A Jeanne in the Kitchen

WOW is the appropriate word for this fabulous set of museums. The WOW museum in Gaia is NOT just 1 museum, but is a compilation of 7 museums. World of Wine (WOW) in Vila Nova de Gaia is a massive cultural district and museum complex on the Douro River, featuring 7 immersive museums, 12+ restaurants/bars, and a wine school. Located in restored Port wine warehouses, it focuses on wine, cork, chocolate, and Portuguese history, offering great views of the Dom Luís I Bridge. Larry didn’t realize this when planning everything, so we didn’t get to see everything. There is always next time though. But we did enjoy the Chocolate Museum and the World Of Wine portions of the complex. If you’re even mildly curious about wine, The World of Wine in Porto is 100% worth a visit. It’s not just another museum with dusty displays — it’s interactive, modern, and surprisingly fun.

First we discovered the world of chocolate through the Chocolate Museum. We knew a lot about the chocolate making process from some of our other chocolate trips and tours. The WOW museum, as with all the other Portuguese museums we visited, did a great job.

Because Easter was coming, there were a lot of chocolate beautiful chocolate Easter eggs on display. There were so many, I didn’t take pictures of all of them. But here is a good representation of the talented creations we saw. I am really torn about pieces like this though, I have to admit. I think they are gorgeous works of art, and I think the artists who create them are extremely talented, but I also think it is excess, and a waste of food. I don’t now what the right answer is, but that being said, I definitely enjoy seeing these beautiful creations.

I think this one was my favorite egg.

There was also a Ginja tasting table as well. We had our first Ginja tasting experience way back in Alfama Pieces of Portugal – Part 7 – Lisboa and Alfama. It seems like so long ago now. We love it. In fact, we brought some home with us too.

There was even a little try-your-luck display. Larry got lucky and pulled up some chocolate. I, however, was not so lucky. That’s OK. I am really trying my best to cut back anyway. 🙂

Once again, we saw and did so much, and we did so much in the wine portion of the museum, I will leave that for a posting on its own. This is a good place to stop for now. But don’t go anywhere. I still have oh so much more to share. 🙂

Have a great day and make everyday great. Live life to the fullest. It’s not the destination that matters, but the journey. Enjoy the ride. ‘Til next time.

We had a busy day exploring more of Porto by seeing things that most tourists don’t see.

When we first arrived at our hotel, it was dark, so we didn’t get a good look at it until we ventured out in the daylight hours. It was a nice hotel. And every morning we were treated to a deluxe breakfast buffet that offered all kinds of fresh and delicious selections.

We had to see the world famous Imperial McDonald’s in Porto. When you think of McDonald’s, you don’t normally think of crystal chandeliers and art deco stained glass, but in Porto, that is exactly what you will find. This one-of-a-kind McDonald’s was built in 1995. It was the old Imperial Cafe that was built in the 1930’s, and was in serious need of repairs and an upgrade. The idea was to give it a fresh look, maintaining the iconic features and recovering the social gathering spirit once so lively here.

We are not fans of eating at McDonald’s at home, so why would we eat there when abroad, but we had to see this one-of-a-kind McDonald’s for ourselves. I think we did what most tourists do; we stopped and took pictures and then left. It is beautiful, and very unique.

Next, we caught the double decker bus and headed to the end of the line, to the International Fish Market. This was just a curious piece of art we saw along the way.

The best, most authentic “international” fish market experience in Porto is found in nearby Matosinhos, particularly at the Matosinhos Municipal Market. This area features fresh, daily-caught fish from the neighboring harbor. Inside Porto, Mercado do Bolhão offers a historic, vibrant, and centrally located spot for fresh local seafood and fish, updated in 2018.

It was still early in the morning and the vendors were busy setting up, getting ready for the day ahead.

I had to take a picture of the rooster. Roosters, all throughout Portugal are symbols of good luck. They are considered a powerful symbol of good luck, justice, and faith in Portugal. Known as the Galo de Barcelos (Rooster of Barcelos), this iconic, brightly colored figure represents a legendary miracle where a roasted rooster crowed to save an innocent man. It is commonly displayed in homes, given as a gift, and sold as a popular souvenir to bring good luck, prosperity, and protection.

Fresh fruits and vegetables are also sold at the market.

Just fun things we saw.

We were headed to the WOW museum, or the World Of Wine Museum. That will be it’s own post though, since it was one of our big adventures for the day.

