Our South America Trip Comes to an end in Buenos Aires
After nearly a month on our South American trip, we arrived in Buenos Aires from Colonia Uruguay early evening Monday February 17th. The ferry ride from Colonia was less than 2 hours, when we arrived at the ferry terminal it was pouring rain and we joined a long line of people waiting for taxis. We waited about 1.5 hours before we got a cab to our hotel, apparently getting a taxi in Buenos Aires on a rainy evening is very challenging.
We stayed at the Anselmo Buenos Aires, a Hilton Curio Collection hotel. This is a lovely property and we had a balcony room overlooking Plaza Dorrego. Plaza Dorrego is a very popular square in the San Telmo neighborhood, a quaint area with 19th Century buildings. The square is surrounded by cafe’s, bars, restaurants, antique shops and Tango clubs.
Since it was raining on our arrival at the Anselmo Hotel, we decided to stay in and had a light dinner at the hotel’s wine bar which feature Tapas style selections and, of course, good Malbec wine.
Hotel main entrance, french balcony is our room
View from our balcony.
Hotel wine bar
Eva Peron tribute in hotel lobby.
Hilton Anselmo Hotel
Tuesday morning was sunny and the forecast was for a warm, clear day. We walked from the hotel to the Plaza de Mayo, a little less than a mile. Along the way, we were taking in the splendid architecture of Buenos Aires. This city with its wide boulevards and neoclassical buildings reminds one of Paris. At Plaza de Mayo we took our obligatory pictures of the presidential residence, Casa Rosado.
To get an overview look at the city, we found our way to the Hop-on, Hop-off tourist bus stop and did the 2.5 hour loop. We did get off at “La Boca” district and spent an hour walking around, stopping for latte at a cafe to watch some Tango dancers. The colorful La Boca district is a very popular tourist attraction. When we got there it was a bit early so the crowds were not bad, but it didn’t take long before the cruise ship tours started arriving and the place became elbow to elbow. That was when we had seen enough and moved on.
By mid-afternoon we headed back to the hotel. At Plaza Dorrego, the nearby restaurants had tables set up under the plaza trees so we decided to get some lunch. A good asado (steak) was in order along with some Malbec. Tango dancers from the nearby clubs were performing right next to our table, so we enjoyed a long lunch immersed in the Argentine Tango experience. Quiet a classy way to end our day.
Plaza Dorrego
Eva Peron
Sightseeing…..Architecture, Street Scenes and Street Art of Buenos Aires
Our fight home was Wednesday evening. The hotel checkout time was Noon, so we had lots of time to kill before heading to Buenos Aires Int’l airport. Fortunately, the hotel offered a special private lounge area for checked-out guests awaiting late flights. This was a nice amenity, the lounge had a TV, coffee, water and other refreshments as well as comfortable chairs and tables. Since most international flights (to North America and Europe) leave late at night, this amenity is a great idea.
We were taking a LATAM flight from Buenos Aires to Lima Peru to connect with our United flight to Houston. All flights were on-time and we had a long layover in Houston before our final Boston flight, which was a good thing since Kathie had an issue with Global Entry and ended up in a long immigration line. Since we traveled United Polaris Class (Business), we were able to use the Polaris Lounge at Houston during the long layover. This lounge offers both a large buffet or à la carte dining along with very comfortable seating in a quiet, relaxing environment.
Home at last, but still buzzing about our amazing journey.
When we first booked our cruise early last year we decided to do an add-on post-cruise extension and the one we chose was called “Vineyards & Vistas of Mendoza”. This was billed as a 4-day excursion that included round-trip air from Buenos Aires to Mendoza as well as 3-nights in a luxury Mendoza hotel. One day of visiting several vineyards for tours and tastings the second day a scenic drive to the high Andes mountains. Our paperwork also stated that breakfasts were included as well as 2-lunches and 1 dinner. To our surprise we were treated to 3 dinners at 3 amazing Mendoza restaurants which we will discuss more below.
What made this trip so amazing was that we had such a small group, only 6 signed up, and we had two wonderful tour guides, Ailin (Eileen) and Estefan, who stayed with us the whole trip as well as a great driver, Horacio, with a very comfortable Mercedes mini-bus.
Our guides Ailin and Estefan
Our driver Horacio (l) with his Mate and our guide Estefan (r). Stopping for coffee and cake in Andes Foothills.
