The night before we left Martin, Teresa, Pat and I headed out for dinner to a restaurant on the west coast of Guernsey where we watched the sun set over the ocean. Quite a change for us, as back home our sun sets over the land. When we arrived home, Teresa served us real Madiera Cake, Madiera Port and Madiera Wine. Our stay on Guernsey was very relaxing and enjoyable. We said goodbye the following morning and have planned to meet up again in Australia and Madiera, Portugal in a few years time.
We travelled by ferry back to the mainland at St Malo and headed onto Le Mans in France, the home of the 24 hour car race. Travelling further through France we visited Bordeaux which is one of France´s premier wine growing areas - the region is divided into 57 production areas with over 5,000 chateaux around Bordeaux producing reds, roses, sweet whites, dry whites and sparkling wines. It is possible to buy exceptional wines in the supermarkets here for just a few Euros. Further along the city of Toulouse is home to the manufacturer of Airbus also known as La Ville Rose (the pink city) because of the profusion of rose-red brick buildings.
Lourdes is an amazing place and is one of the world´s most important religious pilgrimage sites, visited annually by approximately 6,000,000 people. In 1858 in this little village Bernadette Soubirous at the age of 14 years had a series of 18 apparitions of the Virgin Mary in a rock grotto at the bottom of the village. Bernadette was later canonized a saint. It is amazing to see the numbers of people who come to pray in the four places of worship and others who bathe in any of the 19 pools of water from the grotto. Many thousands of people are brought in wheelchairs praying and hoping for a cure. We visited the Churches and the Grotto, touched the walls and drank the water from the grotto - it is a wonderful experience.
The south coast of France is beautiful and the hillsides are covered in white homes with terracotta roofs. Heading south west we travelled through St Jean de Luz and crossed into Spain at San Sebastian, a beautiful city set on 3 huge bays (Bay of Biscay) with wide sandy beaches. We decided to have typical Spanish food for dinner and enjoyed Spanish Beer and Pintxos (tapas). We walked around the old city and enjoyed the sights and sounds of Spain. We´ve never seen so many Yorkshire Terriers in one place - it reminded us of Major and Finnigan who are probably wondering where the heck we are!
We travelled inland to Medina Del Campo and Leon, then headed northwards where our train wound its way through and over the beautiful mountains of north west Spain down to the north coast at Gijon. Spain is noted as being the second most mountainous European country after Switzerland. This north west corner is likened to parts of the Britain Isles and is often referred to as "Green Spain" - I could see why with the rolling green hills and hedges covering the landscape. The train hugged the coast down towards the cities of Vigo and Santiago de Compostela where we crossed the border into Portugal.
We met two brothers Luis and Alexis travelling with their Mother Elvia on the train. They originated from Cuba but have lived in Miami Florida since the family was young. It was so interesting to hear first hand accounts of life in Cuba from these vibrant personalities. The guys reckon their mother has been the best Mum in the world so they now spoil her by taking her away on holidays with them. The best part is that she is 80 years of age and looks wonderful.
Another day on one of our train trips in Spain a lovely gentleman sitting across the aisle from me leaned over and gave us four holy pictures and he chatted away in Spanish telling us to take care and look after ourselves. It´s little experiences like these that mean a lot and that we remember well.
Porto is Portugal´s second largest city and is built on steep hills which run all the way down to the Duoro River. This old-world river frontage district is yet another World Heritage Site. It is great to go exploring these old cities except that this time by the time we reached the bottom we then had to climb uphill all the way back home - the exercise is really great and we´re enjoying it very much. Our walk home took us up steep narrow cobbled streets with washing hanging out of the windows of these lofty houses. The following morning when we checked out of our guesthouse, the owner came out from behind the reception desk and gave us both kisses and cuddles goodbye! How nice!
The trip by train from Porto along the Duoro River and valley to Pocino is a very scenic route and truly magnificent. Portugal´s best known river flows through the country´s rural heartland where, in the upper reaches, port-wine grapes are grown on steep terraced hills. This river is navigable right across Portugal. In the evening, we walked along the boulevard beside the river at Regua and enjoyed a great dinner and a bottle of Portuguese wine. Yummo!
Our next trip south was by fast train - 220 klms per hour to Lisbon. Lisbon is another interesting city and from here we headed out to visit Sintra which has been the traditional summer retreat of Portugal´s kings. A very hilly place with stunning palaces and manors surrounded by lush green countryside. As we walked along the street we met up with Luis, Alexis and Elvia yet again and made arrangements to meet up for dinner in Lisbon.
In Lisbon we headed into the subway to buy our day ticket. The attendant at the station warned us to beware of pickpockets. Lo and behold as soon as we stepped into the carriage we were surrounded and hemmed in by four guys all in their 30´s - one of them dropped a map and bent down to pick it up - at the same time he had opened the flap on Pat´s wallet pocket - but thankfully Pat was too quick and slick for them and all was okay - at the next stop the four of them got off and then they went back onto the same train - probably looking for somebody else who might not be as aware as Pat. We are very aware of thieves but I guess it pays to be extra vigilant.
The train headed out of Lisbon to Tunes and then headed west to Lagos in the Algarve. The southern coast of Portugal is beautiful, reminding me of the big sweeping coastlines and our beautiful beaches at home. Once again these coastal towns and villages are whitewashed and terracotta tiled roofs with palm trees blowing in the wind - a beautiful sight. The footpaths and streets are paved with small cobblestones of white and black - in the evening the stones shine in the night lights.
We travelled across the southern coast of Portugal heading back towards Spain. Today we were in Tavira and Luz where young 3 year old Madeline McCann was abducted from in early May this year. It is a dreadful tragedy - her photos are on most shop windows keeping her in people´s minds. To date she has not been found.
Today´s means of transport has been by train, ferry, bus and taxi. We met and travelled with a great young Japanese couple Takehide and Chika who come from Kyoto. At Vila Real de San Antonio we crossed the river from Portugal back into Spain and then travelled east to the beautiful city of Seville.
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