Cable Car

This morning was one of the scariest moments of my life! This is what happened:

Just after I had purchased my ticket to go up, they stopped selling any more tickets. They said it was getting too windy and it was likely that they would not be running cars coming down. Would we be stranded up there? There was a massive queue to wait for the cars, as the gondolas only held 6 passengers. We were three quarters of the way up when everything stopped and we were just left hanging there. The gondola was gently swinging from side to side. I thought to myself, even if we got to the top safely, there was no way I was coming down on one!

It turned out that the reason for the halt was that a wheelchair had to be got off: it wasn’t the wind at all. I decided to take a taxi to get down asap, as bad weather was forecast for the afternoon. I didn’t even wait to see the gardens. Better luck in a day or two, I hope.

The ride took about half an hour.

This is the massive queue at the start:


I consoled myself when we were stuck, that the engineering was by an Austrian company Doppelmayr, so they should know what they were doing:

Madeira: first impressions

I arrived feeling quite tired, suffering from a bad cold and a cough - so not at my best to appreciate a new place. The flight was full. The landing in Funchal Airport was perfect fine, even though it’s said to be a really difficult one and pilots have to be specially trained to do it.

My hotel (the Allegro, which is part of the Barcelo chain) is also full. The breakfast room had a capacity crowd at 9.00 am. My table was right next to a group of 8 very attractive girls, who turned out to be from Ukraine. Of course, I couldn’t resist asking them!

It seems that all tourist hotels over here in Spain and Portugal have to serve champagne at breakfast, for those who want to make Bucks Fizz:

Another part of the breakfast offerings:

My room is up on the 10th floor, with a panoramic view of the Atlantic Ocean. There is a fresh sea breeze which whistled around my balcony when it rained in the middle of the night.

Last night I had a meal just along the road at the Chalet Vicente. This is a traditional Madeiran restaurant and a far cry from the typical fast food joints of these package holiday resorts:

I had scallop risotto:

Guimaraes (cont)

What a difference a day makes! I woke up to pouring rain and saw everyone mooching around with umbrellas. This was the view from the breakfast room:

Inside was a bit more welcoming:


The wall decorations are intriguing. They are seed heads of some kind that have dropped off trees in abundance:

After mooching around a bit myself in the rain, I went to warm up in a cafe and had a lovely chat with this lady, who turned out to be an accredited tourist guide:

Behind her, you can see an array of all the delicious cakes and pastries on offer: hard to resist!

Just across the road was the Museum of Alberto Sampaio, so I could while away an hour without getting any wetter. This gives some information about the place and what to expect:

The tunic, or gambeson, is a prize exhibit:

 

It is only the second such one in the world, the other having belonged to the Black Prince and is on display in Canterbury Cathedral.

This is a later painting showing how it might have looked when worn, though I was told there is disagreement among experts as to whether it was worn under or over the armour. (If under, it would have protected tender skin from the rough metal of medieval armour):

In another gallery was a collection of early religious carvings and frescoes which have been gathered from churches in the area:

The frescoes were designed to teach bible stories to the illiterate congregations. Above is the head of John the Baptist on a platter. The next pic is an explanation of the frescoe making process:

This man was recording the state of an early wooden carving with some kind of light scanner:

PS.  After a long siesta, I noticed the rain had stopped, so I made the effort to climb up the hill to the castle:

I got there just as it was about to close!

Guimaraes is a Gem

It’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site and became the first capital of Portugal in 1139.

It’s beautiful day and night:

My hotel is on the left of this street where the flags are flying. This is the Rua de Santa Maria, lined with old town houses, and leads into the main square, the Largo da Oliveira.

This is the restaurant belonging to the hotel, but no-one seems to eat there because it’s so expensive.

The place to go, I discovered, is called Buxa and is just next door. I had dinner there last night: pimientos de Padron, followed by rack of lamb w. mixed veggies:

Earlier, I managed a quick visit to the Church of Nossa Senora da Oliveira:

This is a peep into its cloisters.

