Reader trip to Portugal and Spain features funiculars, fun, fabulous food

Portugal is certainly trending right now My Instagram feed which is heavily populated with excursion and food posts go figure seems to feature the adorable yellow funiculars of Lisbon and the little pastel de nata cream tarts discovered all over Portugal on repeat Traveling to Portugal I assumed would be great just like my favorite country Spain which shares the Iberian Peninsula with the small country I could not have been more wrong about Portugal which has its own distinct and amazing identity as does the northern portion of Spain in particular Basque Country I learned so much about both of these areas on an epic -day food-filled wine-soaked trip with Pioneer Press readers earlier this month Here s a rundown of what we saw and ate and drank on our tour which was arranged by Collette Voyage Lisbon A funicular in Lisbon Portugal Jess Fleming Pioneer Press After a relatively quick flight from Boston we were in the air a little more than six hours we arrived in this lively city ready to explore We were greeted by our guide and Portugal native D ria Can rio who right now donned us family and she our mother for the next two weeks Our hotel was on Avenida da Liberdade aka the Avenue of Liberty which is the heart of the city and its majority posh shopping street The avenue is in a valley and on either side of it are Lisbon s famously steep hills You can either take a funicular yes those cute yellow ones I was seeing all over Instagram to the top or if you re feeling brave and don t have a heart condition you can walk to the top The first time my husband and I along with our neighbors who joined us on this trip walked It took about minutes but was a vigorous workout We saw lots of people walking down but we were specific of the inadequate braving the uphill climb After catching our breath we were rewarded with an excellent view of the city from Miradouro Sao Pedro de Alcantara a park at the top of the hill Later we would discover a pop-up night realm there filled with adorable wooden huts selling jewelry mixed drinks wine sandwiches and more But this first day a Monday it was quiet with a minimal street art vendors we bought a sweet painting of a funicular for just Euro selling their creations Our welcome dinner was at O Nobre where I had a scrumptious sea bass en croute It was a wonderful introduction to Portugal s culinary scene Colorful tiles adorn a multitude of of the buildings in Lisbon Portugal Jess Fleming Pioneer Press The next morning it was time to head out on a walking tour of Lisbon with a local guide offering us information about a great number of aspects of local custom including all the fabulous tiled buildings Tiles first hand-painted and later manufactured were a outcome of Moorish influence in the Iberian Peninsula particularly southern Spain But manufacturing en masse was perfected by the Portuguese who also noted that the tiles helped resist fire and regulate the temperature inside buildings Even the churches and cathedrals here sport intricate tile work in addition to the gold-plated chapels and altars that the Iberian Peninsula is known for If only the tiles would last through a Minnesota winter I d be adorning my own abode Adding to Lisbon s charm are the patterns in the cobblestone sidewalks made from limestone and black and white basalt Though they can be arduous to traverse for those with mobility issues the beauty of the patterns identified beneath your feet makes up for the inconvenience We ended our tour at the Pra a do Com rcio a giant square on the port of the Tagus River where we would catch a boat to cruise the river From there we had excellent views of the Sanctuary of Christ the King the iconic enormous statue of Jesus with his arms outstretched inspired by the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro Brazil castles other masses buildings and art It was a perfect sunny day and a few of the vitamin D-deprived in our bunch got sunburned so here s your reminder to perpetually wear sunscreen That evening during our free time we meandered up to S o Jorge Castle which we had been eyeing all day as it is on a hill overlooking the city The city of Lisbon from S o Jorge Castle Jess Fleming Pioneer Press I can t recommend enough a dusk sunset exploration of this amazing place the beginnings of which date to before Christ We wandered through its walls imagining a time when soldiers shot arrows through narrow openings and royals roamed its gardens Just as the sun was about to set we grabbed a glass of wine at the terrace restaurant and watched as it bobbed below the skyline For dinner we strolled the Alfama neighborhood below the castle the city s oldest and the greater part charming We ended up in a below-ground place offering Fado music and seafood We split several fresh briny shrimp drank a liter of dry fruity local wine for and listened to a young woman baby on her hip emote via song I had no idea what she was