Portugal
Lisbon to Porto
Our original first stop was going to be Obidos, the walled ancient city. A lady on the plane convinced me we need to see Mafra. We went to Mafra first. The small town was wonderful for the incredible palace visit and the miniature replica of how Portugese lived in older times. The food was great and the area to walk was pleasant.
Obidos walled city captured our history curiosity and was a perfect day trip. We did stay overnight just outside the walls which allowed us the convenience of catching an Uber at our hotel. If you stay inside the walls, one would have to trek luggage up steep cobblestone walkways.
Next our Uber stop would be Nazare. Famous for the high waves and surfing town. The seas were spectacular and the many shops and restaurants along the boardwalk were worth the visit. We stayed two nights in order we can see the cliffside views of the waves one day and walk the town and shops the next day.
The next trek was by bus to an old city named Coimbra. I wanted to see this place for the charm and history of one of the oldest Universities in Europe. It did not disappoint. Inside the campus was a very large area for the growth of trees from all over the world. Bamboo to the Japanese Ginkgo Biloba or also known as the Maidenhair tree.
From Coimbra we hopped a train to Aveiro which was such a great highlight. Aveiro has these Venetian looking boats that will take you around their canals for wonderful views of their romantic city. I could have spent two nights in Aveiro.
Train to Porto and what a sight this is. Beautiful on both sides of the river. We will spend 5 nights here before flying to Madrid. Steep hills to our place but a nice walk through many wonderful old streets, past old castles and cathedrals. We again saw many blocks with the public recycle bins where everyone sorts their garbage. Shop owners will bring out their waste and insure it is sorted into the right bins. On our tour of the Duoro valley we were insured that some places even sort the corks and this is reused into things like paper, ground cover and other useful objects. The bus and river cruise option was the best for us to see the beautiful Duoro Valley. This trip as an all day excursion allowing us to see many of the smaller towns in the wine regions with just a one hour river cruise. Being on the river in December is a bit cold so this was welcome by all of us to just stay on the river for an hour.