Our ride.
Our Hotel – The Diplomatic Hotel
The hotel accommodations were very good. The Diplomatic Hotel is rated as a 5-star hotel located in the downtown area of Mendoza, very convenient to restaurants and shopping. The hotel is nicely appointed with a very elegant lobby area. Our room was large and comfortable and we were on the 15th floor with a great view. Every evening at 7:00 PM the hotel offered free wine tasting in the lobby and each night the wines were from a different, local vineyard.
Main entrance
Lobby chandelier
Lobby furnishing
Sunrise view from our room
Marble staircase
Lobby sitting area
Diplomatic Hotel Mendoza
Winery Visits
Our second day in Mendoza was scheduled for three winery tours along with lunch. We drove about 30-minutes outside town where miles and miles of vineyards line the roads. Both our tour guides Ailin and Estefan told us about the history and make-up of the Mendoza wine industry. Our guides are extremely knowledgeable about wine making and wine culture.
Casarena Bodega & Vineyards
Our first vineyard was the Casarena Bodega y Viñedos located about 26km from downtown Mendoza. This was a picturesque vineyard with the grapes about ready for harvest. We noted that all the vines were covered with wire or plastic mesh. We assumed that this was to prevent birds from getting at the grapes, but it was to protect the grapes and vines from hail, apparently Mendoza gets lots of thunderstorms.
Our tasting included Malbec, which was excellent, we also tried Cabernet Franc, a very good red wine as well. The tour of the underground cellars was interesting, they had racks of different vintages (bottles) that they use for quality control. They will occasionally sample the various aged vintages to make sure they are aging properly.
Malbec grape
Underground cellars
Underground cellars.
Tasting room overlooking the vineyards.
Caelum Winery
Caelum Winery is s smaller boutique winery in the Mendoza valley, its 145 acres mainly produce the red Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon varieties, but they also offer a very nice Chardonnay as well as an interesting blush wine. The vineyard also produces pistachios from their small orchard.
Rosado made from 50% Malbec and 50% Cabernet Sauvignon
Dominio del Plata Winery (Susana Balbo Wines)
Our third and final winery visit was to the Susana Balbo Winery. The winery has a restaurant called Osadía de Crear where we had a lunch that included wine pairings.
Susana Balbo is Argentina’s first women to receive a degree in enology (science and study of wine and wine-making) and has been a pioneering winemaker in Mendoza.
Argentine steak for lunch.
Glasses lined up for the lunch pairings.
Pear shaped wooded fermentation barrels.
Egg shaped concrete fermentation tanks.
Stainless steel fermentation tanks.
Andes Day Trip
On our second full day in Mendoza we were off at 7:30 AM from the hotel to start the long 3.5 – 4 hour drive. We would travel northwest on Highway 7 (road to Chile) along the Mendoza river valley as it climbed steadily through the foothills of the Andes. Our final destination was to drive up the old Uspallata Pass road to visit the famous Christ the Redeemer of the Andes monument which sits on the Argentine – Chile border at about 12,700-ft above sea level.
We had several stops along the way, the first stop was at a scenic overlook on Lake Potrerillos (man-made lake above Potrerillos hydro-electric dam). Our guides Ailin, Estefan and driver Horacio setup a small table and served us coffee and pastries with the scenic backdrop of Lake Potrerillos and surrounding mountains to enjoy.
A brief technical or “comfort” stop in the small town of Uspallata which is in a wide valley surrounded by larger, more rugged mountains leading to the high Andes.
Mapping out our day trip to the Andes.
Setting up our coffee break.
Tasty treats with coffee.
Morning light and clouds provide a mystical backdrop.
Coffee Break at Lake Potrerillos.
Uspallata main street view
Two additional stops before we reached our final destination. A stop at an observation point where we viewed Mount Aconcagua, at 22,837 ft., the highest mountain in the Americas and actually the highest outside of the Himalayas.
Another stop at Puente del Inca (Inca Bridge), a natural rock formation bridge at a mineral hot spring. The site is a bit touristy with many gift shops. The minerals from the hot springs have created colorful rock formations at the site. There is also an abandoned railroad station as well as ruins of a former hotel at the hot springs (hotel was demolished by an avalanche many years ago). The abandoned railroad station is part of a discontinued rail line that ran from Mendoza to Santiago Chile and much of the rail bed and infrastructure follows the Mendoza river and can be seen from Highway 7.
