Dr Janet Hall

Close to Heaven in Portugal

The internet really can create miracles! I had found the tiny village of Ourem which was close to Fatima (where it was claimed a miracle had happened where three peasant children saw angels and the Lady in the early 1913s). Casa Alta is a white Lodge which sits on the hill just below the ruined Castle of Ourem.

After driving up the steepest switchback hill and getting momentarily lost in the tightest fit of a lane wherein cars should never venture, we pulled in around a white chapel and outside the green door to unload our cases and be welcomed by Father John and his maid/cook, Valentina. Our room was all white and filled with lovely things and the view from the window was breathtaking.

We put on our bathing suits and went out the French doors to the patio where the pool was and were able to capture more of that beautiful view. After a swim, John collapsed on the day-bed in the sun like a big porpoise and Father John waited on us with a carafe of white wine and beer.

At 8pm it was time for dinner and we were served by Alex, a young man dressed in black pants and white jacket. Valentina had prepared an exquisite meal of walnut and blue cheese salad, chicken fricasee and the most amazing pancake stack of kiwi-fruit glace.

Father John had transformed from the day Tshirt –black with the word SECURITY across the middle -to his ecclesiastical robes and cross. I have never eaten dinner with a priest before and it was a real success. He regaled us with many rich stories of his life and the time went much too fast.

Next morning Valentina was back in the kitchen to make us eggs and toast and really good coffee so we were supremely fortified to set off on to our next destination, Coimbra (da da da).


On to Portugal – Lisbon and Fado, Sintra and Fairytale Palaces

Monday morning we packed and set out by 10.30 for the Valencia airport. The freeway was as hectic as before and I was very glad to be able to check in early for our 3.15 flight. However – it was delayed till 5.15 and a very dreary experience was had with the “hurry up and wait” in a cafe in departures (where was the Qantas Club indeed?).

We arrived at our excellent internet Wotif selection , Hotel Altis, in the upmarket area, via the wildest taxi driver ever who sure knew his city. A quick check-in and off in another taxi to the Alfama old city streets to find the Club de Fado which “chook” I had booked on the internet – lucky as it was full!

It was such a thrill to have ordered and sipped first drinks to find the lights turned off and the first female singer stepped up to sing Coimbra –da-da-da, you know the tune… She was accompanied by a guitarist and an older fellow with a sublime tuneful sort-of mandolin .

After five beautiful melodies the lights came on and we shared our salad just in time for lights off and a young male fado singer performed. Then we enjoyed my duck and John’s steak before an older woman sang and then an older man. By this time everything seemed surreal and we were done in and time for a taxi home.

Late up next morning, we taxied to the Alfama again but high up the back of the old lanes to exit at the Thieves Flea Market. Didn’t see any fleas but it was a very smelly trash market and it started to drizzle so we found ourselves in a bar looking for breakfast. Here we discovered one of Portugal’s living treasures –custard tarts. Delicious, but so sweet your teeth curl on edge when you eat it.

We continued walking up to the Miradore look-out to see a sweeping panorama of city houses (Lisbon is built on 7 hills – this was just one of them). It was time to board Tram 28 and take a half hour ride down the hill and across town. Lisbon has several tram lines –mainly to haul folks up the steep inclines – and they are very small (just one carriage compared to three on Melbourne trams). The trip down the narrow lanes of the Alfama was quite exciting, especially around the corners, though we would frequently be brought to a sudden stop and wait because a delivery truck had parked there. The trammie hooted his horn loudly and the driver calmly came out to move his truck and on went the tram.

We went all the way to the end of the line and visited the big church there and then did the next most important thing – had a beer o’clock. It was about 12.30 but not nearly as hot as Spain had been where we looked for a cold beer sometimes at 11am! A taxi back to near our hotel to search for lunch and found a very local place where we seemed the only English –speaking customers (just for that lunch only however as the menus nearly always seem have an English alternative. They often have the photos to show the food too.)

John had a mixed meat grill and salad and I had a bowl of garlic and chile prawns -9 of them! A bit hot for Dr Jan but I ate them all with relish. Back for a well-earned siesta and then out to meet Nuno, a psychologist who had visited Melbourne. I had not met him then but we had emailed and agreed to meet at the rooftop of a hotel in the Bairro Alto district of Lisbon –a really cool place in the old town with bars and restaurants galore.

The view was terrific over the river and Nuno is a charming guy who was interested in John’s sociology field as well so the conversation flowed as well as the wine. Well actually I am not so keen on their specialty of Vino Verde which is not really green but is white wine with some fizz – not like bubbles, just some fizz. When I can I prefer the normal Vino Blanco thanks.

