Leaving Portugal

Klas in Coimbra with the Rick Steves´ Portugal guide book that we got from Dell and Chris



Sanctuary at Fatima


Porto


Drinking port in the Ferreira lodge while writing in travel journal



Pinhao in the Duoro Valley

Today is our last day in Portugal. We head to Salamanca, Spain, tonight by train. During this last week, we´ve spent:

• 2 days in Coimbra - a university town with a BIG hill that we had to walk up to reach the bed and breakfast we stayed at. On one of the nights, we listened to fado music sung by some male students in front of an old church - this is traditional Portugese music that men would sing to serenade women. It was a beautiful evening with torches burning around the church to provide a relaxing atmosphere.
• Day trip to Fatima - the sanctuary where the three children saw Mary in 1917 was very peaceful.
• 2 days in Porto - another hilly town with port lodges across the river in Villa Nova de Gaia. We visited the lodges of Croft, Ferreira and Graham´s.
• Day trip to Pinhao in the Duoro Valley - Duoro Valley is where all of the grapes are grown to make Port. We had a nice lunch and Melissa took a port and chocolate class.

Melissa is tired of walking up hills. And we´ve battled some serious foot odor problems with a lot of walking in the heat. And we gave in to fast food two nights and had McDonald´s for dinner because we didn´t feel like sitting down for an hour for a long meal.

Portugal was a pleasant surprise. The food was better than we expected, the landscapes are beautiful, transportation is on time, and our accommodation has been good. A lot of people speak English and are friendly and willing to help.