Have a great day and make everyday great. Live life to the fullest. It’s not the destination that matter, but the journey. Enjoy the ride. ‘Til next time.

Once again, we asked our guides for dinner recommendations, and once again, we were pointed in the right direct and had a very enjoyable and delicious dinner. We were told Casa Guedes was a good place with traditional, non-tourist foods. That was our choice. We try to avoid touristy restaurants as much as possible, and like to go where the locals recommend and where they eat themselves.

Once again, the place was hoppin’. This is always a good sign. 🙂

One of the traditional dishes we hadn’t tried yet that was on our list was caldo verde, or green soup. Caldo Verde is a traditional, hearty Portuguese soup (literally “green broth”) originating from the northern Minho province. It features a creamy potato base, olive oil, garlic, onion, and thinly sliced kale (or collard greens). It is famously finished with savory, smoky Portuguese chouriço or linguiça sausage. Larry ordered the caldo verde and a traditional Portuguese pork sandwich.

I ordered the roasted chicken with a port reduction sauce. Everything was very good, but I have to say, I liked what I ordered better. 🙂

After dinner, and after letting the ports go through our system, it was time to head back to the hotel. After all, it had been a VERY FULL day. We were beat. We needed to get our “beauty sleep” before yet another busy, full day.

Have a great day and make everyday great. Live life to the fullest. It’s not the destination that matters, but the journey. Enjoy the ride. ‘Til next time.

We couldn’t go to Portugal, and especially the Douro Valley, and NOT try ports, right?! That would be such a travesty. Of course we tried the ports, or the vinho do porto. We went to two different port makers while in Porto, Sandeman’s and Ferreira.

In order to be considered Port, there are strict guidelines that must be adhered to. All the grapes used must come from the Douro Valley; all ports are a blend of certain local grapes; they must all be produced in Gaia or Vila Nova de Gaia; and all ports must be fortified by halting the fermentation process early by adding aguardente (grape spirit), leaving high residual sugar. The grapes used are primarily made from indigenous grapes such as Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo), Tinta Barroca, and Tinto Cão.

Port wine is a fortified wine from the Douro Valley in Northern Portugal. It is typically sweet and high in alcohol (19-22% ABV) due to the added grape spirit. Key styles include fruit-driven Ruby, oxidative Tawny (aged in wood), and premium Vintage, with white and rosé versions also available.

• Ruby ports are youthful and vibrant with intense red fruit flavors (blackberry, plum). Includes Reserve Ruby and Late Bottled Vintage (LBV), which are aged for 4–6 years.
• Tawny Ports are aged in oak casks, resulting in a lighter brown color and nutty, caramel, and dried fruit flavors. Aged Tawnies (10, 20, 30, 40+ years) are considered the peak, with Colheita being a single-harvest tawny.
• White Ports are made from white grapes (e.g., Rabigato, Viosinho), ranging from dry to sweet, often served as an aperitif.
• Vintage Port are the most prestigious type, declared only in exceptional years. It matures in the bottle for decades.
• Rosé Ports are a modern, fresh, and fruity style meant to be served chilled and are often found in cocktails.

Our first port stop was at Sandeman.

Sandeman has been around since 1790. It was founded by a Scotsman named George Sandeman, who borrowed £300 from his father to start a wine merchant business. The logo of “The Don” has been the official logo of Sandeman ports since 1928. The figure wears a Portuguese student’s cape and a wide-brimmed Spanish hat, representing the brand’s dual identity in Port and Sherry. Sandeman is widely considered a very good to excellent Port wine brand, frequently cited as the most awarded Port wine brand in the world.

We took a tour of the cellars, and our guide was dressed as the traditional “Don”. He gave us the history of the ports in general, as well as the Sandeman history, as he guided us through the port making process.

After the tour of the cellars and the port making process, it was off to the tasting room. We tasted the white, ruby and tawny ports. All were delicious.

