Encosta do Paraiso Guimarães

... be a mere 6 hours later, combined with the realisation that Regua, described as "little more than a transport hub" in the Lowly Planet, was horrid. We don't usually pay much attention to the LP guides but when it pointed out that the Tourist Information office a mere 10 back-breaking, rucksack-lugging minutes from the station was 'marginally more helpful' than the one adjoining the station we had to concur on two counts that a ...

... my trip, and it was nice to be in a car again (and not on the train). We arrived back at the quinta (after getting quite lost on the small windy roads...), and all washed up for dinner. This night we had a wonderful steak dish. The steak was prepared in the oven with salt, garlic, olive oil, and basalmic vinegar-it was very interesting, and I loved the flavors. We chatted over dinner for many hours (some new people had arrived who ...

On our last full day in Portugal, really the last full day of the European part of our holiday we headed to Guimaraes for a day trip. We started by attempting to see inside the Se (Cathedral) which is literally across the road from our apartment. Having stayed here for 4 days already, we picked a time to see it when there was a mass being conducted so we were unable to see inside. We headed down to Sao Bento station but as there was an hour before our train we sat in ...

... took me one and a half day... i partly cycled during the night...really nice no cars! and beautiful views from the hills + sunset!). Also some friends who I met earlier on my biketour visited me here. I camped with Joao nearby a beautiful river and I have spend full moon with Lucia and Alegria. Lucia and me slept outside and we watched the moon all night!

..."No tempo de D. João I, o reino de Portugal conheceu a maior desvalorização da moeda da sua história. Para combater essa inflação, procurou-se incentivar o tráfico comercial, atraindo mercadores estrangeiros e, ao mesmo tempo, desenvolver o cmércio interno através de leis proteccionistas a favor dos mesteirais e mercadores. A existência de feiras, por iniciativa popular, era ...

I have just set my project's engines in motion, by making the final decision on it and letting the information out. And the project is this: I intend to start from some point along the Galician border in the north of Portugal and walk all the way to the Mediterranean coast in the south. Of course I can not claim that I will make it, as I am not sure there will be enough time, enough strenght, enough disposition or enough good ...

Começo escrevendo que desde ontem só tenho pensamentos positivos.... dito isso, aí vai a minha saga para chegar em Lisboa (notem que escrevo do Porto). Tudo começou quando entrei no posto da polícia federal ainda no aeroporto do Galeão, no Rio de Janeiro. Depois de uma fila imensa, quando chegou minha vez de falar com os oficiais, me toquei que não tinha registrado meu notebook na receita ...

Just got back from a port wine tasting at a fantastic place called 'maison du port' owned by a french guy. I got a great lesson in port and tried alot of different kinds, so I am having trouble typing.....Porto is another beautiful old city on the Douro river, an old trading town. More old buildings built tightly together on steep hills. Beautiful delis full of ...

... houses where people have to hug the walls whenever a car comes. And it seems also that almost everywhere you can eat reasonably good food, even if it is the cold liver sandwich I got for lunch one day because it was cheap (and it was good, believe me). I also got a cell phone and a camera (finally!), so a few pictures should be here as soon as I can upload them. Thanks again to Filipa, Helena and their very friendly dog, if they ever read this. :)

... into my togs and get to the beach... so I asked about public swimming pools.... there are none. How does a city have NO public swimming pools? So I asked about movie theatres... there are 2. In the 2nd biggest city in Portugal there are 2 cinemas. I went to the closest one and it looked like an abandoned house... sure it said 'cine' but it wasn't open and there were no recent posters - it all looked rather dodgy if you ask me. I caught the ...