Egg tarts and Flowers. Portugal plus Chelsea.

[drron]

More trams.

 

[drron]

The last of our bus tour.










And a place I will come back to.


.

 

[drron]

So back to the hotel and then I went for a walk.


It certainly was a mess around the hotel.







Again not everyone in Porto has it easy.

 

[drron]

And a real telephone box.

 

[drron]

The intercontinental. Our room is on the 4th floor which you can see will never get a view.



And for those of you that have had a Catholic Education Monte Pio may have significance . This is the bank.




I checked out the Maccas but nothing really Portugese.




But I did get something from here.

 

[drron]

Then I discovered the main train station.









This would be a fantastic train trip.

 

[drron]

Leaving the train station another good view of the Cathedral.



And I had a snack plus a beer. Sardines and a Portugese sausage which tasted like minced fish.




Then bought some more tarts.


Then back at our room the big tarts tasting.


And now tarted out.

 

[drron]

So that night we just went to the bar again for Mrsdrron to have her Sav Blanc and share a club sandwich.


The next morning I had the eggs Benedict for breakfast. Different to the usual.


After breakfast we got a cab to the Europcar downtown office as I didn’t fancy driving back to the hotel with all the road closures.
No problems at all and an excellent agent. For the first time I took the extra road assistance charge. I ended up being so glad I did.

Unfortunately the cars GPS took us on the wrong toll road and a bit of a cross country drive to get back on track. It turned out it was taking us north to the Vintage House not west to the Vintage Hotel.
That journey next.

 

[Flyfrequently]

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@drron, even though it's touristy, great that you have taken the "hop on hop off" bus.
We do that on the first day to find our feet in a new city. It is certainly on our list for September with the hills of Porto and Lisbon!
Slightly OT, how many pasteis de nata do you think you and @mrs.dr.ron have had so far and the best one ?

 

[drron]

On our 9th day here and I personally have had 25 tarts but most at the hotel for breakfast when they are mini tarts. Every hotel has had them on their breakfast buffet.
Best probably at a rest stop in a SOL restaurant. But not had a bad one. Even Macca’s version is pretty good.

 

[Lynda2475]

I found the original Paste De Nata from pastéis de Belém in Lisbon hard to beat, plus it is a nice tram ride from down town.

In Porto (which I enjoyed more than Lisbon) I found the eclairs pretty impressive at one of the shops where drron bought tarts.

For anyone wanting a different way to see and taste Porto I highly reocmmend this food tour: Beyond the Barrel: From Decadent to Down-home in the Heart of Porto

I did in in 2018 and it went for 5+ hours, got in a good walk up into the hills to a few places visited by Anthony Bourdain that tourists dont usually get to, plus plenty down town and riverside. Ticked off all the major food items, wine (including rose) and Port.

 

[drron]

Walking tours especially up hills are no longer possible for us as we both have mobility problems. And more so in Portugal with their extensive use of cobblestones.

 

[mrs.dr.ron]

I ate so many egg tarts in Porto I felt sick !! so had a few days rest but having a few now in Lisbon. We usually do the HOHO Bus if we are in a new city, it is a good way to orintate yourself with a new city, and look out for things to go back to later.

 

[VPS]

I ate so many egg tarts in Porto I felt sick !! so had a few days rest but having a few now in Lisbon. We usually do the HOHO Bus if we are in a new city, it is a good way to orintate yourself with a new city, and look out for things to go back to later.

There were a couple of w@nkers (influencers) on my Mediterranean cruise who were behind me when I was boarding in Lisbon. Very hard to pick nationality or accent quite dark skin and American inflection. These two guys who must have been brothers if not twins were dressed identically in fawn suits. They were commenting that they thought the HOHO buses were a waste of time because all European cities looked just the same.
FFS

PS I indulged in a few egg tarts in Lisbon and found a great hot chocolate shop as well

 

[drron]

So a few pictures as we took the back roads to get back on track for the Douro.





We stopped in this last dtown at a Lidl and picked up supplies. Also had a tart and it was much cheaper and just as good as those in Porto. More importantly we were just about at the road to take us through to the Vintage Hotel. Stopped at a look out with magnificent views of the Douro.





But when I turned around the views of the car were not so good.



So now the saga commenced.

