Yet another great sleep waking up at 09:00 and we headed down for a buffet breakfast. Seems in Portugal breakfast is always included in the room rate. We take our breakfast in a side room but unlike the Pousada in Viano do Castelo we don’t eat outside on a terrace. The dining area seems gloomy lacking the light as the Pousada Santa Luzia had. Even the service was better there than here.
Packed up and on the road to Coimbra at 11:30. A mysterious 17 Euro charge for a call to Porto that we never made. After that was cleared up on a small scenic road then onto the A1 towards Lisboa. So many small villages on the way. Portugal is a very densely populated area. Very few wide open sparsely populated areas here in the North. Once you get on the beautiful new toll road there is almost no traffic. Clear sailing with one stop at a rest area for a desperately requested WC break. Not having a map of Coimbra it wasn’t easy to find our Relais & Chateau Quinta Lagrima. A narrow gate with a road lined by oleander trees in purple bloom. An old aristocratic palace with grand steps leading up to the reception area. Old wood throughout with wonderful plaster ceilings.
We have rooms in the new section. What an enchanted place. While Alex and Andrew had a swim in the pool Fotini and I scouted out a place for dinner. Picked up a bottle of wine and two Sumols for the junior crowd.
The restaurant we selected for dinner was a 10-minute walk. We were the only customers until the time we left. The outdoor terrace had a few gas cannisters rather unsightly. A real family run restaurant. There was also a large inflated Donald Duck looking at us. Dinner was excellent. I had the salt cod (Bachalau a la casa). Andrew had the shrimp rice and the girls a mixed grill. Fotini and I had a bottle of Casal Garcia a vinho verde. Dinner for 4 was $60. I think my cod with a tomato green pepper sauce was the best. The mixed grill consisted of pork and various sausages. Stopped at a café on the walk home and I had a cold beer while the girls an excellent coffee. Walked home and down the lane with oleanders and off to bed.
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