Motel Pombeira Guarda

... bad. Port is a fortified wine that is mixed with Brandy to halt the fermentation, so in many of the less expensive wines the balance is poorly done and it tastes and smells like off Brandy. However, if you can splurge on a glass of vintage or lbv port, you'll be pleasantly surprised. I enjoyed the nicer ones quite a bit, but as it's very sweet it's something I could only enjoy a bit at a time.

After a few days in Porto I was fortunate enough to meet someone on ...

My uncle and my aunt came to pick us up, at the arrival of the train (before 6am). As we wanted to have a coffee with a delicious Portuguese pastry, but as the coffee shops were not yet opened, we went to see the sunrise from the front of the cathedral.

amazingly beautiful area with a river running thru green hills, dotted with small portugese white washed villages and vineyards which are dug into the siderd of teh hills. the rain didn't stop us from doing a couple of winery tours and climbing up 600 odd steps to see a beautiful church.... although we did find ourselves inside bars and bakeries samling portugals finest ports and pastries .... and the chinese restaurant of course (habits die hard).

... was my adventure. No one was going to lead me, I wouldn't have to compromise, and I couldn't turn back. In my head, this week of hiking had become a synthesis of my trip, a final test as to how far I had come in the last 10 1/2 months. So I found a booklet in English about the different trails through the park and where there would be lodging, since I didn't have a tent, and planned my route. I arranged to store my big pack with the family that owned the pensao I was ...

... was in Quinta do Vallado, Miguel who is a gourmet, love the wines made there. As we got into the winery we discover that they do not have a tourist program. But we were very lucky, because one of the owners were there, and he was very polite to allow us making a quickly visit to their wine "factory", with him explaining the process. And in the end he gave us 4 bottle of his wines. Next stop: Porto

... too. But, he explained why he couldn't let his brother let the pigs go right after a visit to Portugal. "Everyone in town would say, 'Oh, he goes to visit his hippy brother, Clem, in Portugal, and then he lets the pigs go." In the end, the pigs didn't get let go, and the people didn't starve. Clem cracked me up. He also told of his eighty-four-year-old grandmother, who has political views like a Nazi. When Clem goes to visit her, all they do is ...

... airport. Guimaraez is next door's university town, but somehow friendlier than Braga, with a shopping center and a movie theater and plenty of parties for comfort. Back in Uli's dark little cell, we vow to go back to those Portuguese beaches while they're still as nice as they are now, unspoiled and without disgusting high-rise buildings that unfortunately have begun to sprout along the coast line.

... to the only place where children under 16 were allowed to play video games and they were only 5 cents each. Dylan: There is a big fair on in Mangualde, and, because it is a big celebration, children are allowed to play the video games. Raymond's Travel Page

Dylan: In the morning we had a big rush for the train. Our train was leaving at twelve o'clock, so we had to skip lunch and go to the station, but we didn't know that the time here is one hour back. Kit: We ended up an hour early so we had lunch at ...

Salamanca - food shopping, city walk. Plaza Mayor rated the most beautiful in Spain. Portugese border Scenery mountainous & rocky - donkeys, carts, women with baskets & potatoes on their heads, washing clothes in streams etc Climbed up mountain roads ro Guarda, highest town in Portugal, thenedged along the sides of the mountains towards Coimbra. Roads incredibly bad - huge potholes & corrugations Camped in pine forest before Coimbra