26 October 2025

Greetings from Porto Portugal.

My trip to Portugal with my friend John continued this week. There’s a lot of detail here. I hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoy sharing the memories as we’ve traveled north from Lisbon.

Monday:

We took a ride share to the Belem neighborhood in Lisbon, ate breakfast and began to explore the Maritime Museum. Portugal is rightfully proud of their maritime history, and there is a lot of it!

The size of the museum was staggering…and a bit overwhelming. But truly interesting.

The collection of ship models was impressive. Then, we entered a room with actual sea-faring vessels.

The modern art museum was not the experience we hoped for.

Two works side by side. On one painting was the word, “painting.” On the other, “sculpture,”

A completely black square painting that was “untitled.”

A balloon on top of a stick.

Toilet paper hanging from ceiling fans.

We left and agreed that while there are some great museums in the world that celebrate contemporary art, this isn’t one of them. (Sorry, Lisbon!)

The Coaches Museum was next on our list. It has an enormous collection of horse drawn coaches.

Fado is the traditional music of Portugal. So, we went to dinner on Monday night and experienced the longing, the sadness, the emotion of Fado. Fado is traditionally sung by women. But increasingly, young men in university are joining the tradition.

Tuesday:

After breakfast, we left our Air BnB, picked up or rental car and drove towards Sintra. I should say, “John drove.” While I truly love driving, my US driver’s license is not valid here after living more than six months in Europe. So until I get a Spanish driver’s license (a goal for 2026), I can neither rent a car, nor legally drive in Europe.

The Sintra area has a micro climate that is mild, humid, and lush green. Many have said that walking through these woods reminds them of Byron or Keats. In fact Lord Byron stayed at Monserrat.

There are a number is palaces and palatial estates in this area. We went to Monserrat Palace and started in the gardens.

Then we walked up to the mansion

From Monserrat, we drove to Cascais to relax and enjoy lunch at the beach. It was quiet and restorative.

Driving in Portugal is not for the faint of heart. The roads are often hilly, narrow, and slick. I’m in great respect of John as he handles each twist and turn.

After a relaxing lunch, we made our way to the town of Sintra and our hotel for the night, The Sintra Inn. It was sufficient. John described it best, saying, “the best thing about that hotel was that it was next to an ice cream shop. But sadly, the ice cream shop was closed.”

Thursday:

After breakfast, we drive to Palacio de Peña. Once, a monastery, it became the summer palace of the Portuguese king Ferdinand II, before the end of the monarchy. It was a foggy morning to tour the palace and the gardens.

We left from the palace and started towards Coimbra. As John drove, it was lunch time. So I looked on my phone for “restaurants near me.” I found a place, Mila’s, with 4.7 stars, price range 5-10€ in a small town named, Carregado. The navigation took us there in the most Portuguese way, with lots of twists and turns. We arrived at a small cafe with a number of working class men hanging out outside. Inside, the place was packed. But there was a table for two. The waitress seated us and spoke no English. We were in for an authentic Portuguese experience. I ordered a beer. John asked for white wine. No, they don’t have white wine. “Okay, a beer will be fine.” To eat? I asked for a menu. She pointed to a chalk board with several options. It was all Portuguese to me! So she spoke the three English words that mattered. “Fish, pig, or cow?” I’ll have pig. John will have cow. When she brought it, it was quite good: two thin, tender pork cutlets served with French fries and rice. For dessert? I pointed my phone at the menu on the wall and it only translated two words. Chocolate cake. When another waitress came to clear the table, she brought two small bowls and said in Portu-English, Rice Doce. Sweet rice. John said, “rice pudding.” She corrected him firmly, “No! Rice Doce, rice, sugar, milk.” John said, “rice pudding,” And suddenly, she was thrilled to learn a new word in English.

While we finished our delicious Arroz Doce or rice pudding, I typed the words into my phone that I saw on the menu on the wall and learned that what my Google Translate initially saw as “chocolate cake,” was actually “cuttle fish!” We were both glad that we didn’t ask for fish for lunch, nor chocolate cake for dessert!

We arrived at our hotel, Jantesta Guest House, just outside of Coimbra. Immediately inside, we saw the walls lined with cabinets full of tea cups. We learned that in fact, 6,017 tea cups is the second largest collection of tea cups in the world. The owner of the hotel hopes one day to have a Guinness certified world record.

Friday:

Rather than navigate the tiny streets, hills, and construction of Coimbra, we took a ride share into town. Our day started at the University. There’s a lot to see!

The University of Coimbra is the “Oxford or Cambridge of Portugal.” It was established in 1290 and is today a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

We learned from our driver that it was a special week: all of the students are returning this week from their fall break.

When we arrived, we noticed preparations included fresh greens decorating the outside stairs.

We started at the world famous King John’s Library, Biblioteca Joanina. In the first two floors, photos are allowed.

We walked through the original university prison in the basement, to the ground floor level of the library.

For some reason, they don’t allow photos in the main library on the second floor. To show you how beautiful it is, you could look online and find an image like this:

Or, I could share a pic that “somehow” ended up on my phone!

After the library, we visited the Royal Palace. Prior to 1537, when the university was moved to this location, this building had been a residence of the kings. It includes a chapel.

It includes various rooms for the Royal Family.

And a hall that today is used for doctoral students to defend their dissertations and later to be awarded their PhD.

This may seem a bit macabre. But I find it fascinating. King Dinis founded the University of Coimbra in 1290. More than eight hundred years later, they used his skull, jaw bone, and DNA to create a scientifically accurate model of what he looked like, complete with hair and eye color and facial structure.

From the University, we walked through the New Cathedral of the Holy Name of Jesus.

We stopped for a refreshment along the river. And then went through the National Museum Machado do Castro.

We learned that Queen Saint Isabel (wife of Dinis) is revered in Portugal for her humility and kindness, feeding the poor and caring for her people. The miracle of the roses tells the story of when the king chastised her for giving alms to the poor, he made her open the folds of her skirt to see the money and food she was giving away. Instantly everything in her skirt turned to rose petals.

And we toured the University’s science museum, including the Cabinet of Curiosities.

Friday night, was a cool, rainy evening. We shared a dinner of Chanfana, a Portuguese goat stew with potatoes. It was tender, juicy and hearty.

On Saturday, we woke to a hard, steady rain. So, we decided to stay at the hotel and rest. I read a book. I did Duolingo. We had our laundry done. The lobby of the hotel sold ice cream. I responded to emails. I talked to Vicente in Valencia and Kelly in Denver. By late afternoon, the rain was slowing. I searched for a good restaurant and found O Palco.

We arrived at 7:45 for our 8:00 reservation and were seated immediately.

O Palco by Chef Marco Almeida is a Michelin restaurant. We didn’t realize that before we got there. And frankly, if we had seen that, we might have chosen something less pretentious. I’m so glad we didn’t notice the Michelin rating and still went. We chose the eight course dinner. Options included five, eight, or twelve courses. Our hostess was Ana from Portugal. Our server was Erica from Mozambique. Both were delightful, charming, and fun.

Enjoying this experience with my friend John was perfect! We started with their signature cocktail, the O Palco. John and I took our time, shared stories, laughed and savored the moment.

John won’t mind me telling you that he flirted shamelessly with Chef Marco.

Aa each course arrived, Erica or Ana made sure our wine glasses were never empty and each detail of the food was explained with care. John made jokes. Our hosts laughed and joked back.

When I went to the restroom, they replaced my napkin with a fresh, linen one, placed gently with tongs.

Each course included fresh cutlery, placed on a cutlery server.

Courses included a “watercress” salad with Mackerel, and bread with a pork butter and goat chanfana. We ate eel, pork, and so much more, things I might never have tried.

And yet, there was nothing pretentious about the evening. It was fun, relaxed, elegant, delicious and surprising.

As we approached dessert, John commented that it was after 11:30. I had no idea! The evening flew.

And when the bill was paid after 12:00, we had enjoyed eight courses, a cocktail, wine, gratuity, all of it…for both of us. Four hours of fun, laughter and culinary delights. It was an evening I won’t soon forget.

Sunday started with a beautiful mist over the valley.

We packed the car and drove to Conimbriga. Conimbriga was a Roman city that is still being excavated.

From there, we drove to Porto and checked into our AirBnB. We found a great Italian restaurant for lunch and then made our way to Plaza Ribeira, a lovely and lively spot along the Douro River, where we relaxed with a glass of wine.

Later, we were joined by my friend Oliver from mu Spanish classes. Oliver is from China and is touring Portugal with his sister.

Well, I think this is the longest blog post I’ve ever done. If you read this far, give yourself a gold star for endurance.

We have one more week of adventure. Porto, and Galicia Spain, incoming Santiago de Campostela.

I hope your week is filled with fun adventures, much laughter, wonderful surprises, and profound joy.