A Golfers ++ Holiday Diary: - North Portugal Tour

Introduction:-Breakfast at 9am then walked around the grounds of
Last year was our first trip to Oporto in North Portugal,the club and inspected the tennis courts, cricket pitch
via a week's cruise down the Douro River, brilliantly(thought we would bat first) and the swimming pool.
organised by PortGolf. At the end of that week, PeterWe got ready for golf and soon we were on our way
Evens, who runs PortGolf, suggested we should returnto Ponte de Lima on a lovely sunny day. Again about
for the festival of S. Joao and perhaps play some golf.an hour drive to the golf course, but very scenic and
This seemed a good idea so on our return to the UKsomewhat mountainous - buggies a necessity. Drinks
we organised a dinner for two other couples, one ofand a sandwich first, but you never need to be in a
whom (Gerry and Catriona) had played golf aroundhurry in these places which was a good job as the
Oporto and Jim and Margery. We discussed the idearound took over five hours, something we are just not
and it was agreed that eight would be a good number.used to, but we're on holiday so what the heck. A
Shortly after we had supper with another couple, Johnquick shower and drink before setting off to
and Marion who volunteered to join us. None of us hadRestaurant Acude. A limited menu and quite expensive
ever holidayed together before so it would be a testfor the region, but we enjoyed it. Drove back to the
of friendship. Due to other commitments Gerry andclub and home by 12.30am - a long day.
Catriona and John and Marion would stay for a weekÂ
whilst we and Jim and Margery would stay for twelveWednesday 27th June:-
days.Â
There follows a Journal of that Trip:-Up at 8.15am nice shower and a leisurely breakfast.
ÂToday is a relaxing day where we all do our own
Thursday 21st June:-thing. A day by the pool for some, shopping for some
We decided to catch the first Porto flight out ofof the ladies and bridge for others. We all meet in the
Gatwick at 6.30am whilst the others were catching thebar at 8pm for tonight we are eating in the club's
1.30pm flight. We were met at Oporto Airport at 9amsuperb dining room and prize giving. It worked out that
by Peter Evens who whisked us off to the four stareverybody got a prize of sorts and Margery and Jim
Hotel Fenix, conveniently placed close to the Boa Vistawon Peter Evens "PortGolf" prize for the best score
area. The weather was bright with a light showeron the Stroke Index 1 holes on all the courses we
around midday. Having unpacked in our spacious roomplayed. Food, wines, service and atmosphere could not
on the 9th Floor with splendid views of a trulybe bettered a fantastic end for those departing the
magnificent cemetery and the city we set off on ournext day. Somewhat late to bed!
first adventure to walk to the city centre and exploreÂ
the area. We had a pasta and wine lunch at theThursday 28th June:-
Simbiose Restaurant (€30)Â
overlooking the river and watched the Port wine boatsMissed our farewells to Catriona and Gerry, but
ferrying people to and fro. Walked back uphill to themanaged them for Marion and John who were
hotel calling in at the local supermarket for gin andcatching a later flight. Today Peter is taking Margery
whisky for nightcaps. The rest of the gang arrived atand Jim and us for a road trip up the Douro Valley
6.15pm somewhat late due to delays. Having checkedTour. We set off at 9.45pm again with glorious
in we all got into the lift to travel to the 9th floor. Nowsunshine. Our first stop is at the winery of Quinta de
this lift has a notice that says it is for 10 persons -Aveleda.
unfortunately, they mean 10 Portuguese persons whoA guided tour including tastings with cheese. We
happen to be somewhat smaller in stature than 8 Britswandered round the grounds which have beautiful
for the lift decided to descend to -5 floors beforegardens including resident peacocks. In the shop, a loud
coming to a halt with a resounding bang. Not exactlymouthed American, who was buying a six pack of
the start we were looking for, but we managed towine, was boasting to the young lady at the counter
extract ourselves and walk back to the ground floorthat back home he had a thousand bottles of wine - to
we proceeded to travel in the 2nd lift and the servicewhich she replied, "And now you have a thousand and
lift - time for a drink! Peter found us in the bar at 8pmsix, sir." - priceless!
when we were taken in two vehicles to the MariaÂ
Moita, a local Porto restaurant for dinner. Peter stayedOur next stop was at Amarante to see the famous
on to interpret as not much English is spoken and takebridge and a quick walk round the town, very pretty.
photographs of the evening. Fun food with anOn through rolling hills filled with vines to Regua and
interesting menu and carafes of wine. Bed by 11.30stopped for lunch at the Pousada. Sat outside in the
somewhat exhausted.glorious sun and admired the views across the valley.
