2025 – Europe

Today’s Secret Foodie Tour of Porto confirmed my own secret: I’m not really a fan of lots of Portuguese food. (Salted cod, salted cod/potato fritters, tinned sardines and an abomination of a sandwich called a Franceshina which they alleged, WRONGLY, was an improvement on the French croque monsieur.) IMHO only! We did have a good…

The plan for today was to drive out to the Douro Valley for two nights, stopping in the picturesque town of Amarante for lunch. But first, a booth to booth exploration of the Bolhão market and an Über ride to the airport to pick up our rental car. We never did find a restaurant but…

A total “dolce farniente”(sweet doing nothing) day. In paradise! I loved this place SO much. We spent the day lazing around, taking a dip in the pool and hot tub, having a lovely salad lunch on our terrace. More lazing around, reading, wine and another delicious dinner. Heavenly!

Travel day. Said a sad goodbye to Ron and Nancy in Vila Real and headed to the Porto airport for our flight to Barcelona. Late dinner there and off to bed

Off to Alghero, Sardinia (Italy). Airport adventures that I’m sure Scott will share. Austin friends of 40 some years, Tom and Cindy, picked us up at the airport and drove us to our nearby agroturismo farm lodging outside the town of Fertilia. Back into town for lunch (at Quattro Punto Sei, i.e. “four point six”)…

Homemade sheeps’ yogurt, cakes and cookies on the buffet. Dessert for breakfast! Drove into Alghero to get on the ferry to Neptune’s Grotto, a 40-minute ride away. Beautiful scenery along the coast, tall cliffs, sandy beaches, caves worn into the rocks by the sea. We didn’t pay the extra to enter the grotto but most…

Very scenic drive south to the town of Bosa with good lunch at Boca Bistro. Dinner at our agroturismo place.

Drove towards Palau where we were to spend the night. Stopped on the way in Castelsardo, a very picturesque old hill town with narrow, winding streets. Got re-routed due to a closed highway and had a long drive through the mountains on narrow, winding roads. Beautiful scenery with amazing, jagged peaks all around. Happy hour…

In Palau we explored the outside of the Fortezza di Monte Altura where the rock formations are mind boggling, very other-worldly. Drove out to Capo Testa, the northernmost point in Sardinia for lunch with an amazing view. Back to Palau for a 4-hour boat ride through La Maddalena National Park and the island of Spargi,…

Visited the river source of Sorgente Su Gologone on a nice little hike. Grocery shopped and did laundry. Happy hour at the highly rated nearby restaurant/gas station/carwash. Dinner at Snoopy on the waterfront