Mt. Aconcagua
Abandoned railroad station
Gift shops
Inca Bridge and mineral deposits.
The drive to the top of Uspallata Pass was quite exciting. The dirt road has many sharp switchback curves as it winds its way up the the top. The road is barely wide enough for two vehicles, so it gets interesting when another car or bus is heading our way.
Our tour guide Estefan narrated the account of Argentina’s patriot, San Martin who led the Army of the Andes up this same pass to defeat Spanish forces in the early 19th Century and establish Argentina’s independence. Estefan is very passionate and knowledgeable about his country’s history and he likened San Martin to George Washington.
At the top we had time to explore, but it was extremely windy and a bit cold, so we huddled into one of the gift shops where Estefan had the vendors give us samples of some local drinks. It seemed both the cold drink and hot drink had some alcohol content, but don’t recall the local name of these drinks.
At this high altitude, we were a bit light headed and uncomfortable, so we didn’t stay too long before we started heading down to the base village where we would have lunch.
The serpentine switchback dirt road leading to the top of Uspallata Pass
Christ of the Andes Monument straddles the border. Argentina on the left, Chile on the right.
Video recap of the drive to the top of Uspallata Pass
We got back down to the valley floor (a mere 7,000 ft above sea level) at the village of Las Cuevas where we had “hiker’s lunch” at Portezuelo del Viento, a hostel for backpackers and mountain climbers. The lunch was home cooked, Kathie had the chicken milanesa and I had the gnocchi. Of course, Malbec was the wine of choice.
Estefan introduced us to the owner, Juan Pablo Sarjanovich, who is a world class mountain climber, having climbed in the Himalayas and elsewhere. He is a guide who takes climbers up to nearby Mt. Aconcagua.
After this long day, we headed back to Mendoza and in the evening would have our farewell dinner.
View from the hostel dining room.
Cozy dining room.
Restaurants
Our tour itinerary included a group dinner each of the three nights we were in Mendoza. Our tour guides and Viking set up reservations at three premier restaurants of Mendoza.
Maria Antonieta
On our first night in Mendoza our tour guides brought us to one of Mendoza’s best restaurants, Maria Antonieta for our welcome dinner. The restaurant was right next door to the Diplomatic Hotel, so a very quick walk to our table. This restaurant is owned by Chef Vanina Chimeno the wife and partner of Argentina’s most famous chef and restaurateur Francis Mallmann. Some may recognize Chef Mallmann who was featured on season 1 of the Netflix series Chef’s Table.
This restaurant is a small bistro with an open kitchen and apparently it is difficult to get reservations, but thanks to Viking we were able to get a table for eight for our group.
Sitting at the table next to us was a man and woman who had that “celebrity look”. Later our guides told us that the gentleman was “La Mona” a well known Argentine pop star. He and his wife were staying at the Diplomatic Hotel and we later saw lots of fans outside the hotel hoping for a glimpse or autograph.
We had a great meal at Maria Antonieta, most opting for the signature Rib Eye steak accompanied by an excellent Malbec. A great first night in Mendoza!
Josefina Restó
On our second night the group had dinner at Josefina Restó. This restaurant is on Avenue Arístides Villanueva, simply known as Aristides by the locals, and it is Mendoza’s main night life area. Plenty of restaurants and bars make this a lively neighborhood.
Another great choice, this restaurant is a large open space with floor to ceiling windows and we had a window table, taking in all the activity outside. The food was great and again we were served some excellent local wines.
Lively Avenue Arístides Villanueva
Baked fruits baked in mud with ice cream and caramel crunch.
Large open space at Josefina Restó
Azafran Restaurant
On our last night in Mendoza a special farewell dinner was held at Azafran Restaurant, which was around the corner from our hotel. Our tour guides told us that they wanted this last dinner to be special and they did not disappoint.
The restaurant had a special wine cellar which was actually a large room in the front of the restaurant with a large window overlooking their side walk cafe area. The “cellar” had floor to ceiling wine racks and in the center of the room was a large round table where we would be seated for dinner. This room was cooled for the wine, so each chair had an alpaca shawl for those who were cold.
This was a great way to end our Viking cruise and tour. Everyone had an enjoyable time and we stayed very late (we had to get up for a 7am car to the airport). It was a bit sad to say goodbye to our travel companions, our waitress was kind to take a group picture to send us on our way.