chanting about and maybe it was the jet lag but I cried Later after sharing a steak cooked on a stone excellent in an alleyway restaurant our server Hugo took us to a little bar where the locals hang out and we ran into the singer and her baby I was able to thank her for her beautiful songs and we both got a little teary-eyed Hugo bought us shots of ginjinha the local cherry liqueur which made for a bit of a rough morning but it was worth it The next day we took a short coach ride to the coastal cities of Ericeira a tiny fishing village now popular with local vacationers and surfers and also where our guide Can rio grew up and Sintra a tourist-heavy mountain town known for its elaborate pastel-colored palaces the the greater part famous of which was closed during our visit because of a fresh storm We did visit the sprawling National Palace of Sintra which was occupied by royals pretty much continuously from the early th century to the late th century The tile work chapels and massive kitchen complete with wood-fired ovens warming hutches and two giant chimneys make it worth a visit Back in Lisbon for the evening we wandered back up to the Bairro Alta neighborhood we explored on the first day for cocktails in Pavilh o Chin s a wacky antique-filled tavern with chamber-like rooms filled to the brim with oddities It was a great way to say goodbye Porto The circular chapel in Templar Castle in Tomar Portugal Jess Fleming Pioneer Press On our way to Porto we made a pit stop in Tomar home of the Templar Castle Our local guide Jo o Fiandeiro who moonlights as an expert on Portuguese history documentaries gave us an in-depth understanding of the Knights Templar a military order founded in to defend pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem The knights headquarters were in Jerusalem but the wealthy order had offshoots in plenty of places including Tomar The castle is fairly austere from the outside but filled with ornate Gothic architecture and gilded chapels inside It s definitely worth a stop if you re in the area but a guide to put everything in context is advisable The next day began with a walking tour of the charming city of Porto situated at the point where the Douro River meets the Atlantic Ocean We first visited the city s excellent sector filled with fruits vegetables fish fresh and of the tinned variety which is having a giant moment worldwide meat olives spices cheese and so much more I picked up particular peri peri pepper and shawarma seasonings and my husband three flavors of tinned sardines We also visited Pal cio da Bolsa which our guide explained is more of a civic-use building than an actual palace but it is just as beautiful It s a must-see if only for the Moorish Revival Arab Room a ballroom gilded to within an inch of its life in the exotic Moorish style When we walked through the doorway our group audibly gasped at its magnificence The view of Porto Portugal from Gaia a city across the Douro River Jess Fleming Pioneer Press Afterward we crossed the river to neighboring Gaia on the Dom Luis Bridge which was designed by a protege of Gustave Eiffel of Eiffel Tower fame The ornate arched metal bridge has two decks one for pedestrians and one for regular traffic Port wine at C lem winery in Gaia Portugal Courtesy of Lisa Antony-Thomas In Gaia we had a tour and tasting of the region s specialty port wine at C lem winery We learned about the history of the drink which is made by interrupting wine s usual fermentation process by adding grape spirits which makes it sweeter and also more potent than regular wine I discovered to my surprise that I truly liked the wines especially C lem s ruby port At our next winery stop I determined a tawny that knocked my socks off We took a gondola back to the bridge to get back into Porto where we wandered for hours taking in the bustle of the city A highlight of our plenty of stops was a hot dog Yes a hot dog Gazela a hotspot for tourists and locals alike serves these little delights called cachorrinhos on a crusty roll smothered in cheese and drizzled with piri piri pepper sauce and cut into little pieces perfect for sharing It was popular before Anthony Bourdain s visit there aired in but now it s quite likely you ll have to wait a bit for a table A multitude of of the others in the group took an optional excursion to a family s home in Porto where they were treated to a home-cooked meal and various wonderful Portuguese hospitality I have to admit I was a little jealous after seeing their photos but I really yearned another night out in the city We all have to live with our choices I guess In the morning we set out for a day trip to Braga a gorgeous city known for having the the majority churches per capita in Portugal The city abounds with flower gardens and Baroque architecture but the highlight was a visit to the Bom Jesus de Monte a Catholic hilltop sanctuary built in the s notable for its stunning stairway that climbs more than feet There are chapels and five