Ibis Porto Sul Europarque Santa Maria da Feira

Here is a picture of Donna that I would be avle to take every day that we are traveling to another city.............as you can see she is an avid sightseer!!!!


Also attached is todays daily explosion...................IS it getting worse or better?????

Donna here! We are now in Portugal...We had a long drive from Salamanca...We got to Portugal and we wandered a lovely Port town and bought some souvenirs and postcards...after that we went to a winery and I ONLY tastes some different regional wines...The weather continues to be great..not too hot, but Toni with an ...

... cake. As it turns out , on this occasion, the cake takes second place to Coimbra's culinary claim to fame. Nestled down a little back-alley we find the restaurant, Zé Manel dos Ossos. We squeeze ourselves into the tiny room made to feel slightly smaller by 3 walls being festooned with handwritten eulogies to the chef, clocks and for some reason the head of a bespectacled boar. The other wall is taken over by the kitchen / bar and this in turn is ...

... started by the Romans) and they vineyards are not allowed (by regulation) to irrigate the vines. On the cruise we got to meet some of the other passengers - some were Portugese by birth but living in South Africa, USA or Brasil. Chris got into a long conversation (in broken Portugese and English) with a local lady who had never done the river trip.

We´ve ...

... and play cricket - they seem to revel in fast bowling and big slogs (maybe they can get the IPL here?). The cricket guys take over from the skateboarders each afternoon. Just over the road from the square is the internet cafe we're using - €0.50/hour which is very reasonable.

Today we got lost trying to find a particular tram that goes to the coast (a suburb called Foz) and thus had a long but enjoyable walk ...

... for a hostel. It looked more like an Ikea show room with free printing, quality linen, and a little bit too nice for a hostel. Good point to wind down I guess and as a result the only exciting thing I did was visit the Port Cellars which it is obviously famous for.

Unfortunately, I was one night too late for St John The Baptist festival ...

... sajandit kahanes elanike arv 2/3 võrra; täna elab seal ca 56 500 inimest. 1808. a raius Barra kanal tagasi tee ookeanini ning Aveiro hakkas taas jalgu alla võtma. Peatusime seal vaid selleks, et jalgu sirutada ja päikest nautida; pildistasime žigulis istuvad meest, kes oli ilmselt oma autoga ühevanune; tegime kesklinnale tiiru peale ja peale paari jäätist jätkasime sõitu.

..."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 ...

... kala oli üsna kuivanud, veel kuivem oli seal peal olnud laimiviil, millest ei tulnud tilkagi. Kõhu sai küll täis, aga sellised väiksed asjad rikkusid meeleolu. Pärast me muidugi lihtsalt naersime selle üle, sest ülejäänud restoranikogemused olid hoopis teistsugused :) Õhtul klõpsasime paar pilti, vaatasime kuidas jalgpallifännid laulsid ja lõugasid (ilmselt tulid mingilt kohalikult matšilt) ja sõitsimegi metrooga tagasi hotelli, et välja puhata järgmise päeva pikaks sõiduks.

... This will be our last travel pod while we are here. Tomorrow we leave for London and we are scheduled to be home by Sunday morning. We will update events in London and add pictures as soon as we return. UPDATE----I need to say how wrong we were about Porto. The guide book that we had recommended much to do on the north side of the River. The only thing it suggested about the south side were the port cellars. We decided to go and taste some port ...