Portugal, Sicily, Greece and the Balkans

[ellen10]

We will be in Portugal at the end of August. Enjoying your photos.
We are also taking a day trip to Sintra, probably by train. How expensive was the Bolt trip?

 

[Scash]

We will be in Portugal at the end of August. Enjoying your photos.
We are also taking a day trip to Sintra, probably by train. How expensive was the Bolt trip?

I think about €24 euro there and maybe €13 return but we went to a different location on the way back.

 

[Scash]

Our last day in Lisbon started with the obligatory ride on Tram 28. This was about 8:00am which is early by European standards so the tram was quite empty. Unfortunately the tram didn’t go the whole route as there were roadworks happening so we only went from Martim Monez to Praça Luis de Camoes.



Followed by breakfast at A Brasileira which is one of the oldest cafes in the city and the original importer of Brazilian coffee.



And of course a photo with legendary Portuguese poet and writer Fernando Pessoa who to be honest I’d never heard of but hey!


And of course no trip to Portugal is complete without sampling Ginjinha.



Finished off with a couple of drinks by the harbour!

 

[Scash]

And some random photos just because

 

[Scash]

Next stop Porto…

Coincidentally some good friends were travelling in Portugal at the same time so we arranged to meet up in Porto. As well our son and DIL who live in Edinburgh had also arranged to meet us. We all met at the Bar Ponte Pensil under the Ponte da Arrabida for a “planning meeting “ (aka drinking ). It’s not cheap but the view is amazing




We then followed this with a food and wine walking tour. It was great experience and we got to sample quite a bit of local food and drinks.

Loved this store where we sampled Ginjinha. Definitely recommended visiting if you’re in Porto.



Port wine tasting (but can’t remember the name of the place)



This wasn’t part of the tour but had to get the photo.


We then headed to the south side of the river to watch the sunset, have a drink and listen to some buskers.

 

[MARTINE]

We are on your tail @Scash - we leave for Porto tomorrow!! Taking notes

 

[Scash]

We are on your tail @Scash - we leave for Porto tomorrow!! Taking notes

I’m a bit behind on my report @MARTINE and we are currently in Palermo and leave for Catania tomorrow. Weather here today is not good with rain and storms so luckily we did our walking tour yesterday! Will try and update my report today. Unless the weather clears later today’s highlight will be going to a laundrette

 

[Scash]

We also did an e-bike tour which was a bit of a blessing given all the hills ! It also lets you cover a lot more territory and see more of the city. Riding across some of the bridges was also pretty cool. There were a few scary moments going through traffic but otherwise enjoyable. Our tour guide Miguel from Bluedragon City Tours was amazing.

Nest up was a visit to the Wines of the World museum. There are various museums and we did the wine experience which was fun plus you got a tasting at the end. It was quite informative plus fun and there are a few quiz stations along the way where you answer questions to see what type of grape or wine you are. My grape variety was Tempranillo which is close as I’m a Shiraz fan.



And a cool sculpture near the Wine of the World

 

[Scash]

And to finish off our time in Porto a nice dinner at O Cacula which was recommended by our e-bike tour guide.

Grilled chicken breast with Roquefort cheese served with 4 leaves salad and crispy polenta - 15,95€



Iberian pork steaks with smashed potatoes, olives and green espargos - 16,95€


Very yum .

 

[Scash]

From Porto we headed to Palermo where we currently are. We flew Ryanair with a self transfer in BCN which all went smoothly!

Flying in to Palermo



We arrived at our hotel around 8:30 pm which is in the old town not far from Quattro Canti and loads of restaurants. We wandered around a bit, had dinner and then bed.

Bolognese and alla Norma. Both delicious.