I would have loved to sit and really enjoy these delicious ports, but we had another port tour scheduled at nearby Ferreira. Ferreira has been around a little longer than Sandman. It was founded in 1751, by the Ferreira family of Régua, a producer and trader of Port Wines, and it is the only Port Wine company that has always been in Portuguese hands. Most port companies are English owned today. It grew significantly in the 18th century and invested primarily in high quality wines, buying and cultivating some of the main wine estates in the Douro Valley. This impressive work was continued in the 19th century by Dona Antónia Adelaide Ferreira, a direct descendent of the Ferreira family. Under her guidance, Ferreira reached its peak and continued to invest in the newest and best wines, increasingly efficient production methods and the careful ageing of wines and maintenance of older wine stocks. Since the beginning of the 19th century (ca 1825), all these wines are aged in Vila Nova de Gaia. The brand’s signature phrase: “Foi você que pediu?” (anytime, anywhere), created in 1975, reflected what it was to drink port wine without pretext. What it is to open a bottle of Ferreira Port. For no discernible reason other than it’s what you want to do. Wherever you may be.

Ferreira’s logo is an Emu. The emu is a very elegant bird, a runner, that symbolizes future prosperity. The horseshoe on its beak signifies luck.

The Ferreira process of making the ports is very similar to the Sandeman ports, and ports in general, but every port maker has it’s own “secret” recipe for success. Once again we toured the grounds that also included the museum and the flower garden. Our lovely guide at Ferreira.

Dona Antónia Adelaide Ferreira

The big barrels are set upon concrete blocks to prevent damage in case of floods.

And once again, our tour finished with tasting more delicious ports.

Two back to back port tastings was a bit much, but somehow we managed. It’s just a good thing we weren’t driving. 🙂

We did not purchase any of the ports at the times of our tastings, which is a shame, because while we were looking for our favorites later, we couldn’t find them. But we did come home with 2 bottles of port. We did get a white port, though not Sandeman’s, because we couldn’t find it anywhere, and a bottle of Ferreira Tawny Port.

After tasting all the fabulous ports, we took a sunset cruise down the river.

Taking the sunset cruise was a perfect way to end a beautifully perfect day. Now, with all this port, we definitely needed to find a place to eat.

Have a great day and make everyday great. Live life to the fullest. It’s not the destination that matters, but the journey. Enjoy the ride. ‘Til next time.

As I mentioned in my previous post, Pieces of Portugal – Part 17 – A Cathedral In Porto, Gaia is just across the Douro River from Porto. We met our tour guide, Jorge, for another walking/history tour of the area at the Cathedral, then walked across the Dom Luis 1 Bridge into Gaia. There is quite a rich history, and rivalry, of these two sister cities. The two cities have been rivals since the 13th century, torn apart by a tragic love story.

Jorge, our tour guide.

A street musician on the bridge.

Looking back into Porto.

One of the 7 iconic bridges of the Douro River.

You can take the gondolas too if you like, but we walked across the river on the bridge instead. In the days of old, these boats used to be how the port was transported from the port wineries to the ships . Today, they are for the tourists as well as the annual boat race between the wineries. Today, they are mainly just for show.

Each of the big wineries have a boat.

Another piece of street art trying to cover up all the graffiti. This was originally done as a spoof, but has since become a famous landmark.

These dates mark the dates of the high floods. As you can see, the worst floods destroyed everything that was at a low level. Only the structures that were on higher ground were spared from major damages and/or devastation.

This is another piece of iconic art. It is on the corner of a building, all made from recycled trash. The building has been marked for repairs, and they are not sure what to do with this famous piece of art.

This was an old convent, with another tragic love story attached to it, like the story behind the rivalry between the two cities of Porto and Gaia.

Our official tour of Gaia ended here at the convent, but Larry and I had so much more in store for the day’s agenda. Before our other activities of the day, we toured around a little on our own too.

Roasted chestnuts are very popular and you find them being roasted on the streets in many places.

Another street musician at the water’s edge.

And just some more odds and ends before embarking on our other adventures for the day.

I will leave it here for now, but I have oh so much more. And this is ALL still our first full, and I do mean FULL, day in Porto. 🙂

Have a great day and make everyday great. Live life to the fullest. It’s not the destination that matters, but the journey. Enjoy the ride. ‘Til next time.

Once in Porto, we had yet another very full, jam-packed day. I know, you’re all shocked at that. 🙂 We had yet another fun and interesting tour planned, but before our tour, I will share the cathedral we visited before meeting up with our tour guide.