Outside view from the wine cellar
Plenty of Malbec
Caramel delight.
Group photo
Goodbye Mendoza
After the farewell dinner we said goodbye to the rest of the group and our guide Estafan. While the others were scheduled to fly back to Buenos Aires Int’l airport at noon the next day for their trip home, we were to continue another week on our own with a visit to Uruguay. Our flight was earlier in the morning, so Ailin arranged a car to pick us up at 7am.
Ailin was waiting in the lobby at 7am to make sure we got off OK and we had a young man accompany us to the airport to help us check-in (part of Viking’s transfer service).
The main part of our trip, the Viking Ocean Cruise and post cruise excursion had ended, we were now heading to Montevideo Uruguay for some free style touring. Our flight to Montevideo was on time and the last phase of our long South American adventure was underway. Our next post will be about our Uruguay experiences.
Connecting at Buenos Aires for our Montevideo flight.
Our long-anticipated Viking Ocean Cruise, “South America & the Chilean Fjords”, has begun. We left home on January 22nd departing Boston to Houston where we connected with an overnight flight to Santiago Chile.
Our airline of choice is United since we have elite status and we were able to upgrade to “Polaris” Business class. The amenities with Polaris are great, they have a special Polaris Lounge at Houston which had hot food, free drinks and very comfortable surroundings. The lay-flat seats onboard the Boeing 767 allowed us to get some sleep on the 9 hour overnight flight, arriving about 10AM local time on Jan 23rd.
Our cruise scheduled arrival date was Jan 24th, but we chose to arrive one day early, so we stayed overnight at the Holiday Inn Express Hotel right outside the baggage claim section of Santiago Int’l Airport.
Relaxing at the Holiday inn Express Lounge, enjoying Malbec and Empanadas
We chose to arrive one day early as a contingency. Since we live in New England we must expect that winter storms could screw up travel itineraries, so adding a “safety day” gives us some piece of mind. As it turned out, the same United flight the following day, with about 70 Viking passengers onboard, had to return to Houston after several hours because of mechanical problems. Those folks had to sleep in the airport and the flight finally departed after more than 14 hours delay. Those folks didn’t get to Chile and onboard the ship until after midnight, missing the first days activities.
The morning of the 24th we checked out of the Holiday Inn after a good night’s sleep, walked across the street to the baggage claim and met the Viking greeters who got us on our bus for the ride to the ship in Valparaiso. We got to our ship, the Viking Jupiter, at about Noon, our room wouldn’t be ready until 2pm.
Lunch with a Chilean Friend
This free time was an opportunity for me to meet up with an old friend and work colleague Luis Torres. I have known Luis since my days at Raytheon in the early 1980’s when his company did service work on our radar and navigation systems. Several trips to Chile in those old days where I got to know Luis. In recent years we reconnected on Facebook.
Luis invited me for lunch at the Club Naval (Chilean Navy Officers Club). In addition to his past service business, he is a retired Naval Officer. We had a great time reminiscing.
Lunch with old friend Luis Torres at Club Naval Valparaiso
Checking into our Stateroom
We checked into our stateroom on the Viking Jupiter by late afternoon on the 24th. This day was Rick’s birthday, and waiting in our stateroom was a chocolate cake smothered in fresh strawberries and blueberries along with a bottle of champagne and happy birthday card. Nice touch Viking Cruises!
Rick’s birthday cake and champagne compliments of Viking
The staterooms on these new Viking Ocean Cruise ships are spacious and very comfortable. All rooms have verandas, no inside cabins. The bathrooms are roomy with a large shower. Also plenty of storage. There are several AC outlets, both US and Europe style along with quite a few USB charging ports on each bedstand and the desk. A mini- frig is stocked with soft drinks, Toberlone chocolate bars and assorted nut mixes, all free and restocked everyday. There is free WiFi throughout the ship, albiet, not super high speed, but adequate for email, web and social media. I hope to do a separate blog about the ship and life onboard.
Our stateroom
Tour of Valparaiso and Casas del Bosque Winery
We had one additional day in Valparaiso before the ship left and on that day we had a Valparaiso city tour and a visit to a local winery for a tour and wine tasting.
