On May 3 we reached stage 4 of the national deconfinement plan in Portugal. Restaurants started serving indoors although still with table and capacity restrictions. All schools, shops, and malls reopened. While still not back to “normal”, it finally felt like real freedom. Taking full advantage of things, we took off on May 3 for a 17-day road trip with four close friends in a way-too-big-for-the-narrow-roads van. We called it our Freedom Road Trip.
Such a small country, but so much yet to see. We ate and drank well, laughed a whole lot, saw so much, and had a truly memorable time. We saw something like 15 castles and fortresses and an endless variety of terrain. Yet, after over two years here, we have still just barely scratched the surface of this amazing country. It was quiet everywhere we went. The tourist sites and towns were still mostly empty. Every inn and restaurant sincerely appreciated our business.
This is a Lot of photos, I know. But it is just a tiny fraction of the number of photos that I kept from the trip.
Batalha Monastery – a second visit for us but we still saw new things.
Tomar – the aqueduct, the town, and a second visit to the Covento de Cristo
Óbidos – where we stayed in a great house, and did second visits to the town and to Buddha Eden to see parts we missed last time.
It was so nice to be able to take photos without dodging thousands of visitors. We saw maybe 30 people here all day.
Palácio Queluz – Impressive home and gardens. Before the revolution, the former kings had so many palaces:
Sintra – our base for seeing Quinta da Regaleira, the coast, and more.
Alentejo – We stayed at a great house in this fabulous wine region as our base for seeing and doing so much including the Almendres Cromlech stones, Elvas, Estremoz, Tiago Cabaço winery, Monsaraz, Corval, and the Wine Lounge at Ervideira:
These pagan stones pre-date Stonehenge by 2000-3000 years and are surrounded by cork trees.
The new winery puppies were a huge hit. They will train them to herd the geese that will clean between the rows of vines.
Driving up the east side of Portugal with stops in Castelo de Vide, Marvão, Belmonte, Castelo de Rei Vamba, Monsanto, Trancoso, and Sortelha:
Foz do Sabor – where we spent three nights resting and enjoying a serene view of a bend in the river along the far eastern part of the Douro valley. Our house was nestled among grape vines and orange trees.
Western Douro – our final stop was on the western end of the Douro river. We stopped first along the way in Vila Real to visit the lovely gardens of Casa Mateus before getting to our house on the river.
The men played pool and foosball for hours on end at our house in the western Douro valley.
