The Yeatman and Mulare

We get up and head for the restaurant to have breakfast. Lifes hard!

We try to gently work off brekky with a swim indoors. 

We shower and explore a little more of the hotel before we head home. 

Ed in the lift which is decorated like a balloon.

A lounge area. 

The library. 

We enjoyed our stay and hope to return one day. 

We get home and eat a quick lunch. We pack and head for Amadeu's place up north. 

It is good to see him and Aleshandrina. They look terrific and welcome us with gifts and lovely snacks. 

The kids and their grandfather Bernadino

Ed and his grandfather. 

We enjoy a lovely roast dinner cooked in a new outdoor oven. 

Emelia, Tony, Joaquim

Amadeu, Drina, Ed

Drina's Dad, Bernadino

Bernadino - Ed's granfather 95 yrs

Amadeu

Dessert is late in the night.

Amateur

Professional

Antonio entertained the family after dinner with his piano accordion. 

The family all joined in.

Yeatman Porto

Sunday morning we slept in and had breakfast late. I headed off on my own to catch up and say hello to some friends. Kylie wanted to take me out for my birthday and suggested that we leave the kids with my parents and stay the night in Porto. No kids for the day sounded fantastic so after lunch with the family we packed for one night and headed to Porto. On the way Kylie surfed the net for accomodation and booked a night at the Yeatman Porto. 

When we arrived we were greated like royalty:-). This is certanly the place to relax and the views are fabulous. We sit for a champagne and plot our next move - off to the pool.

The hotel has an indoor and an outdoor pool. We head outside first. Kylie goes in but I am not very brave. I relax on one of the deck chairs. 

We head inside and enjoy lovely swim looking at the river- beautiful!

Later in the evening the fog rolls in and we decide to head off for dinner. We are eating at the Michelan starred restaurant at the hotel. 

We opt for the 4 course menu with the matching wines. We end up having about 10 courses as the chef keeps sending out comlimentary surprises. 

Compliments of the chef!

The food is imaginative and delicious. Our waitress is from Alentejo and looks after us very well. She explained the food and wine but after the second glass of vino Kylie is a little hazy. Desert and port wine to go and the perfect day is almost over.

Good night. 

Pedro's family lunch

This morning I got up early to prepare    lunch for Pedro's family; however, my father beat me to the punch. 

Dad had the eels in the pan and ready to go.

All went well and by the time Pedro's family arrived lunch was ready. 

The day is perfict and we dig in.

Hummmmmmm!!!!!!!!

Philipe and Maria

The eel dish was a success. In particular Pedro's grandmother, Pedro and Jose liked it.

Palmira, Sara and Joanna

Maria enjoyed cuddling the baby rabbit 

The eels were ok after all.

Mum, dad, my sister Ana and Jorge my brother inlaw.

Once lunch is over 3 hrs later we decide to go for a walk along Torreira beach.

The day is great and we stroll along the promenade and chat some more.

The kids decide to hire this four person trike and explore the beach circuit. We say goodby to Pedro's family and head home.

After a rest Kylie, Ana and I go out for a coffee and enjoy the view..

We try to drive up to the beach so we cango for a walk but there are no carparks. Ed decides to drive to Furadouro. They have a folk festival on and groups have come from all over Portugal to sing and dance to their traditional local songs. It was very unexpected and very enjoyable. 

This lady was very gracious when I asked  could I take her picture.

The folk festival topped off a delightful day. 

 

Torreira

Pedro and his family are coming from Fatima for lunch on Saturday. So we decided to give mum a break in the kitchen and do most of the cooking ourselves. We spent most of the morning shopping for the ingredients which are quite challenging when the ingredients are not the same as back home ie. (no castor sugar). On the menu we will have:

eels cooked with potatoes and tumerick. A typical dish of the area to be cooked by my father as i do not know how to make it.

Slowed cooked roasted lamb with roasted potatoes, rice and green beans. My mum is very intrigued with my Australian lamb recipe.

Green salads with produce from the back yard. 

For dessert we will be serving fresh fruit and cakes baked by Kylie:

Passion fruit cake, raspberry cake, and chocolate brownies

Melons, pineapples , and fruits from my parents   fruit trees. 

We have everything ready for tomorrow and decide to go out for a coffee and iceream in Torreira and to contemplate our holiday so far. We look out at the view around us and life is good.

The kids are enjoying the five star treatment by my parents; however, this will end in two weeks time when we retun home to Australia.

Viana do Conde and North Porto

Well Mitch is cashed up because of his birthday. Sabrina is after a dress for her end of year function. So we head for a shopping outlet. 

Mitch scores and spends a significant portion of his stash. Brina stikes out. She would have been better off in Singapore. 

Home for a bbq and then out for coffee and a walk. Goodnight all.

Douro River Cruise

Porto again!

We start our day early - left home at 6.30am. We had to be down at the boat before 8.00am. We anticipated lots of peak hour traffic but there was nothing on the road. The Portugese do not do early! 

We stop down near the river for a coffee. The lady serving was lovely she kept talking to me in portugese. She was determined to communicate no matter what. 

We board the boat and have breakfast. Once finished we move upstairs for a premium view.

The landscape shifts and changes along the way. The highlight being the winery area near Regua and Pinhao. 

There are three locks along the way. One of them is one of the tallest in Europe. It took twenty minutes for the lock to fill so we could continue up the river.

We enjoyed the cruise and the train trip back to Porto. Lunch was very nice with people having two or more serves of every course. We restrained ourselves. I am envious of the portugese they can eat heaps and are not obese. 

The day is very tiring. We were all looking at the overnight boats - they look good. Maybe one day. 

Take it easy from the Pereira's!