 

[Disco]

So a few pictures as we took the back roads to get back on track for the Douro.
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We stopped in this last dtown at a Lidl and picked up supplies. Also had a tart and it was much cheaper and just as good as those in Porto. More importantly we were just about at the road to take us through to the Vintage Hotel. Stopped at a look out with magnificent views of the Douro.
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But when I turned around the views of the car were not so good.
View attachment 320850


So now the saga commenced.

Oh dear, train is starting to look good although doesn't have the flexibility. Enjoying the route as we will be there in a month's time.

 

[drron]

I had to ring the Emergency assistance line but I do not have roaming only an E sim for data. So I walked over to a house across the road hoping that someone could speak Englist. Got a very hostile reception from 2 small terriers which brought the owner outside who told the terriers to go back to their spot. He was a short old man but actually 3 months younger than me. Very fortunately he spoke 6 languages apart from Portugese. He had retired to this property but still does some online business. Also 3 extra self contained good looking apartments which were rented out to foreign visitors hence the languages.
He was fantastic and soon a tow truck arrived. I needed help from my new friend as the tow truckn driver spoke no English. Turns out he was told to put the car on the truck and take it back to Porto and a taxi would come and pick us up to be taken to Europcar at OPO to be given a new car. Thought that a bit crazy as I had done a google search and there was a Europcar depot 20Km from where we were and only a slight detour. We were also only 36Km from our hotel.
Problem. I was dealing wit the roadside assistance company not Europcar so they had to ring Europcar and get back to me. Eventually told no cars available at the nearest depot so agreed to be taken back to OPO. But a new problem. The taxi that had been organised an hour before had not arrived. So back to the car, unpacked our luggage and had just started off to my new friend's place when the taxi arrived. A Mercedes with a young driver. He told us he would have us back at OPO in 40 - m45minutes. I was a bit dubious as the first 30Km were on a narrow winding mountain road. No problem for the young fellow getting speeds over 100 Km on the narrow road and who knows how fast on tyhe tollway. He had us back in 46 minutes.

The problems were not over as the first agent didn't know we were coming. Finally the boss came back and knew exactly what was to happen. An Alpha was brought around. Fortunately I asked the young guy could he get the GPS in English and he couldn't do it. Thought it was because the engine was off so he tries to restart it. A dead battery. So a second car brought around and we were off but now only on the toll roads until 16Km from the hotel. the last 16Km though was on a very narrow,very windy mountain road and the sun was setting quickly. Scary as a fair bit of traffic going in the other direction.

It was dark when we reached Pinhao and we drove all the way up the main street and couldn't find it. So I got out of the car and walked to the bridge where the hotel should be. It was across the train tracks and the entrance obscured by the high barriers on either side of the train tracks. Finally into our room by 1930. Booked dinner for 2000 and went down to the bar for the first 2 of our 4 welcome drinks.
That next.

 

[JohnM]

I had to ring the Emergency assistance line but I do not have roaming only an E sim for data. So I walked over to a house across the road hoping that someone could speak Englist. Got a very hostile reception from 2 small terriers which brought the owner outside who told the terriers to go back to their spot. He was a short old man but actually 3 months younger than me. Very fortunately he spoke 6 languages apart from Portugese. He had retired to this property but still does some online business. Also 3 extra self contained good looking apartments which were rented out to foreign visitors hence the languages.
He was fantastic and soon a tow truck arrived. I needed help from my new friend as the tow truckn driver spoke no English. Turns out he was told to put the car on the truck and take it back to Porto and a taxi would come and pick us up to be taken to Europcar at OPO to be given a new car. Thought that a bit crazy as I had done a google search and there was a Europcar depot 20Km from where we were and only a slight detour. We were also only 36Km from our hotel.
Problem. I was dealing wit the roadside assistance company not Europcar so they had to ring Europcar and get back to me. Eventually told no cars available at the nearest depot so agreed to be taken back to OPO. But a new problem. The taxi that had been organised an hour before had not arrived. So back to the car, unpacked our luggage and had just started off to my new friend's place when the taxi arrived. A Mercedes with a young driver. He told us he would have us back at OPO in 40 - m45minutes. I was a bit dubious as the first 30Km were on a narrow winding mountain road. No problem for the young fellow getting speeds over 100 Km on the narrow road and who knows how fast on tyhe tollway. He had us back in 46 minutes.

