Caranda Hotel Braga

... 100km east of Porto. They explained that even if you grew the same grapes in another region they would not make good Port because the weather and the soil is very different. I find it amazing that grapes can take on chocolaty and citrusy flavors because of the dirt it was grown in. They also showed us some of the vintage bottles they were selling. The oldest being from 1906 and selling at 3000euros a pop. After the tour we got to do the tasting. I decided ...

... been around for more than a thousand years or so. It's a very peaceful place, and for the most part this rubs off on it's inhabitants. Many days I enjoyed a walk by the river purely to sup on the calm. It was a nice change of pace from Madrid.

The first full day I was there of course I went around to taste some Port from every place that would give me some. It's an interesting drink, and much like wine in the sense that good Port is good, and bad Port is ...

... 10 72;рдный конце 88;тный зал Casa de Musica, модер 85;истск& #1080;е фасад 99; на главн 86;й площа 76;и, и полур 72;звали& #1074 ...

Лечу в Порто. Полет – всего 55 минут, а если учест 00; очере 76;ную для меня смену часов 86;й зо ...

... are. The distilleries were surprisingly accessible, with all of them offering tours of the caves and tastings, for a fee of course. We were only able to visit a couple (Porto seems to close for 2 hours during lunch) before catching our evening flight out, but we are glad to have tried some new and very interesting kinds of port. Thank you Portugal, we will be back to see more.

... We arrived safely thanks to these total strangers. He advised us not to take the caravan into Porto.

The next day we went on the bus to Porto and discovered why. The 8 kilometer journey took about an hour as the bus travelled in ever decreasing circles through streets normally impassable to a bus without the use of a horn and the assistance of disgruntled lorry and car drivers who had to backup. On arriving in Porto feeling shaken and stirred we discovered a ...

... getting to the place - one woman threatened to throw out her sat nav after taking the wrong turn numerous times. The rain continued and as the camp site only offered sites under oak trees we had a few very noisy nights with water dripping, acorns and oak apples falling on the caravan and a stream running underneath it we decided to move on.

... the better part of an hour looking for any restaurant that was opened. Our meals were : a tuna salad (a can of tuna, unrippened tomatoes and lettuce) and pork (a peice of pork, rice and french fries.) Long story short we were more then enthusiastic to get on the road in the morning to leave Porto behind

... todas as viagens que eu fizer. Braga é uma cidade, que pros padrões brasileiros não seria considerada sequer de médio porte, no entanto não perde em quase nada para as cidades brasileiras de mesma população. Aqui tem de tudo que uma cidade grande pode oferecer e ainda conserva um ar de interior, especialmente quando se anda no centro histórico. Apesar dos portugueses, em geral, não serem muito simpáticos (especialmente com brasileiros), a cidade é bastante ...

... were caves as such, just big, dark warehouse spaces much like other large wine distillation cellars elsewhere in the world. Oh well. Maybe there are some actual cave cellars about but I ran out of time to find them. Still, a good quick plonk stop as I head northwards towards home. From here it is back to Spain on an ...