A much different trip this year. Unfortunately Maria broke her shoulder 6 weeks before the trip so we were not able to bring the tandem. She rode in the van, and I rode a single bike. This the first time in 17 years that we have not been able to ride together in Europe. But, we were still able to have a great time during and post riding!
This trip would take us from Lisbon 2 hours east to Elvas to start the riding. We rode from Elvas back west and down the coast the Sagres, "the end of the world".
Click on the map below for the route, cities, and hotels. Click on any of the pictures to see them full size.
https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1-Nx-nzSzhEUNEWaSRSER3H5fG_xyPl4&usp=sharing
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| The flight into Lisbon |
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| Famous Christ figure statue |
April 10
Seamless flight from LAX to Paris and then to Lisbon via Air France. Good food and service.
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| Nice "appetizer" |
Upon landing it was recommended to take an Uber from the airport to our hotel. Wow, 12 euro! Nice digs in Lisbon. We have stayed at NH hotels before. This on was right on the famous Liberdade Avenue. Great location.
April 11- Lisbon
Our hotel, NH Collection, Liberdade was very nice. We had already made arrangements to stay two nights thinking we'd be bringing the tandem and would build it up there. Not the case, so we improvised with good food and libations!
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| NH hotel rooftop pool looking NW |
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| NH hotel rooftop pool looking SW to the ocean |
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| Rooftop bar had a nice gin selection! |
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Restaurant SEEN, across the street in the Tivoli hotel.
Maybe the best Portuguese white wine of the trip.
We found it later in the trip as well. |
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Our first Portuguese oysters from the
Algarve region. Darn good. |
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| Cool "taco" with fish alongside the gyoza |
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| Octopus carpaccio |
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| Assorted sushi. Sushi is big in Lisbon |
April 12- Lisbon
We ventured out guided by a restaurant list I had found on Conte Nast Traveler,
Gunpowder looked interesting in the article and it sure was! This place was an Indian take on grilled foods.
The morning started with a very informative walking tour of the ancient city walls. Views were lovely.
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| Sign says it all |
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| Lots and lots of intricate stone work everywhere |
It was a short 20 mile ride to Vila Vicosa, but a good introduction to riding in this area. The roads had little to no traffic and the heavy rains earlier in the month brought incredible color to the fields.
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| Typical road for this area, Alentejo |
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| The camera couldn't quite capture the bounty of flowers here. Click on picture for full Panorama view. |
There was an "extra credit" loop at the end of the ride that featured numerous marble mines. This particular area is famous for them. We had read that there was a 60 mile marble "vein" running through the area. It was crazy to ride along and see giant slabs of marble.
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| Literally "fields" of marble |
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| Roadside displays by the quarries of their work |
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One of the many cobbled streets (every town had them).
This one lead to our hotel in Vila Vicosa
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April 15- Vila Vicosa to Monsaraz
Today's ride would head south to the castle town of Monsaraz. The is castle town overlooks the Alqueva reservoir, the largest in Europe. It straddles the Spanish and Portuguese border. For the last several years the reservoir was extremely low, but significant spring rains have brought it back to full capacity.
Our hotel was at the base of the mountain that houses the castle. The swimming pool was huge and a welcome sight from the hot temps in the the 90's. I was chased by a crazy dog who was guarding the vineyards on my approach to the hotel. This scrappy canine chased me for at least a quarter of a mile. Not fun when the grade turned uphill. I think he came to the end of his owner's property and decided he'd hassled me enough.
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| More empty but beautiful roads with oaks and cork trees. Click on Picture for full panorama view. |
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| Our hotel oasis |
The visit to the castle was fantastic and included a very informative wine tasting from the local vineyards. Interestingly enough, they actually age some of their wines in the reservoir. We had the opportunity to taste them side by side with traditionally aged wine. A bit better. We also visited a shop that offered some incredible gins from Portugal. The owner was actually French and very informative.
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| The view from Monsaraz |
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| Small cobbled ways around the castle |
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| Some of the best gins on the trip |
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This was my personal favorite in all of Portugal.
Limited production of 475 bottles |
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We were able to drink this one at many places.
One of the current famous gins in Portugal. |
April 16-17- Monsaraz to Evora
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| Sometimes surprises just show up around the corner. A fortress on the way to Evora |
We stayed two nights in Evora at a beautiful 5-star hotel. Evora has been inhabited for over 2,000 years, being one of the most ancient towns in Europe. The second day had an optional ride to a cork factory. We had visited a cork museum in Catalonia on our last trip so I skipped it so Maria and I could spend the day exploring the city, and of course doing laundry!
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| Yours truly in the cool hotel lobby chairs |
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A major aqueduct ran through town.
Ancient Roman architects figured a way to utilize the
space between columns for housing. |
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| Better shot of the aqueduct walls and alley way |
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| Evora castle. Lots of Roman influence. |
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We couldn't resist buying a few tins of
canned fish from this neat boutique |
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Pronounced CAR- TU- SHA, is one of the
most famous wineries in the Alentejo region |
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| Very nice small restaurant featuring their wines |
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| Nice red, but not incredible |
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| Whites from this area were very nice |
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| Appetizer local cheese. Delicious |
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| Sea bass, salad and cheese/olives appetizer. Incredible. |
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| Two of the best desserts I've had in a long time; lemon tart and creme brulee |
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No visit to Evora is complete without a trip
to the chapel of bones. These are all real! |
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| Not as creepy as you might think |
We decided to stay at the hotel for dinner. Some nice dishes...
April 18- Evora to Grandola
Today we rode across central Alentejo. All very rural with one big climb. I decided to make it my own personal "time trial" event, finishing ahead of everyone. Our hotel, if you can call it that was a 100 acre rural cork farm. Not much to do but relax.