I was also interested to see Camino shells set in the pavement. I hadn’t realised that this was a Camino town. It turns out that it’s on the Camino Torres, little known route that starts in Spain in Salamanca and then goes west into Portugal. The Tourist Information Office gave me a map:

Porto to Guimarães

I was sad to leave Sandeman this morning, but little did I know that I would be delighted with my next stop, Guimaraes.

Firstly, a few words about last night’s dinner. I enjoyed  Fish Soup (Italian style) followed by an old favourite: Tiramisu:

I’ve eaten three nights in a row at this restaurant, San Martino, so it must be good! And only three minutes walk from my accommodation.

This morning I took a taxi to the bus station, Terminal Intermodal Campanha to catch the 9.45 am bus to Guimaraes. It was late arriving and the driver was at pains to make up time, speeding along and tailgating the drivers of slow little cars. Interesting to me was that it stopped at the Airport after 15 minutes. I will need to be here in 2 days to fly to Madeira.

My bed for 2 nights is at Hotel do Oliveira, in the centre of the old town:

It was not easy to find, even for the local taxi driver, because of the narrow streets and pedestrian areas. It seems quite exclusive and not many people are staying here. 

After a trip to a nearby supermarket and a short siesta, I was ready to start exploring. On a warm sunny afternoon, everyone who wasn’t working was sitting in outdoor cafes drinking beer. Not many tourists, as far as I could determine. Then I saw a crowd of people with red hats and discovered they were all tourists from Madeira. I tried to talk to one of them, but he didn’t speak any English.

I’m getting hungry, but nowhere seems to be serving dinner till 7.00 pm.

Over the Bridge to Porto

I was off early this morning with a few things on my agenda. As I stepped out of the door of Sandeman I took the opportunity to get a nice shot of the Rabello boats:

This was to be the last of the blue skies, as there was a lot of cloud cover all day. I walked across the Dom Luis I bridge and then took the funicular up into town:

These pics are looking back towards the Vila Nova de Gaia area on the other side. The bridge, with its upper and lower levels, was constructed in 1886 and was designed by the business partner of Gustave Eiffel. At the time, it was the longest metal arch bridge in the world.

The first thing I needed to do was to locate a Vodafone shop and buy a Portuguese SIM card. They had been closed all weekend. I had been reliant on the wi fi signal at Sandeman which was constantly dropping out.

Then I made my way to the so-called “Imperial McDonald’s” (a tourist attraction, said to be the fanciest Maccas in Europe). I bought a coffee and sat people watching as they all took selfies. This is the counter:

The outside of the building is much more restrained, as they had been forced to retain the integrity of the place and not allow the Golden Arches to spoil it. I have to say that the Maccas free wi fi was very strong!

Next, I paid a quick visit to the Cathedral:

The rose window at the west end is the original, dating from the 13th century. Outside is one of the starting points of the Portuguese Camino:

Then it was time for lunch. I remembered that there was an excellent vegetarian restaurant nearby. I just couldn’t picture its exact location as it wasn’t well signposted. At last I came to it by chance. It’s called daTerra and has a buffet for €10.50:

Delish!

Vila Nova de Gaia

This is the view last night, looking up from the waterfront. I think that’s my room on the top left with the light on.

I ventured out to get something to eat nearby. You are advised to go for seafood here, because it’s so fresh. So I ordered sea bass in champagne sauce with baby roast potatoes:

Lots of people were strolling along by the river, in spite of the cold wind. A few shops were open, including this one all about sardines:

This wall of cans shows all the different flavours. As souvenirs, they are a cheap option - but as tinned sardines, they are expensive!

Sunday morning and time for more exploring in the neighbourhood. It’s a good thing I thought to bring my down jacket on this trip:

The fresh wind was coming downstream. The traditional boats, which used to bring the port wine down to the lodges, are moored alongside:

In the afternoon, it was time for some exercise. I walked up several flights of steps as far as The Yeatman. This is the most expensive hotel around here and boasts of its view from Dick’s Bar. My legs did not appreciate the steps! On the balcony I noticed a man with a falcon. Apparently he is employed by the hotel to scare away all the seagulls which are thought to be a menace. Actually I had previously enjoyed watching them from my room as they wheeled to and fro along the river.

This was their view:

Beautiful tree in their garden: