5. 28 March 29 March Barcelos and Viseu

28 March Viseu

Checked out of Porto today and before driving to Viseu in central Portugal, we sidetracked to Barcelos, about an hour’s drive north. Maria had read that Barcelos has an open market every Thursday with one reviewer describing it as having few equals in all of Europe. Once in Barcelos, we headed towards the center of town and finally found parking in a dusty sandlot. Actually we were waved into the parking lot by one guy and another guy guided us into our space. Although parking was clearly free I knew the guy expected a tip so I gave him 2 Euros, but he motioned for more. Then the guy who waved us into the parking lot went after Jason who was thumbing through some change but before Jason could decide what was appropriate, the ballsy guy grabbed all the change right out of his hand. Jason just threw up his hands in a WTF move while the two guys let us know by their looks that we were cheap bastards. Should have been just funny but the whole time at the market I was uncomfortable, hoping the pissed off self-anointed parking attendants didn’t take it out on the car. Of course, recalling in now, its just funny.

While one review of this market convinced us to drive out of our way, another review said it was just cheap clothing and tacky stuff so we knew ahead of time that the diversion might be a wasted effort. Not to worry though, the Feira de Barcelos turned out to be absolutely the biggest outdoor market any of us have ever seen. Probably the size of three football fields with hundreds of stalls. Maybe twenty or thirty stalls with hundreds and hundreds of shoes, another twenty or thirty for belts, for hardware, for hats, for pretty much anything sold in western civilization. Pasty shops, meat shops, furniture, everything. What we could not understand was the fact that this enormous complex was assembled only one day a week. As an example, we passed a stand selling belts and Jason and I estimated there were 500 to 1000 belts individually displayed on bars that were part of the that vendor’s market booth. So that means the guy selling the belts arrived early that morning, set up the booth, mounted the 500 to 1000 belts on the display bars and waited for maybe a handful of belts to be sold in the course of the day. The market was definitely crowded, but really? How many belts was he going to sell? The shoe vendors had hundreds of pairs of shoes for sale and although the market was crowded, there seemed to be a big shortage of shoe buyers. Lots of knock-off brands. I came across at least two hardware stores in market booths. I used to attend three or four day expositions related to the laser industry and the setup and teardown was pretty complex. This market dwarfs anything I experienced in my exposition days.

We picked up some excellent fruit, bread, cheese and pasties at the market and were set for our three hour drive to Viseu. I also picked up a nice 5 Euro hat to cover my bald spot since I’d left a much beloved Dharamshala hat at a restaurant in Lisbon.

Back to the car and I was relieved the faux parking attendants hadn’t taken it out on our car.

An almost three hour drive east across half of Portugal then south to Viseu. Except for about six of the hundred and fifty miles, the road was Portuguese interstate and it is astounding how empty these roads are. The highways are toll roads so that may explain the lack of traffic, but who wouldn’t pay tolls to save dozens of hours? Driving to Viseu via local roads would have been a painfully long slog. Our drive took us through Douro wine country and we passed miles and miles of beautifully terraced vineyards. Nearer to Viseu the vineyards disappeared into forests. A great drive.

We got off the exit to Viseu with about 3 miles to go to our hotel. This remaining three mile stretch had at least 17 roundabouts which we might have not noticed, but our Google Maps GPS lady repeated over and over “At the next roundabout, take the second exit.” Not that annoying when you think about it, but this went on and on.

Finally, almost dizzy from the roundabouts, we found Pestana De Viseu, the second Pestana hotel we’ve stayed at. Both Pestana Hotels were estates in ruins when the Pestana Group purchased and refurbished them into amazing hotels. The one in Porto was originally a luxurious home for a Viscount but had fallen into almost complete despair. What exactly was a Viscount and what did a Viscount do? Did they count Vises? I’m guessing they were some sort of privileged do-nothing upper class in days gone by. The hotel here in Viseu was once a hospital and pictures in the lobby here show what a wreck this place was before the rehab. Impressive.

March 29, 2019

Toured Viseu on foot late yesterday and today. The old town is a five minute walk from our hotel and is grand. Viseu is described in the Rough Guide as one of Portugal’s best kept secrets and if word gets out it will be a lot more crowded than it is now. A beautiful old area within the ancient walls and a very, very livable city proper. In the ancient part of town narrow streets empty into parks with fountains, palaces, churches and broad pedestrian walkways. A huge park outside of the walls. Not the first time in Portugal we’ve seen this, but so far it still is astonishing.

On the map Viseu looks like a small town, but we have not been to a small town yet. I was expecting Vila do Conde, Barcelos and Viseu to be quiet little towns but they were all much bigger than small US cities like Burlington, Vt. Once out of the old town of Viseu, life looks like anywhere in suburban Portugal which seems like a comfortable place to live.

Maria got a dinner recommendation for the concierge and reserved dinner for us tonight but when she went on-line and checked the menu she had second thoughts about taking anyone to a place that advertised “Rotten Cod Fish From The Cellar” and “Black Pudding” otherwise known as blood sausage. But she checked again with the staff and was assured this was a great restaurant. Turned out it was fabulous and any snide remarks I might have made about Portuguese food should be ignored. We’ve had a number of memorable meals in the last few days.

Every now and then when we’re waiting in our room we’ll turn on BBC World or the international version of CNN. Both are virtually useless unless you can’t get enough Brexit news. If and when the UK gets around to shucking the EU, I’ll still be OK since Mr. Bean is available on You Tube. On CNN and BBC over here, the news is watered down by the least interesting announcers imaginable. Women announcers on both channels are well-coiffed and correctly shaped while the men come in all sizes from geek to downright unsightly. Both sexes drone the news in numbing monotone.

International CNN adds are exclusively for working executives: private jets, conglomerates to pay attention to, expensive hotels. One advertisement did catch my eye and now instead of flying TAP back to Boston I leased a Lear Jet and will drop Jason and Laurie off in Tampa before we scoot back to Boston later this week.

Maria researches, produces and directs our trips and she definitely enjoys the projects. Although she does run her choices by all fellow travelers before these trips, she does feel responsible if something does not work out as planned even though misfires are often highlights. So far she should be guilt free.