Porto is on one side of the Douro River and Gaia is on the other side. As per the norm on this trip, there is a lot to share, so I will once again break it into portions. Today I am giving you the “religious” portion of our tour. It would be overwhelming, if I gave you everything we did all at once. 🙂

Porto offers a perfect blend of historic charm, stunning river views, rich culture, and world-renowned wine. It is the second major city in Portugal, behind the capitol Lisboa, and it has a lot more of a relaxing vibe to it than Lisboa. Gaia, or Vila Nova de Gaia, is on the other side of the Douro River and is home to the famous port wine manufacturers. There has been a long rivalry between the two cities that dates back to the 13th century.

We are on one of the bridges in Gaia with Porto in the background.

There are roughly 4300 churches in Portugal, most of which are Catholic. There is no way of of not visiting these beautiful and ornate cathedrals and churches when visiting Portugal. They are everywhere, and are very much a part of Portugal’s rich history. Church and state were, and still are, very much connected and tied together in Portugal. Catholicism in Portugal is not just a religion, but is the way of life.

One of the ceilings in the cathedral.

The rooftop views.

Back inside the cathedral. There are definitely churches in Portugal, but most of what we saw were cathedrals. The difference, as I understand it, is that churches are generally thought of as generic places of Christian worship, whereas cathedrals serve as the seat of a bishop and the central church of a diocese, often characterized by grand architecture and very ornate, elaborate decorations. Cathedrals symbolize teaching authority. Basilicas are churches with a special designation from the Pope due to their historical or spiritual significance.

The rooftop view of the city of Porto

I will leave it here for now. After touring the church or cathedral, or basilica, we met up with our tour guide Jorge, for our tour of Gaia. But that will be next time. Don’t go anywhere. I have so much more to share. 🙂

Have a great day and make everyday great. Live life to the fullest. It’s not the destination that matters, but the journey. Enjoy the ride. ‘Til next time.

Our short little intermission is over now, so back to Portugal. From Faro, we flew into Porto. We were in Porto for five days. We didn’t arrive in Porto until the early evening, so all we did was check into our hotel and find a place to eat. Larry really wanted to try one the national Portuguese dishes, Francesinha, and Porto is known for that dish. We asked the reception desk at our hotel where the best place to go was and he told us to go to Brasao. So we did.

Brasao was a hoppin’ place, with 2 floors. We ended up on the lower level floor.

I love plates on the wall as decoration. I have them on our dining room wall too. Many are from our travels and some I inherited from my parents and are antiques. We added a new one from Portugal after this trip too.

Our starter was another bread and olive plate, but this time, the olive dish contained some fresh capers as well. YUMMY.

Larry is not much of a wine drinker at all, but he will drink white wines. I love ALL wines, but whites are definitely my favorites. The wines all over Portugal were very inexpensive, and it was cheaper to buy bottles than glasses. Needless to say, we tried a lot of very good Portuguese wines on this trip.

We needed some veggies since Portugal, like Spain, is very carnivorous, so we ordered a salad. NOT that we needed extra food though, by any means of the imagination! Portugal is known for serving VERY generous portion sizes.

We both ordered the francesinhas, but I had mine without cheese. They made it even meatier than normal by wrapping it in a layer of ham. 🙂

A francesinha is basically a MEAT sandwich smothered in a layer of tomato sauce made with beer, port and brandy, covered in cheese with a fried egg on top. It’s got a piece of bread, a layer of ham, a layer of sausage, steak, more sausage or ham and more bread. Very low in calories too. 🙂 🙂 🙂

Larry loved it so much, he actually had it a couple more times during the rest of the trip too. I will be making some this weekend too, here at home; both versions. 🙂

We thoroughly enjoyed our dinner and the recommendation to Brasao. Everything was delicious and the staff was on top of everything, as busy as they were. Nothing was forgotten and everyone was made to feel very special. That’s exactly how a good restaurant should be too!

We had to take both the train and the bus back to our hotel, and after such a large meal, we definitely needed to walk off some of the calories. So we took our time, and took in the sites. These are from the main train station. There were lots of azuljelos on the walls, telling the stories of Porto and Portugal. I love how ornate everything was.

And we got real used to seeing this church covered in tiles too. When we saw the church, we knew our day was almost over, and we were just a short distance away from our hotel. After long days, with tons of walking all around, at the end of the day, it was a very welcomed sight. 🙂

I still have lots more to share. Don’t go anywhere. Stay tuned. Live life to the fullest. It’s not the destination that matters, but the journey. Enjoy the ride. Have a great day and make everyday great. ‘Til next time.