ÂWe moved on to Quinta do Panascal - Fonseca
Friday 22nd June:-winery/ port lodge, had a guided tour through the
Âgrape terraces with the aid of an audio tape and
Up at 8.15am, dry, but grey with a smattering of blue.earphones giving a history and the workings of the
Breakfast, then a quick look round the local shops.company. Back to the lodge for more tastings then a
Peter and Paolo collected us at 12.30 for our firstreturn journey via Vila Real through mile after mile of
game of golf at Estela.hills laden with vines from top to bottom. Back to the
The course lies about an hour from the centre ofclub for a shower and change before Peter dropped
Oporto on the Atlantic coast. The drive was pleasantus off at the Oporto Restaurant. We were all intrigued
and informative and the entrance guarded by twoto see Jim's starter as he had ordered 'fish soup in
automatic gates. A drink and a toasted sandwichpastry'. (the pastry was on the top!)
started the event which was a four ball better ball withÂ
husbands partnering wives. Typically for a links course,Friday 29th June:-
the wind blew like hell and was a contributing factor toÂ
the round taking 4½ hours. Gerry andBreakfast at 9am - today we are back to Estela golf
Catriona were the winners and copious amounts of gincourse, but what a difference, loads of sunshine and
& tonic and beer was consumed. Showered andno wind. Girls versus the Boys (yes, of course the Girls
change before whisked off to Casa do Frango in awon, but only at the 18th) - back to the club for a rest
nearby town - problem was our driver dropped us atand shower.
the wrong place which held up proceedings, but didn'tÂ
stop the wine flowing before the chicken and chipsA special evening as we meet Peter's wife, Anabela,
arrived - turned out to be a fun night and tested somefor the first time and we go to Praia de Luz for dinner.
people's ability of alcohol consumption. On our return toA great meal with lively conversation and a beautiful
the hotel John and Marion joined us in our room for asunset, of which we have several photos if anyone
nightcap and left at 1.30am.wants a copy. Home to bed another long day.
Saturday 23rd June:-Â
ÂSaturday 30th June:-
Up at 8.30 am and a glorious summer day. EveryoneÂ
into city centre to sightsee, but for us it was to shopDespite last night's sunset, we wake to a grey sky and
for prizes meeting up with the gang at Majesticmuch cooler temperatures. The girls, (I use the term
café - the 'in place' to be seen - coffeeloosely), go off shopping to Vila Nova de Gaia, "Corte
and brandy was the order of the day. Off to lunch toIngles". Us chaps do our own thing reading and
Foz at Praia da Luz, a super restaurant on the beachwatching the members who are barbequing for lunch -
which we had sampled last year - great food andJim tries the sardines. Lorna and Margery arrive back
wine with a variety of local dishes, ridiculously cheap atat 2.15pm and after hearing of their adventures we
€30 per couple. Back to the hotel athave tea and scones - how civilized.
4pm to rest before the night's activities. At MidnightÂ
Oporto celebrates the S. Joao festival.Peter collects us at 6.45pm as we are to have drinks
Âat his house at Senhora da Hora. We meet up with
Peter and cab collected us at 9.10pm and we areAnabela again and also later with Jacquay one of his
taken to Taylor's Port Wine Lodge where thetwin daughters who entertains us on the piano. Then
atmosphere is electric - a couple of hundred peoplewe are off to a fish restaurant, O Manel in Matosinhos
are seated at round tables for a set menu of Kale &- no English spoken and we struggle with the menu,
Potato Soup; breads; sardines; Roast Kid &not the best place to eat in our opinion, also quite
Vegetables followed by Almond tart and ice cream.expensive. An early night for all.
The best wines are served and we tried a couple ofÂ
bottles of 20 year old vintage Port. The lodge isSunday 1st July:-
situated at Gaia on the southside of the Douro RiverÂ
and at 12.05am we adjourn to the terrace to watch aA free day - weather a bit grey and not very hopeful.