If you have been following recent events in Chile you will know that public protests against economic and political issues turned into full blown riots and violence. We saw the results first hand during the city tour. Most downtown shops were still boarded up, some burnt out and destroyed. Lots of political graffiti covers once beautiful architecture and public monuments. It’s a shame to see this damage.
We then drove about 45 minutes outside Valparaiso to the Casablanca Valley wine district. There we toured the Casas del Busque vineyards, a local boutique winery.
Our tour guide, a very knowledgeable young woman, walked us around one of the Pinot Noir vineyards, then into the production area and finally an aging cellar where we tasted several wines.
We tasted 3 wines; a white (Chardonnay) which was very good and 2 reds. One red, I believe was a Merlot and the second a Carménère. The Carménère was excellent and our guide explained that this grape was an old variety originally introduced into France’s Bordeaux region by the Romans in ancient times. Spanish missionaries brought the plants to Chile in the 16th Century where they have flourished since. The Carménère was all but wiped out in France by phylloxera plague in the mid-19th Century, but Chile’s climate and soil are resistant to phylloxera, so this dark red grape and wine is still produced. We enjoyed this variety so much, we bought a bottle to enjoy later.
Casas del Busque’s Pinot Noir vineyard and grapes. Will be ripe by March
Oak aging barrels and fermentation tanks.
Carménère
Some of the finished product.
Sailing out of Valparaiso
We left Valparaiso late on the 25th for the start of our long and exciting cruise. As we left Valparaiso, we watched the busy activity around the port, and watched the Harbor Pilot wave goodbye from the Pilot Boat. As we sailed south on the Pacific a beautiful sunset ended our first cruise day.
Chilean Navy training ship Esmeralda
Harbor Pilot waves goodbye
First day at sea ends with a beautiful Pacific sunset.
Christmas time for me evokes many warm childhood memories. Decorating our family tree, shopping with mom in the big department stores all decked out with lights and displays, and of course, Santa Claus. I remember how excited we would get as Christmas day approach; the anticipation was palpable.
Many if not most of our Christmas traditions are deeply rooted in European culture. From the Christmas stories we read, Christmas TV shows and movies, Christmas music and Hallmark cards, all seem to depict those Dickensian or Currier & Ives themed scenes of a simpler time. What’s more traditional than the Christmas Market? These Christmas Markets date back to the Middle Ages celebrating the Advent season leading up to Christmas day.
What is it about European Christmas Markets that keeps drawing us back? When you walk the cobblestone streets of a European Christmas Market, usually located at the main Cathedral square or at centuries old town hall plazas, the past seems to come alive. Vendor chalets selling hand crafted ornaments, decorations or toys, plenty of local street food and the famous hot mulled wine (German Gluhwein or French Vin Chaud). For me this is magical, reinforcing the Christmas Spirit.
This years Christmas Market visit was to Brussels. Flying on the day after Thanksgiving, arriving for the opening weekend of Brussels’ Plaisirs D’hiver or Winter Wonders celebrations. The festivities are spread throughout the city and my hotel was in front of the main Christmas Market at Place Sainte-Catherineis.
The crowds were huge for the opening weekend with all ages; families with kids, young and older adults, lots of locals and tourists. Obviously a very popular place at Christmas time.
Crowds at the main Christmas Market
The Sights & Sounds of Brussels’ Christmas Markets
The main Christmas Market at Place Sainte-Catherineis with over 200 vendor chalets was located right across the street from my hotel, the Brussels Welcome Hotel. The hotel was quaint and quirky, with each room decorated in a different country decor. My room, the Cuba Room had a model of a ’57 Chevy convertible on the door (instead of a number), and the interior had cigar themed pictures and decorations plus a large wall mural of an old Havana building facade. The owners, Michel & Sophie and their staff were very friendly and helpful. They had their own chalet at the Christmas Market that featured oysters and champagne, that’s classy!
Speaking of the food, this Christmas Market had most of the typical fare; German bratwurst, pretzels, other comfort food, and of course, the Gluhwein. But there were some upscale selections as well, such as escargot, Russian caviar and vodka, along with the local favorites, fresh Mussels, Belgian chocolate and Belgian waffles. Fortunately there is a lot of walking at these Christmas Markets, so you can burn off those excess calories.