fountains representing the five senses to be unveiled along the way You can take a water-powered funicular the first to be built in Portugal to the top and walk back down to view all the features At the top though it s worth a lunch stop at the sanctuary hotel where we enjoyed traditional Portuguese green soup it s mostly potatoes and kale with a slice of sausage for flavor and duck rice which reminded me of Cajun dirty rice but a little more subtle The sun sets in Porto Portugal Jess Fleming Pioneer Press On our last night in Porto I was on a mission to find bifanas the pork sandwiches that are famous in Portugal and we struck gold at Taxca a little local hangout a limited blocks from our hotel The sliver of a tavern was packed to the brim but it was worth a little table stalking to points a sandwich assembled by the two guys working behind the bar which was completely braised slices of pork on a delicate crusty roll dipped in a slightly spicy jus before serving It was honestly one of the best sandwiches I ve ever eaten Douro Region Our group of travelers in Pinh o Portugal Courtesy of D ria Can rio On our way out of town we stopped in the tiny village Pinh o to take a trip in a traditional wooden boat down the Douro River The views of the terraced vineyards were spectacular Our relaxing stay at the Quinta de Pacheca Wine House Hotel in the heart of the Douro wine region came just at the right time during the tour when everyone was a little tired from city exploring and ready to wind down Travelers had two options to stay in the well-appointed hotel building or to be a bit more adventurous and book a wine barrel converted into a hotel room The author s husband Ed Fleming in a wine barrel that serves as a hotel room at Quinta de Pacheca in Portugal s Douro wine region Jess Fleming Pioneer Press We chose a wine barrel the first night and a hotel room the second It worked out great because although the novelty of sleeping in the adorable barrels which each have their own balcony bathroom and working shower was fun they were also a tight squeeze with our luggage which had to be large enough for a two-week tour Peacocks which are quite popular in this region we saw them at the Castle in Lisbon too wandered the grounds outside our barrel and even tried to get inside a limited times We had a short tour of the winery which was founded in I think we were all shocked to learn that they still stomp grapes the old-fashioned way The winery pays people mostly locals to high-step through vats of grapes during harvest season Apparently human feet do an extraordinary job of squishing the fruits without latest the seeds which can cause bitterness in wine The winery like all those in the stunning Douro region is required by law to make a certain percentage of port wine We tried theirs after a tour and preferred their -year tawny which was around a bottle a pittance compared with what similar-quality ports sell for in the U S That night a very special welcome dinner in the hotel s private dining room left us all stuffed a little buzzed on the winery s fantastic red white and port wine and ready for a great sleep A chef lights his wine- and beer-braised beef on fire in during a cooking class at Quinta de Pacheca winery in the Douro wine region of Portugal Jess Fleming Pioneer Press After sleeping in we attended a cooking class at the winery where the restaurant s chef exhibited us how to make Portuguese favorites including wine- and beer-braised beef octopus salad cod salad and leite de creme a custard topped with a crunchy creme-brulee-type sugar topping They even let us all use the blow torch A great number of in our group enjoyed a second night of dining at the winery but we chose to take a taxi across the river to the small town of Peso da R gua where we had an exceptional dinner at Aneto Table in a renovated train station The squid-ink pasta with mussels that my husband ordered was one of our favorite meals of the trip and the wines all made in-house were wonderful Salamanca and La Rioja Saying goodbye to Portugal was bittersweet though a night in Salamanca Spain a busy university town with gorgeous architecture and a fabulous typical Spanish plaza was a great way to do it Our hotel which looked like a palace from the outside was just across from the late-Gothic Convent of San Esteban which wasn t a bad view to behold while sipping wine on the front patio Plaza Mayor in Salamanca Spain Jess Fleming Pioneer Press That night we wandered the city and snacked on patatas bravas and Jam n ib rico the fabulous ham of Spain washing it down with plenty of local wine Though our stay in Salamanca was too short we were excited to head to another wine region La Rioja On the way we stopped in Burgos a breathtaking city known for its intact medieval architecture and its cathedral founded in and finished in It s a beautiful church but interest in it is perhaps outsized because the remains of th-century hero El Cid Rodrigo D az de Vivar rest in the