@Fil Albuquerque,
Still remember it fondly Fil - can't believe how bad my spell check was.
That last report back was from Faro - we did walk to Sagres. Spent a few days at
Pedralva (a resurrected rural village) then spent 5 days based at the wonderful
Vilacampina exploring the South East. Before making our way north to Evora (where we met a Portuguese/Australian working at out accomodation) had some amazing meals and met a wonderful couple at the tiny 8 seated restaurant Tasquinha do Oliveira - who gave us recommendations for a restaurant at Tomar.
We couldn't find the restaurant in Tomar, but when we asked the concierge for a recommendation he suggested the hotel restaurant - we looked doubtful and told him the restaurant that had been recommended to us he perked up and explained that it wasn't so much a restaurant as an 'irregular gastronomic event' that was pretty much invite only - but now he had a picture of what sort of dining we were after and gave us an address and name of another restaurant.
It was a small place, run by a young couple - wife front of house, husband, of North African descent, chef. Bloody wonderful without being wanky.
Ate there twice and gushed to them.
Then up to the Sierra de Estrela. The central mountain range that rises up to the clouds form a flat plain. Mrs Hinge terrified because I kept doing sneaky peaks of the view while driving. She'd found the Casa Das Penhas Douradas for us to stay in - apparently it's a ski resort, but still open in summer. By now it's early June and we hiked - most amazing wildflowers above the treeline and we walked for hours never seeing a trace of another human being (except for old stone shepherd huts). Just beautiful.
Then back on the road exploring the North West spent time in Caminha, Valenca, Viana do Castelo and Braga - before time in the Douro valley (based in Tabucao) and eventually four fantastic days in Porto staying with Carmen & Joao at the
Guest House Douro
Portugal was just fantastic. Probably my ultimate fave of southern Europe so far (all of it has been great (Italy, Spain, France, Cyprus) ) it's just a pity we only have one life and so much to see - I don't imagine we'll ever return. Sniff.
