In the Spring and early part of Summer we travelled in Portugal with a final five days in Paris. More photos of our trip are posted on Glenn's travel photography site: mytravellinglens.com
In the Fall We returned to Venice, followed by time in the Prosecco wine area. After Venice we travlled to Boane and stayed at the Ca'Orologio - a villa estate that has been transfored into an agriturismo. We end the fall trip with some time in Rome.
Peak a-boo views in Sintra, Portugal.
photo: G Marcus - mytravellinglens.com
We flew from Vancouver on Air France, a direct flight from Vancouver to Paris with a connecting flight to Lisbon. The direct flights to Europe are heaven! In Canada it means no transfer at Toronto which can be stressful. Despite the strikes in Paris on the day we landed, our arrival and transfer was uneventful. The reporting of the situation in Paris at the time was for riots. Not so. Life in Paris goes on.
Picking up our car at the Lisbon airport we drove a hotel just outside the town of Sintra. Our days of landing after a nine-hour flight and driving 3-4 hours are over. Best to have a short drive after a long flight.
Sintra is very scenic, but oh was it jammed with tourists. It was difficult to manage the roads and traffic. Parking was scarce. I know there was more to see there, but having the car created difficulties.
From Sintra we drove to Porto, the second largest city in Portugal. The historical centre is designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
Porto is an ancient port steeped in history and tradition. Write-ups said there is real atmosphere to the town and indeed there was. We enjoyed our time there. The town was much larger than expected but it was full of impressive scenes and overall a very interesting city.
From Porto we drove to the Duoro Wine Region. Stunning landscapes. I do not think we will ever forget the view from our hotel of the valley. The vineyards are just etched into the steep cliffs of the valley.
From the Duoro it was on to Lagos on the Algarve Coast, about a five hour drive.
We ended our visit to Portugal with a stay in Lisbon. It was wonderful. Karen found the most elegant apartment for us, it was a real treat. Warning, bring locks of camera memory cards. Lisbon has enchanting Trams, the become an addiction.
We took an Air France flight to Paris where we stay five days. Once again we have our apartment just off rue Montorgueil - an area we considered one of the best areas in Paris.
The fall trip came right away and again we flew the non-stop Vancouver to Paris and then Rome on Air France flight. When we booked the flight we had a slightly different itinerary planned, we then flew from Rome to Venice.
The plan was to pick up a car. What we thought was a seven passenger intermediate vehicle turned out to be a mini-bus. Way to big to comfortably drive through small towns, and totally impossible to fit into the small parking spaces. A fair amount of effort, countless phone calls, finally after about five days we were able to return the mini-bus and exchange it for a smaller car.
We left Venice to explore in the Veneto Region, and more specifically the area that is mainly in the Province of Padova. This would include Padova, Vincenza, Verona and Este. Our base was the town of Baone, This is the prosecco wine region. A small town with a population of just over 3,000. It is located on the edge of the Parco Regionale dei Coli Euganei. It has the highest hills of the Po River Plain.
Prosecco DOC is produced in nine provinces of Italy that cross the Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia regions. The best, "Superiore", is only made in the Treviso province in the Veneto region on the hills of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene, or the Asolo Prosecco Superiore near the town of Asolo. I guess we will be able to test them all! We found that if you bring your empty bottle to the cattina, they fill it up with prosecco on tap for 1.80E. Loved it!
Chianti, in Tuscany was our next stop. We returned to stay at the Borgo Pietrafitta just outside of Castellina in Chianti. We have stayed here a number of times, and it is one of our favorite locations in which to stay while in Tuscany. An easy drive down to the Crete Senesi for photography, and easy access to Siena, Florence and other scenic towns of Tuscany.
We can't be in Italy without some time in Rome so the final five days were in a city we love at "our" apartment. A trip to Novelli Pen topped off the stay.
