A Belated Weekend Update!!

This post will give a little insight into my Portugual Roadtrip from a few weekends ago.
So over the past weekend (okay two weekends ago!!) we rented a car and saw pretty much all of Portugal. I will begin by the trip we took on Thursday, Nov 1.

It was a Portuguese holiday- Dia dos todos Santos- so we decided to take a trip down south the the Algarve region. Before coming to Portugal I had been told that the Algarve was infested by English and other European tourists for its nice warm climate, beautiful beaches, and tourist accomodation. But once getting there, I could tell why. It was simply beautiful!!

Silves, Portugal

We went to various towns along the coast, first to Silves where we saw one of the most imortant Moorish Castles, and Monchique, then further south to Lagos, Portimão, and then ate dinner in Faro, the capital and third biggest city in Portugal. The water is crystal clear, surrounded by amazing cliffs and bluffs and perfect beaches. I felt like I was almost in California ;). There are lots of tourist things to do involving the beach, and during the winter also there are many golf courses, and various shops and restaurants.

Algarve, Portugal

In Faro we ate cataplana, the typical Portuguese dish from the region which contains various shelfish, vegetables and pork. Simplyyy deliciousss! We stumbled upon this random restuarant and were quite happy after a dinner of cataplana and also this baked octupus dish- baked in olive oil and tons of garlic and parsley. We drove back late thursday night to work on Friday..

Then over the weekend we took off bright and early Saturday morning and went up North. After about an hour we got off the main highway and ventured off into the little town of Batalha, where we saw this huuuuge amazing monastery from the 13th century in which famous globalizer Henry the Navigator, and his family, are buried.

Batalha, Portugal
Coimbra, Portugal

From Batalha, we continued north on a two lane highway through the countryside to the city of Coimbra. Coimbra is known for its University, which is one of the oldest still running in Europe (third oldest I believe). After a lunch of fish, potatoes, sardines for Jessica, and more Octupus (with rice this time) for Dalmira, we hopped in the car again and went to Porto.

Arriving around 4ish, we first went to across the Rio Douro to Vila Noca de Gaia, which is its own town but houses all of Porto's famous port wine houses. Along the river they are al lined up, with people milling about in front, tons of restaurants, bars and etc. We took a tour of the Cálem wine house, where for 2 euro we got to walk around in the winery and see the huge barrels, learn some about the different ports, and of course do a tasting of a white and a tawny port. From VN de Gaia, we crossed over the Dom Luis iron bridge to the Ribeira district of Porto- along the water on the other side, it also has many tourist attracts, bars, shops, and a riverfront promenade. I really liked Porto- it had such a great atmosphere, and we spent the evening along a long pedestrial street, did some shopping, ate a little dinner, and then hopped in the car again.

Porto, Portugal

From Porto, we went about another hour or two north, crossed the border into Spain, and found our little hotel in a little village across the Vigo river from Vigo, Spain. On Sunday, one of my roommates Dalmira drove the remaining hour up to Santiago de Compostela, the site of the famous pilgramage to see St. James. (Didn't join her since I had already been to the town and the cathedral when I was in Spain a few years ago). So Jessica and I took a ferry across the river to explore Vigo, which was basically shut down. But fortunately the weather was wonderfully warm and we strolled around, drank coffee at various cafes, and had a nice tapas lunch before hoppin hte the car and coming back home.

Vigo, Spain

So... this post was long awaited I'm sure -and probably not worth the wait - but I had a great time with my roommates. Portugal really is a beautiful country and it was great to rent a car and explore. I can't wait for the family to come so we can do it again! :) And make sure you check out all of the pictures HERE