A blustery day in Lisbon On our first trip into Lisbon we experienced a little difficulty with obtaining the travel card necessary to tap and go - required here on all buses, trams, trains and the metro. The ticket office in Belém was closed and the automatic machine to buy and "top up" was out of order. Quite a few other tourists - all of them younger than us couldn't figure it out either, so we had no chance! Most of them wandered off, but 2...

After one of our fastest flights across "the pond" - just under 6 hours from Montreal to Lisbon, we arrived early morning in pouring rain. Quickly through security and baggage claim we settled into an airport café to wait until our apartment's rental office opened, having hopes of checking in early. Due to this property recently changing rental companies our contact was delayed for a few hours. Eventually we were able to get an Uber and move i...

THE WINES OF THE DUORO - and Adeus to Portugal Because this is the last chapter of my writing efforts in 2022 - a big thank you for reading any, all - or even part of it. Thanks for supporting and indulging me in my hobby and "blogging" efforts - much appreciated! During the latter part of our time in Lamego, we took a trip to another town, saw Lamego's cathedral and visited the Caves da Raposeira - where the oldest sparkling wine in Portugal is pro...

LAMEGO Leaving Porto behind, we took the train to Lamego, which follows the route of the river Duoro. Our new "digs" would be our home for the last week of this Portuguese adventure. Although the train wasn't the old steam train used for special tours along this scenic journey, it was older than any we'd used here before. With wider carriages, high bench seats and large picture windows that opened all the way down, it made for a very pleasant and c...

PORTO - Part 2 Our last couple of days in Porto were centred around water. The first one was the river Duoro. Originating in Spain, it flows for almost 900 km before emptying out into the Atlantic when reaching Porto. Along the way there are 5 locks and 15 dams, 5 of which are in Portugal. Prior to 1968 - and the construction of these locks and dams - wooden boats, named Rabelos, were used to transport both cargo and people. Having a shallow draft, these fl...