center of the chapel Hollywood memorialized the hero in a movie starring Charlton Heston and Sophia Loren Because Can rio yearned us to be well-informed we watched El Cid on the motorcoach on our way to the city For lunch we got our first taste of pinchos or pintxos Basque spelling which are the northern Spain version of tapas at Meson Los Herreros Pinchos are generally smaller than tapas and often served on a slice of baguette Ordering is organized chaos you belly up to a bar where the pinchos are displayed behind glass and point to what you want Somehow at the end the server knows exactly what you ate and drank and gives you a bill We arrived in Logro o Spain in the afternoon and set out to find a nibble in what appeared to be a sleepy city Being afternoon greater part in Spain were partaking in siesta time but we unveiled a little spot just off the main square serving drinks and a limited snacks We ordered piparras skinny little hot peppers fried in a tempura batter They were so good we returned the next day for another bowl Charmingly our gin and tonics also came with a little bowl of local gummy candies sold at a shop a inadequate doors down Our welcome dinner was a little further from the main square at a restaurant called La Tavina which served selected delicious dishes but was more notable for our gregarious server who was happy to egg on those in our group who were enjoying the fabulous wines he was serving As we were leaving I noticed that the street the restaurant is on was coming alive and I vowed to return the next night The interior of Caf Iru a in Pamplona Spain Jess Fleming Pioneer Press In the morning we set out for a fascinating tour of Pamplona the little city best known for the running of the bulls which happens in July Our local guide offered us a glimpse into a world where bulls are let loose and free to gore or trample those brave enough to participate in the spectacle We also learned that other local towns also hold the running of the bulls but Pamplona is the majority of popular because it was made famous by Ernest Hemingway in his masterpiece The Sun Also Rises The path the six chosen bulls take is relatively short at yards and takes an average of two minutes and thirty seconds The festival is such a source of local income that residents agree to pay for clinical expenses for tourists gored in the run which includes a harrowing -degree turn and ends with the bulls deaths in a bullfighting ring We visited a little private museum full of bullfighting memorabilia including the ornate uniforms worn by the fighters and the banderillas or harpoons used to subdue the bulls in the ring The proprietor answered our plenty of questions and served us a sparse lovely pinchos After we had coffee at the ornate busy Caf Iru a where Hemingway long a literary hero of mine began to write The Sun Also Rises I raised my coffee cup to him knowing full well that his glass would seemingly be full of rum Frank Gehry designed the hotel at Marqu s de Riscal Winery in the La Rioja region of Spain Jess Fleming Pioneer Press On our way back to the hotel we stopped at Marques de Riscal winery which is known for its delicious Rioja wines It s a sprawling campus punctuated by a colorful Frank Gehry building that serves as its hotel We toured the fermentation and barreling areas with a guide before tasting three fantastic wines It was a long day and the four of us were tempted to find a snack and go to sleep but I couldn t stop thinking about that busy little street we glimpsed the night before so we took various disco naps and headed out We were shocked to see that once we reached Calle del Laurel the streets were packed with people Apparently there was a pinchos crawl taking place a ticket allowed you a snack from multiple dozens of restaurants lining this street and the next one over We didn t have tickets but instead stopped where the crowds were trying whatever appeared to be the specialty One spot served nothing but hen of the woods mushrooms perfectly cooked on a flat top I peeked into another window and saw a chef turning little skewers of meat and sausages over a bed of charcoal Of program we had one of each Each spot we stopped at offered small portions of wine or beer to go with the snack Majority of Spaniards stand outside at little tables attached to the eateries socializing with friends and moving on when their drinks are empty It was the greater part fun I ve had eating dinner since a similar experience in Madrid San Sebastian and Bilbao La Concha bay in San Sebastian Spain seen from the amusement park above the city Jess Fleming Pioneer Press Though we were sad to say goodbye to Logro o we were also excited for the last leg of this epic journey three nights in fabulous San Sebastian Spain The city built around a nearly circular bay known as La Concha is a popular vacation destination with good reason Pristine beaches stretch the length of La Concha and waves are big enough to surf We started our day with a trip up