Breakfast buffet service at the Palacio Hotel has been exceptional but today they could not keep up with replenishing the scrambled eggs and bacon. The fruit is plentiful and top rate. The peaches and oranges from the Algarve are superb. We headed off to Sintra after breakfast but this time along the coastal road thatContinue reading ““Travels to a Different Time” : 19July2005: Estoril, Portugal: Portuguese Strongmen Lift Massive Bus”
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“Travels to a Different Time” :17July2005 Estoril, Portugal: Visit to Cascais and Sintra
Alex is flying back to Toronto from Lisbon today. Breakfast is so “dignified” here. Low voices, Formal settings and service. Might I say “stuffy”? A tremendous buffet breakfast. Years ago while travelling in a just opening up Greece I was starving most of the day particularly with such meagre breakfasts. This breakfast would have beenContinue reading ““Travels to a Different Time” :17July2005 Estoril, Portugal: Visit to Cascais and Sintra”
RKS Literature: The Splendid Parisian Air (James Baldwin)
“…it is perfectly possible to be enamoured of Paris while remaining totally indifferent, or even hostile to the French. And this is made possible by the one person in Paris whom the legend seems least not to affect, who is not living it all, that is, the Parisian himself. Him with his impenetrable politesse, andContinue reading “RKS Literature: The Splendid Parisian Air (James Baldwin)”
“Travels to a Different Time” :17July2005 Estoril, Portugal: A Visit to Guincho Beach: A Real-Life Rick’s Cafe
Packed up the Megane and off southbound to Estoril. Uneventful drive although finding the entrance to the Hotel Palacio was a bit tricky. Alex and Andrew had a suite beside ours. Two levels and three bathrooms in each suite. We are right beside the Orson Welles Suite. He stayed here when in Estoril. We faceContinue reading ““Travels to a Different Time” :17July2005 Estoril, Portugal: A Visit to Guincho Beach: A Real-Life Rick’s Cafe”
“Travels to a Different Time” : 16July2005 Nazaré/Obidos/Albacoca, Portugal:
I was the first to wake up at 08:00 so while the rest of the crew was sleeping I caught up on my diary while sitting outside on the veranda overlooking the town and the ocean. Good to hear the rooster crowing as it has been sometime since I had heard that sound. In theContinue reading ““Travels to a Different Time” : 16July2005 Nazaré/Obidos/Albacoca, Portugal:”
“Travels to a Different Time”:15July2005 Nazaré, Portugal: A Charming Little Fishing Village it Ain’t
Up for breakfast including that delicious yogurt in a glass topped with local honey. Delicious. A very quick pack up and off we roared in our Renault Megane getting lost on the way in Liera. Densely populated Portugal is for sure with village after village. Clay quarries with many trucks on the road. It wasContinue reading ““Travels to a Different Time”:15July2005 Nazaré, Portugal: A Charming Little Fishing Village it Ain’t”
“Travels to a Different Time”: 14July2005 Coimbra, Portugal: Difficult Roundabouts!
After another long sleep jet lag has been defeated. I was up at 08:00 working on this diary and the rest of the gang up at 09:30. I read a description about the history of Quinta Lagrima where we are staying including the grisly murder of Innes de Castro and the revenge of her loverContinue reading ““Travels to a Different Time”: 14July2005 Coimbra, Portugal: Difficult Roundabouts!”
“Travels to a Different Time” : 13July2005: Coimbra, Portugal: A Large Donald Duck is Looking at Us!
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 gloomyContinue reading ““Travels to a Different Time” : 13July2005: Coimbra, Portugal: A Large Donald Duck is Looking at Us!”
Travels to a Different Time: Travels of My Mother: 16July1971: Othos, Karpathos, Greece: At a Village Party!
Dear Barb: You would never believe the setting. I am sitting at an outdoor café with just two tables with a fat Greek lady clothed in head to toe in black with a black scarf all around her head and neck. We were invited by a lady, Poppy, to visit her in a small villageContinue reading “Travels to a Different Time: Travels of My Mother: 16July1971: Othos, Karpathos, Greece: At a Village Party!”
RKS 2024 Wine: Château Castagnac from Fronsac
Fronsac, think Bordeaux. Think red wine. Think Merlot. Think of possible luxury at a discount price. We try a Château Castagnac from a good year in Bordeaux, 2020. It is Merlot and aged one year in French oak. The grapes were grown in a three-hectare herbicide free vineyard in clay-limestone soil near the town ofContinue reading “RKS 2024 Wine: Château Castagnac from Fronsac”