My Hotel
Food
Foot-long sausages
Tartiflette (potatoes, cheese, bacon, white wine, onions)
Chocolate covered cherries
Oysters
There were several other Christmas Markets within walking distance. Grand Place, the main city square, with its towering 17th Century city hall surrounded by the gold trimmed Guild Halls, featured a large Christmas Tree in the center of the square. Grand Place was the site of an amazing light and sound show, presented every evening (several showings each night), with colorful lights projected against the facades of the old buildings.
Grand Place
Grand Place Light & Sound Show video
After a week in Brussels it was time to go home. This was the last trip for our 2019 travel season. Another Christmas Market completed and awaiting the New Year for new and exciting travel adventures.
We just returned from our 12-day vacation in Portugal where we did a Viking River Cruise of the Douro River Valley. Our Viking itinerary had us spending the first two days in Lisbon, then on to Porto where we joined our ship, the Viking Torgil, for 8-days of cruising the Douro Valley. We returned to Lisbon to spend 2-days on our own exploring that city.
In this blog we will describe our overall impressions of Portugal, in the next few days we will publish additional blog posts to share some specifics:
Cities of Porto and Lisbon
Beautiful Douro Valley
The Viking River Cruise Experience
Rich History
In our history classes long ago, we learned about the famous Portuguese explorers; Henry the Navigator, Vasco da Gama, Ferdinand Magellan, Pedro Álvares Cabral and others. The discoveries of these explorers opened sea trade routes to Brazil, Africa, India, Southeast Asia, China and Japan making Portugal a powerful empire in the 15th – 16th Centuries. Now, Portugal is a relatively small country in the European Union, but that rich history and culture is still alive in the beautiful buildings, palaces, cathedrals, universities and cuisines and the Portuguese people are proud of this heritage.
The Monument to the Discoveries , located in Belém – Lisbon
Arriving
We arrived from Newark into Lisbon’s Humberto Delgado Airport which is very close to the city center. The airport is like any international airport, although it wasn’t too much of a walk from the arrival gates, through passport control out to baggage claim. Viking staff were waiting at the arrivals hall where we joined a bus with other Viking passengers to take us to the Hotel Tivoli Avenida Liberdade, our home for the next two nights. This hotel is located on Avenida Liberdade, a beautiful, wide, tree line boulevard, called Lisbon’s “Champs-Élysées”.
Spending
Portugal, being part of the EU uses the Euro and now the US dollar exchange rate is very favorable, at US$1.10 while we were there. Also, Portugal is very affordable (for Americans) when compared to other European countries.
Language
The language of Portugal is, of course, Portuguese. We learned that Portuguese is the 9th most spoken language in the world. We found most people do speak English, so it wasn’t difficult communicating. It helps to learn some basic phrases and locals appreciate the effort. Many years ago, I traveled a lot to Brazil for business and some of the Brazilian Portuguese I picked up came back to me. With my pronunciations, some locals picked up on the Brazilian accent. I have used the App Duolingo, which is very helpful for learning language basics. Doulingo is a free App on Android and IOS and I recommend it. Some basic phrases:
Thank you…. a man would say Obrigado, a woman would say Obrigada
You’re welcome…. De nada
Good morning…. Bom dia
Good afternoon…. Boa tarde
Good evening…. Boa noite
Please…. Por favor
Wonderful People
Everyone we met, hotel staff, tour guides, shop keepers, restaurant servers all were very friendly, welcoming and helpful. Social media allows us to connect with people all over the world and on Instagram, we have been connected with an Instagrammer named Libi from Porto. Libi posts images and stories about daily life in Porto and she visits some great coffee shops and posts interesting pictures around Porto. In the past year or so we have been following each other, commenting about each others posts. When planning our Portugal trip earlier this year, we mentioned to Libi our trip and asked about things to see and do. She was excited and enthusiastic about sharing her city and country. We made arrangements to meet for coffee at one of Libi’s favorite places. So when we arrived in Porto she met us, had some gifts for us and we enjoyed a coffee together. Libi is a wonderful young woman and we now have a good friend in Portugal.
Our Instagram friend Libi from Porto took us for coffee at a classy coffee shop C’alma.
Great Food
Yeah, there is good food in Portugal, you won’t go hungry and you may need to loosen the belt a bit before you leave. Watch out for the favorite pastry, the Pastel de Nata. This custard based tart can become addictive, it’s a great treat to have with coffee at one of the excellent coffee shops you will find in Lisbon, Porto or anywhere in Portugal.