to the amusement park at the top of Monte Igueldo the mountain that overlooks the bay so we could get a bird s-eye view of the sparkling topography The amusement park which is privately owned charges admission just for the views the quaint antique roller coaster and other attractions were not running during our shoulder-season visit After we wandered the charming seaside old town running into a television show shooting in the middle of a cobblestone street featuring actress and comedian Anabel Alonso Alonso clad in a bright orange outfit mugged for selfies with tourists and locals alike After our tour the four of us stopped for lunch at La Vi a the restaurant that started the Basque Cheesecake craze in the s revived by social media in the past sparse years We had shatteringly crisp outside ridiculously tender inside calamari certain fresh artichokes topped with jam n and slices of that creamy crustless cheesecake distinguished by its charred surface We paired the cheesecake with the local txakoli wine a tart refreshing white characterized by its slight effervescence That night we walked the promenade of La Concha from nearly beginning to end about three miles to get back to old town where we feasted on more pinchos refreshing local beer and of program more txakoli The scenery on the Camino of St James a walking pilgrimage that is popular with multiple Catholics included selected farm animals Courtesy of Ed Fleming The next morning my feet were pretty sore so I chose to take the lazy tour of the coastal villages of Zumaia and Getaria but after seeing my husband s photos of the hike numerous of the rest of the group took along the Camino of St James a walking pilgrimage that is popular with a large number of Catholics I was regretting my decision The villages were cute but the views from above which did require a fair amount of climbing according to other travelers were spectacular The beach in Zumaia Spain that was used as a backdrop for a limited Challenge of Thrones episodes Jess Fleming Pioneer Press In Zumaia we all visited the dazzling beach where a meager episodes of Encounter of Thrones were filmed Long before the TV show made the beach famous geologists were interested because it features a few of the longest continuous rock strata Geologists can see back in time through the stunning layers and have even pinpointed the extinction of the dinosaurs in the rock On our last full day we visited the city s outpost of the Guggenheim museum again designed by Frank Gehry who also designed the Weisman Art Museum on the University of Minnesota campus The building itself is a masterpiece but it also houses specific stunning modern art including specific mind-bending sculptures by American artist Richard Serra It was a Sunday and after the museum visit we wandered among the crowds of locals out socializing to the square where we saw children and adults trading soccer cards and just generally being together Basque beliefs explained our guide dictates that families gather at restaurants or the square on Sundays everyone from babies on up to grandmothers get dressed up and go out to be among the public Basque way of life is infinitely fascinating The strong proud people managed to keep their language through multiple conquerors and even a fascist dictator Now the vast majority of children learn the language in immersion schools and are fluent in Basque as well as Spanish That night we had an outstanding farewell dinner at Restaurante Urepel I had the meaty monkfish but plenty of others enjoyed veal cheeks in a rich gravy We went back to the hotel full of all the food society and history this spectacular region has to offer Leaving was bittersweet but I know I ll be back Obrigata Portuguese gracias Spanish and eskerrik asko Basque to the kind friendly people of this peninsula and also to my fellow travelers for making this an unforgettable trip Interested in traveling with Jess We have two upcoming trips with space First in the spring of we are going to Ireland I love this country dearly and cannot wait to return We visit Dublin Kilkenny and Killarney kiss the Blarney Stone kissing optional view the Ring of Kerry hike the Cliffs of Moher wonder at Giant s Causeway and so much more For more information the trip website is here gateway gocollette com link And in the fall of we ll be cruising the Rhine and Moselle rivers through France and Germany hitting all kinds of historic spots along the way and sleeping and eating in style That trip website is here gateway gocollette com link As inevitably if you have any questions email me at eat pioneerpress com Related Articles Smart tour hacks for the well-heeled from hotel designer Kelly Wearstler What to know as US prepares to require REAL ID for a multitude of air travelers next month The best new hotel in the world is in Denver says Esquire Worries about flying seem to be taking off Here s how to cope with in-flight anxiety Here s a sustainable voyage hack Shop at your local refill store