The problems were not over as the first agent didn't know we were coming. Finally the boss came back and knew exactly what was to happen. An Alpha was brought around. Fortunately I asked the young guy could he get the GPS in English and he couldn't do it. Thought it was because the engine was off so he tries to restart it. A dead battery. So a second car brought around and we were off but now only on the toll roads until 16Km from the hotel. the last 16Km though was on a very narrow,very windy mountain road and the sun was setting quickly. Scary as a fair bit of traffic going in the other direction.

It was dark when we reached Pinhao and we drove all the way up the main street and couldn't find it. So I got out of the car and walked to the bridge where the hotel should be. It was across the train tracks and the entrance obscured by the high barriers on either side of the train tracks. Finally into our room by 1930. Booked dinner for 2000 and went down to the bar for the first 2 of our 4 welcome drinks.
That next.

I had an identical tyre problem at Lake Como a few years back on an Italy-France driving trip. VW with no spare rented at FCO; tyre sidewall speared; car towed away; nearest replacement car at MXP despite nearer depots; find your own way there; ended up taking the airport shuttle. Turned out OK and really only lost about half a day.

 

[TheRealTMA]

I had to ring the Emergency assistance line but I do not have roaming only an E sim for data. So I walked over to a house across the road hoping that someone could speak Englist. Got a very hostile reception from 2 small terriers which brought the owner outside who told the terriers to go back to their spot. He was a short old man but actually 3 months younger than me. Very fortunately he spoke 6 languages apart from Portugese. He had retired to this property but still does some online business. Also 3 extra self contained good looking apartments which were rented out to foreign visitors hence the languages.
He was fantastic and soon a tow truck arrived. I needed help from my new friend as the tow truckn driver spoke no English. Turns out he was told to put the car on the truck and take it back to Porto and a taxi would come and pick us up to be taken to Europcar at OPO to be given a new car. Thought that a bit crazy as I had done a google search and there was a Europcar depot 20Km from where we were and only a slight detour. We were also only 36Km from our hotel.
Problem. I was dealing wit the roadside assistance company not Europcar so they had to ring Europcar and get back to me. Eventually told no cars available at the nearest depot so agreed to be taken back to OPO. But a new problem. The taxi that had been organised an hour before had not arrived. So back to the car, unpacked our luggage and had just started off to my new friend's place when the taxi arrived. A Mercedes with a young driver. He told us he would have us back at OPO in 40 - m45minutes. I was a bit dubious as the first 30Km were on a narrow winding mountain road. No problem for the young fellow getting speeds over 100 Km on the narrow road and who knows how fast on tyhe tollway. He had us back in 46 minutes.

The problems were not over as the first agent didn't know we were coming. Finally the boss came back and knew exactly what was to happen. An Alpha was brought around. Fortunately I asked the young guy could he get the GPS in English and he couldn't do it. Thought it was because the engine was off so he tries to restart it. A dead battery. So a second car brought around and we were off but now only on the toll roads until 16Km from the hotel. the last 16Km though was on a very narrow,very windy mountain road and the sun was setting quickly. Scary as a fair bit of traffic going in the other direction.

It was dark when we reached Pinhao and we drove all the way up the main street and couldn't find it. So I got out of the car and walked to the bridge where the hotel should be. It was across the train tracks and the entrance obscured by the high barriers on either side of the train tracks. Finally into our room by 1930. Booked dinner for 2000 and went down to the bar for the first 2 of our 4 welcome drinks.
That next.

The lesson is, always have ones sim that allows local calls and use the ESim for everything else. Even if you have to use your Australian sim to make the call. Worth every $ you will pay.

BTW: we had no issues finding the Vintage hotel just over the bridge. Quite well marked.

 

[drron]

The lesson is, always have ones sim that allows local calls and use the ESim for everything else. Even if you have to use your Australian sim to make the call. Worth every $ you will pay.

BTW: we had no issues finding the Vintage hotel just over the bridge. Quite well marked.

If you arrive via the bridge at the hotel end of town there would be no problem but we crossed a tributary of the Douro at the other end of town and it was night. Even driving on to the railway crossing the Vintage hotel entrance was still obscured. And Google Maps told us we were there about 80 metres back from the railway crossing. Hence the need to get out and walk it.