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| Potty stop 😂 |
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| One of our many communal dinners |
April 19-20- Grandola to Vilanova de Milfontes
To the coast! This was a terrain transition day from rural landscapes to the coast. I was getting tired of the big open fields with oaks and cork trees. It was time to smell the ocean and see it's bounty.
Vilanova de Milfontes was a nice seaside village. We walked to dinner the first night with the group then enjoyed a rest day feasting on fresh fish with an ocean view. Perfect!
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| Very cool bike overpass |
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Rode with the marker today and he
let me make a special marker 💞 |
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Fantastic gelato shop in town on our way
to the hotel down the street |
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| Fantastic dinner spot with the group |
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Couldn't resist taking a shot of the
Portuguese answer to Tabasco 🌶 |
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| 30 minute walk to lunch by the ocean |
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| Maybe one of the best restaurants on the trip |
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| Our table |
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Fresh fish brought by your table to
inspect before being charcoal grilled |
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| Delicious |
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| Couldn't resist these fresh sardines |
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| After lunch pose |
April 21- Vila Nova de Milfontes to Zambujeira do Mar (Herdade Touril)
Today we would be riding completely in the Costa Vicentina National Park. This national park spans over 60 miles and is the finest preserved stretch of European coastline. Rural and rugged, with only a few scattered villages. The views were incredible. I see why people rave about the Portuguese coastline.
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| Rocks are home to the rare white storks |
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| Crazy wooden boardwalk to the viewing tower |
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| Atop the viewing tower, looking down about 30 feet |
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| And the view. Click on picture for full panorama view. |
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| Our lunch spot view |
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| The lovely hotel and pool. It was serene.... |
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| Meeting headquarters. Things could be a lot worse... |
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A rare treat. Two local Fado singers gave us a private concert.
All natural, no mikes or speakers. The singer on the right had an
incredible voice. A performance to remember. |
April 23- Zambujeira do Mar (Herdade Touril) to Sagres and the "end of the world"
The last official day of riding would take us to the most southernly point of Portugal, the city of Sagres and what is known as the "end of the world". The "end of the world" has unfortunately turned into a bit of a tourist trap with busload after busload of people to view the vast ocean from the cliffs above. I rode a rough 2km dirt section that rattled my handlebars free and caused me to limp my way to the "end of the world". But the coastline getting there was serene.
It was a bittersweet day to not ride but today was out transfer back to Lisbon. We planned on spending another four days there to enjoy more of what the city had to offer. I picked a different hotel, the BessaHotel Liberdade, just down the street from the one we had started from. We had a beautiful room and great hotel bar.
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| Our hotel bar |
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New find. Portugal's version of cognac.
Absolutely delicious |
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| Crazy men's bathroom |
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| Wagyu tataki |
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| Fantastic gin |
April 25- Lisbon, Portugal's 50th anniversary of liberation and democracy
Today was a special day in Lisbon and all over Portugal. They celebrated the 50 year anniversary of their democracy. The had a public fun run that attracted thousands of runners and walkers moving down the Avenida do Liberdade, our hotel street. We made a bee line for the famous seven story department store El Corte Ingles to search for the Portuguese cognac. What a place. The top hosts numerous restaurants and a very nice wine and spirits store. We visited the Gin Lovers outpost and tasted several of their unique gins.
While there, we decided to go to lunch at one of the top restaurants in the city, Eleven. It was only a 10 minute walk from the department store. Fantastic experience.
https://www.restauranteleven.com/
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| A section dedicated to salted fish |
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Eleven. One star Michelin. We literally had
the entire restaurant to ourselves. They gave us a copy of the chef's book. |
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| Incredible views of the park and ocean in the distance |
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| Today's menu |
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| Amuse bouche |
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| Baked bread and an interesting smoked butter |
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| Another spreadable delicacy |
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| Fish of the day |
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| White asparagus cassoulet |
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| Scallop, shrimp, and king crab |
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| Some other incredible fish |
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21 day aged lamb. Beautiful, but a bit gamey for our liking.
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| Simulated cacao bean |
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| Inside the shell; pure, decadent chocolate |
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| If the chocolate was not enough, the final "petit fours" |
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| Melt in your mouth |
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Party on celebration. The crazy walk back to our
hotel down the Av. Do Liberdade |
After a rest at our hotel it was time to check out the upscale bar scene. Lucky for us, one of the top bars in the city, the Red Frog, and it's sister bar, Monkey Mach were one block from our hotel. Unbelievable!!!
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| The Red Frog. Actually a speak-easy. A little more formal and a bit stuffy |
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| Crazy drink |
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| "Broken Bones" in the coupe |
We moved over to the sister bar, Monkey Mash. What a fun place. Since monkeys use their hands, there was no silverware. Everything must be eaten with your hands. Tacos, Iberico pork sandwiches. So good! And, fantastic drinks. They would even give you a taster of any of their concoctions.
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| Cool bar with upside down "faux" plants, simulating a jungle |
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| Tacos |
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| Crazy good Iberico pork sandwich |
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Beautiful martini with a Venezuelan gin,
Canaima, that we had in Barcelona |
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This gin was amazing as well. I've found it here in the
States to continue our enjoyment at home |
April 26- Lisbon, last day
Today would be our last day in Lisbon. We decided to take the "on/off" tour bus to see the Belem district. This area housed a number of museums. A pretty uneventful and disappointing bus tour. We did visit the museum of contemporary art. Not bad.
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| Jeronimo's monastery. Incredibly long line. Pass. |
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| Contemporary art museum. |
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| Nice colors |
We so much good food consumed on our trip we decided to return to the Monkey Mash for our final night out. Never disappointed at this place.
www.monkeymash.pt
So long, Portugal. A fantastic country full of incredible sights, food, and people. We hope to see you again...