I see and hear the little black-capped chickadees all the time, but they are usually pretty evasive and hard to catch with my camera. This time, I got lucky though and one was kind enough to let me get a few good shots before flying off. It’s just a few, but I will take what I can get. 🙂

Have a great day and make everyday great. Take life’s opportunities while you and make the most of them. 🙂 ‘Til next time.

In yesterday’s post Pieces of Portugal – Part 16 – Faro I mentioned it was a good opportunity for another “intermission” since we moved on to the Northern part of Portugal, into Porto. So I will give you some of my cooking instead today. I hope you are not too disappointed. 🙂

Spring in Colorado is all over the place. One minute it is cold, then it is warm, then it snows, and back to sunshine and shorts, and then rain; all in one week. With weather like is, it makes it very difficult to plan meals, yet somehow I manage, and we always eat well. 🙂

On one of our very warm days, I made another delicious Mediterranean salad. This one was loaded with chicken, olives, artichoke hearts and much more.

Chicken, Artichoke and Olive Salad

Mixed baby greens

1 cup mixed olives, sliced in 1/2

1 tomato, diced or sliced

1/4 red onion, sliced very thin

2 cooked chicken breasts, sliced thin

1/4 cup sliced beets, optional

feta cheese, optional

pepita seeds, optional

lemon herb vinaigrette

Larry’s salads always get cheese, since he is a big cheese eater. I vary his cheeses depending on what kind of salad I am making. Since this is a Mediterranean salad, and feta cheese is very Mediterranean, feta cheese is what he got on his salad this time.

Assemble the salad, adding the sliced chicken on top and add the dressing. I added beets and pepita seeds to mine.

Lemon Herb Vinaigrette

1/3 cup olive oil (my olive oil is some we brought back from Portugal this time)

2-3 TBSP lemon juice

1 TBSP capers

2 tsp fresh herbs – I used oregano, thyme and tarragon

fresh ground black pepper

Mix everything together well, and let rest a bit before using. Delicious!

This is a simple, easy-peasy vinaigrette that went very well with this light salad. It is very Mediterranean. A lot of the Mediterranean dressings are very simple like this. They are very light and refreshing, especially when the weather gets warm.

Have a great day and make everyday great. Life is what you make it, so make it great. Live life to the fullest. It’s not the destination that matters, but the journey. Enjoy the ride. ‘Til next time.

Faro was our last stop in the Algarve region. It is also the capitol of the Algarve region. Once again, Faro is a very old, Medieval city, surrounded by the old Medieval walls. We had yet another tour, which turned out to be another private tour. This time our guide was Flavio. He was great, and again, very knowledgeable, informative and a lot of fun. He took us all around his home town and shared a lot of fun information, about the city of Faro and about is own personal experiences.

Our tour with Flavio actually ended here, but sometimes endings are good places to start. 🙂

We met Flavio in the park and while we were waiting, of course I was busy taking pictures. The Moorish influences are all over.

Faro was originally built by the Ancient Romans as the Roman town of Ossonoba, becoming a crucial Moorish port, and finally falling to Christian forces in 1249. Known for its resilience, the city survived significant sackings by English troops and the devastating 1755 earthquake, eventually becoming the Algarve’s administrative center and a modern tourist hub.

The protected storks get free reign. If they decide to make a nest somewhere, nothing can be done or changed about it. They liked this crane, and built a nest on the bricks. Everything is at a stand still for as long as the storks keep their nest here.

Entering through the gates to the old walled city of Faro.

Storks in art.

These were once fishermen’s cottages. Today they are abandoned and covered in graffiti.

The first Christian King after defeating the Moors in 1249, with the church and monastery behind him.

More azuljelos telling the history.

The story behind this beautiful building was that it was built by a wealthy businessman, but he never got to live in it. He died right after the construction of the house was finished. Today, it is a government building.

Before returning o sapo and heading to the airport to fly into Porto, we had time for a quick little snack at Faro Beach, where we were joined by some friendly sparrows who were begging for some scraps.

The Faro airport, while waiting for our flight to Porto.

This ends our southern tour of the Algarve region of Portugal. I fell in love with the whole Algarve. It is just stunning. It is also a good place for another intermission. Porto is our next destination. Porto is up north.

Have a great day and make everyday great. Live life to the fullest. It’s not the destination that matters but the journey. Enjoy the ride. ‘Til next time.