Salted Cod dishes abound, I didn’t realize there were so many ways to prepare salted cod, or Bacalhau. It can be boiled, fried, made into cod cakes, croquettes, it seems that some restaurants have pages of cod dishes.
Salted cod dish and Pastel de Nata.
Our first night we decided to stay at the hotel (Tivoli) and eat at the attached restaurant called Cervejaria Liberdade. I had the best pork dish ever, this was grilled pork tenderloin steaks from the famous acorn feed black pigs. Amazing experience.
Bucket List Fulfilled?
Portugal was on our bucket list and our experience there was just amazing. Such a beautiful country, great food and the people are so friendly. It seems that on this trip we didn’t get enough, so we now add Portugal to the “Got to Go Back” list! In the following blogs we will share photos of the amazing sights and experiences, so please come back.
We will be off to the airport later this morning for our next adventure, Portugal.
We will be joining a Viking River Cruise tour of the Douro River… River of Gold, for what should be a fantastic time. Arriving tomorrow morning (Tuesday Oct 8th) in Lisbon, we will stay 2-nights before a motor coach tour up the coast to Porto to join our ship, the Viking Torgil. The below map shows the 10-day itinerary.
Big Sky – Majestic Mountains – Huckleberries – Friendly People
This year our August vacation was to Northwest Montana. Our visit would include the towns of Missoula, Whitefish and Columbia Falls, touring Glacier National Park, the Bitterroot Mountain area and the Bison National Range.
Kathie and I met up with our daughter Jen, who flew in from DC. So this was a family vacation and during the week we celebrated both Kathie and Jen’s birthdays.
Our visit was during the first 2-weeks of August. The weather was good overall, albiet hot during the days (mid 90’s). At the very end of our visit there were some severe thunderstorms, but these didn’t interupt our plans in any significant way.
This “Part 1” blog will focus on our visit to the Missoula area. A “Part 2” will continue with our visit to Glacier National Park and the surrounding areas.
Missoula
Arriving in Missoula, we spent the first weekend there. Missoula is a fun town, home to the University of Montana. We explored the Saturday Street Market and Farmer’s Market, which were very popular and lively.
The Missoula downtown has some interesting late 19th – early 20th Century building architecture, great area for walking and exploring.
Flying to Missoula
We flew United from Boston to Denver connecting with a United Express flight to Missoula, about a 2 hours flight from Denver. The window seat view flying into Missoula on a clear day is breathtaking as you follow the valley between mountains on final approach.
Flying over Missoula
University of Montana “M” on the hillside
Airport welcome to “Glacier Country”
Walking around Missoula
Enjoying the street scenes and the riverfront area. This is Lewis and Clark country.
Lewis & Clark country
Murals
Murals
Saturday Morning Markets
Saturdays in Missoula feature an arts & crafts People’s Market on E. Pine St (closed to vehicle traffic) and a large Farmer’s Market on the riverfront next to Caras Park.
Food & Drink
Missoula offers plenty of food and drink options. There are many gourmet coffee shops and very good micro-breweries. The dining choices vary quite a bit from casual to upscale.
The Bayern Brewery was a real treat, serving excellent Bavarian style micro-brew beers and authentic German comfort food. The pilsner draft with a large, home made pretzel, bratwurst and warm German potato salad really hit the spot.
Our dinner choices included:
Plonk, a comfortable wine bar atmosphere featuring a wide selection of wines and a small plate menu ideal for sharing.
The Pearl Cafe, a French inspired menu with local ingredients. A very warm, cozy place and we had an excellent server, making it a very pleasant experience. My first Bison tenderloin experience, yum! Reservations are highly recommended.
On the site of Fort Missoula, originally established in the 1870’s during the Indian Wars. The fort served as a US Army training base during WW1, then a Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) camp in the 1930’s. During WW2 it was an Alien Detection Center housing Italian, German and Japanese foreign nationals and resident aliens.
Located outside Missoula, it was a few minutes from our hotel. Very interesting and informative, dedicated to the conservation of Elk herds. The exhibition area has life-like dioramas depicting Rocky Mountain wildlife in a natural habitat.
Garnet Ghost Town is about a 1-hour drive east of Missoula. The town is an abandoned gold mining site with preserved buildings and structures. There are volunteer guides on-site who provide historical information and stories.
Rick and Kathie's Travel Adventures 