firework display over Porto which was out of thisMargery and Jim decide to tour the city by open-top
world - we are all stunned by the magnificence of thebus whilst we decide to walk to the Palacio de Cristal
scene. John & Marion have to leave by cab due toa spacious park which houses a circular building for
John's bruised Achilles heel while the rest of us haveconcerts; there are also some nice views of the river
to walk as no vehicles are allowed in the area otherand across the city. We continue our walk through to
than for medical reasons. The crush is worse than aS. Bento Metro Station where we attempt to
cup final at Wembley, but everyone is in such greatpurchase from a machine two day tickets - we fail
humour and it seems the whole of Oporto's inhabitantsmiserably despite the help of a couple of locals, but
are bashing you over the head with a plastic hammerwere rescued by a station security guard who helped
or a long garlic plant (both old traditions) - weus to purchase the correct tickets. The Metro is very
eventually stagger across the bridge, which had beenmodern and is a cross between a tram, a trolley bus
closed at one point due to too many people on itand an underground train - very clean and quiet. Out
causing it to sway. Street parties, dancing and singingfirst journey takes us across the very top of the
all the way back to the hotel and so to bed at 3amPonte do Luis and up to the terminus outside "Corte
having survived a most enjoyable adventure.Ingles". We return back down, but alight at Jardim do
ÂMorro where we have been advised there are some
Sunday 24th June:-good photo opportunities across the river. We then
Âdecide to walk over the top of the bridge rather than
Up for breakfast, lots of orange and black coffeeride. In hindsight this was not a good idea as we
seemed to the order of the day. Later collected to goreckon that the bridge is similar in construction and
to Amarante Golf Course another hour drive away.height to the Sydney Harbour Bridge in Australia - we
Seems we had the course to ourselves. Said to bewouldn't walk across that even if they do chain you to
hilly, true, difficult to find your way round at times; somethe railing so what on earth are we doing here? So
spectacular holes accompanied by bangs all afternoonbeing English, we put our heads down and just keep
as S. Joao continued to be celebrated. Men versuswalking until, somewhat relieved, we get to the other
Ladies this time, the men had no chance. Showeredside - phew! I have to add that the Metro trains are
and changed off to a restaurant in Amarante -passing by you just inches away which tends to add
problem was our driver seemed to have forgotten untilto the excitement. We did get some nice pictures of
he was informed by Peter via mobile phone then hethe trains crossing the bridge and entering the tunnel
proceeded to drive at 120 kph to get back on track.below us. With shaking legs we descended hundreds
No English spoken at all at the restaurant which madeof steps and through winding alleys to get to the
life a tad difficult. Food quite nice, but we appeared toriverside where we had a bottle of wine and lunch and
be in a quieter mood - at our age very late nights canwatched the world go by. We returned to the station
play havoc with some people's constitution.and went as far as the Estadio do Dragáo,
Âa recently completed stadium before returning back
Monday 25th June:-down to our nearest station to home, the "Casa da
ÂMusica". The weather had much improved by this time
Today we are moving to the Oporto Cricket & Lawnso we walked back to the club in sunshine.
Tennis Club, so its bag packing time as six of us areWe met with Margery and Jim by the pool and
off on an adventure - a day trip on a boat up theexchanged stories and adventures, then snoozed for
Douro. Gerry & Catriona have done this trip before soa while before getting ready to embark for our last
they go back to Estela for golf. Superb weather andnight to the "Cafeina" Restaurant. A very smart
the trip is just fine with breakfast and lunch providedestablishment and nice food, but again would not be in
and the river is so peaceful. We make friends withour top five. Peter collected us and returned us safely
Lourdes who is the tour guide. Later she is surprised toback to the club.
find us drinking champagne - she asks what we areÂ
celebrating, we tell her a birthday, she asks whoseMonday 2nd July:-
birthday it is and we tell her we don't know, but we areÂ
pretty sure it's someone's birthday somewhere. WeOne wonderful attribute of the club is that clients are
arrive at Reguá at 4.15pm and are takennot required to vacate their rooms until midday. We
by coach for about 200 yards to the railway stationtook advantage of this by having time to pack in a
where we are to continue our adventure by train backleisurely manner and having stored our bags we were
to Oporto a journey of about 2 hours. Peter meets uscollected by Peter to take us for lunch at "Ar de Rio",
at the station and takes us to our new quarters at thea modern riverside restaurant in Cais da Gaia. We sat
O.C. & L.T.C. a little oasis in the middle of Oporto. Veryinside by an open wall looking out across the Douro
colonial style and every one is so friendly. Shower andRiver in glorious sunshine. Peter collected us and took
change and meet for drinks in the lounge beforeus to Crofts Port Wine Lodge for a tour and tasting -
walking a couple of hundred yards up the road toa lovely way to end a holiday in Oporto.
Capa Négra 2 a local restaurant whereWe collected our baggage from the club, said our
we are served by Olivetti who speaks good Englishgoodbyes to the staff and Peter dropped us off at
and advises on the local dishes. Plenty of wine and athe Airport in good time for the flight which was
fun evening all for the princely sum ofdelayed for fifty minutes.
€30 per couple. John and MarionÂ
insist on having a nightcap in our room - another lateAll in all a most enjoyable holiday, well organized by
night.PortGolf in the shape of Peter Evens whose care and
Âattention of his clients is second to none.
Tuesday 26th June:-Without a doubt we shall return once again to this
Âmost interesting of cities.