Nuno’s partner arrived so John and I set off for a bar crawl with the cool guys in the district, ending up in a restaurant to share a seafood platter for supper. The food and wine is so affordable in Portugal, it is a very easy place to be!

Wednesday morning John needed to find the American Express office to change traveller’s cheques but was disappointed for the second time by the Lonely Planet’s incorrect tip. I was glad for the space to go shopping in Lisbon and enjoyed the experience immensely although was limited in what I could buy as we are flying Ryan Air back to France at the end of the week and they have very strict baggage weight limits.

The Budget hire car was a bit of a mix-up at first but we were away by 12.30 on a brief hour trip to Sintra, an amazingly beautiful town of palaces and mansions of ornate decorations and some frivolous follies. Immediately we found ourselves in trouble with narrow old roads that twisted everywhere but where we wanted to go. Eventually we arrived at our overnight boarding house, Quinta das Muertas. It is a pink old mansion with extension bits – nothing luxurious but practical. The most charming aspects were the view of lovely green trees, a pond with goldfish and a garden with exotic birds such as Macau and parrots and a hoot of a white cockatoo who barked like a dog.

We walked down the steep narrow roads to the town centre and had a quick lunch with all the rest of the tourists – salad and squids was good for me but the Vino Verde was not. We were hot and tired but luckily we just caught the little tourist train that took us all around the town. The lady who was speaking over the microphone spoke first in Portuguese and then in a very charming English.
She told us that the Royal palace had special chimneys for the kitchen (they fill the skyline they are so large and like a Dali structure). We cracked up laughing when she pronounced it as “chime-knees’, so we have added a new travel in-joke and will always call chimneys “chime-knees” from now on.

Time to walk to the close-by Pena das Regolaos – a lavish house and gardens which were built by a man with too much money and not a lot of sense. Think Ludwig’s castle … Then time to crawl home up the hill for siesta.

It was so much cooler in the evening and we perhaps should have stayed in, but Lonely Planet pointed us up the hill rather than down to the town and we walked along the road in the dark (quite dangerous really as no footpaths) in order to find our goal –another local restaurant. We were just about to give up when we found it and it was a terrific experience. I must note that I had a marvellous duck dish here – Margret duck steak covered in rich cherry sauce. The young waiter was all “uniformed up” and formal, as if it was a city place, and so very charming and chatted away in the warm Portuguese accent about his love of his birthplace, Sintra.

Thursday breakfast was a very busy bustle as there must have been over 20 guests staying there. The selection included bread, jam, ham, cheese and plain cakes. This was typical of breakfasts we had in Brazil in 2004 – just not quite right and too many carbs. The Spanish and now the Portuguese bread rolls are coarse and dry and not a patch on the French baguettes -which we return to with relish next week!

John had a tense time backing the car out of the steep driveway and through the narrow gates and nearly burned out the hand-brake. We went down the hill again to pay to park and paid to enter the Royal Palace and find out what those chime-knees looked like inside. The main hall had a ceiling which was painted with stylish white swans with gilded neck jewellery. I was really taken with this. The other rooms were massive and one wondered how they kept themselves warm although they did only use this Palace as their summer residence. We entered the vast kitchens and sure enough, the two conical chime-knees spun up into the ceiling and we marvelled at their construction.


The Semi-final of the World Cup. Spain 2010

Wednesday was pool day and we had the terrific lunch – small squid this time which was delicious in garlic. In the early evening we first went to our cool bar, The Mandarina, to do our internet on wi-fi.It has the second best view from a ladies toilet (the first best is from the Sofitel in Melbourne) –which is the sea and the castle of Peniscola. If only the music could be changed – it is relentlessly cool.

We then trailed through the foot traffic along the front beach esplanade past the headless golden statue person and Punch n Judy et al and found our sunset bar. John had a cigar as we enjoyed rose and watched the fabulous view.

Coming back to our car we enjoyed the buzz of the crowds in the streets and restaurants who were watching the semi-final of the World Cup. Of course they were pumped by their country playing off Germany -many were wearing the Spanish football colours.

At home John managed to get the last quarter of the match on our TV which only has German so we watched it with German commentary which was kind of weird. We happened to be on the terrace when the Spanish got their only goal. There was an amazing phenomena – a huge sound swell of the enraptured acclaim of “GOAL” which came from the darkish valley where all the folks must have been watching TV from home. It was awesome!

We are looking forward to being in the town on Sunday night for the Grand Final!


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