It's northern Portugal this year, starting in the north west corner close to Spain (The Minho), followed by a week along the Douro Valley and finishing with 3 nights in Porto.
Less waffle this time and more bullet points, as follows:
- Flewfrom Manchester Airport after a visit to Quarry Bank (NT) Mill on Saturday, which is well worth a visit
- Overnight at Premier Inn (recommended)
- Up at 4 on Sunday morning for a 7.20 flight with EasyJet
- Spent 90 minutes sitting on the tarmac due to an air traffic strike in Belgium!
- Pilot turned out to be Neil Brown (the parent of former Crossdale Primary pupils who Rach taught) so we popped into the cockpit to say hello (no, we really did)
- Then flight to Porto only took 2 hours and Portugal is in the same time zone so very easy
- No sign of the Brava Cars (car hire) shuttle bus or reply to phone call so got a taxi to the offices, which were closed
- Called emergency number, which was answered by a very rude guy who said he was at the airport
- Long story short: got the car and we'd been ripped off by the taxi driver (classic con - he took the very long route)
- Drove north on near deserted autoroute and arrived after an hour
- Two different types of toll road: pay on exit or (newer) pay after two days and then within five working days at a post office (t'is the truth)
- Lovely rustic idyll set on valley side, in a surprisingly green and lush location (some pics below)
- Walked to the local restaurant for a huge rump steak with chips and rice (both, which seems to be the thing round here - just like when were living in Oldham when a night out was finished off with chips, rice and gravy)
- Washed down with a carafe of red fruit juice masquerading as red wine - delicioso
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