinta do Tedo.
The place is amazing! Our apartment is very modern and cool with a great view and even a kitchen plus some classic movies to watch. Tiago showed us around, and we settled into our new home for the next few nights.
Shortly after, we realized we never stopped for groceries, so we set out to find a store. It was 5:30pm on a Sunday. We were basically doomed. After driving a few towns and striking out, we had surrendered to the menu of baked potatoes, olives and an apple (which is basically all we had). We did think of all the ways to make potatoes, but felt baked complimented the olives best. We did see a small restaurant where we stopped and ordered a vegetable salad to go. We weren't sure we had made the right decision when we saw the salad which in addition to lettuce and tomatoes included peaches, pineapples, pasta and sprouts. Being creative though, we pulled together a delicious dinner starting with olives then baked potatoes and the salad which we added sliced onion and avocado to. Plus we had a good bottle of wine. It all came together well. We then topped the night off by watching a movie. So relaxing.
- Martin & Kate
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Location:Armamar Municipality,Portugal
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