Casa D'Auleira

Leg-stretch break

We left Port early Friday morning and headed North.  This was the first day of the vacation for which we had no reservations made for the night.  The previous night I had done some research and made up a list of posibilities, but upon calling each contact in the morning I was given a sound "Nao!" to my question as to whether or not we could bring Bela into the room with us.  And so we headed out with no real destination, simply with the goal of getting as close to the Spanish boarder as possible.

This time, we decided to avoid the toll roads (the jaunt up from Lisbon had cost us 21.25) and so we made our way along country highways enjoying the Portuguese countryside.  At our morning coffee stop we found out we would be going through the "original" Portuguese capital: Guimaraes.  We weren't entirely sure what that meant, but once we got there, we decided to pull off the road to explore.

Inside the castle/fortress at Guimaraes

On a hill over-looking the city was an impressive looking castle.  We took the opportunity to stretch our legs and let Bela out of the back for a bit. At Guimaraes, Afonso Henriques, who later became the first King of an independant Portugal,  won a key victory against the Moors during the Portuguese Crusades.  We explored the castle/fortress and also stumbled upon a small church from the 1100's where King Afonso Henriques's had been baptised.  At the nearby touristy souvenier shops, we allowed my mom about twenty minutes for shopping (poor thing, she was totally outnumbered by anti-shoppers on this trip--we were "NO fun!"--and so she had to blitz-shop which is apparently some kind of oximoron) and then headed back to the car for a quick snack of beer, wine, cheese and breadsticks befor hitting the road again.

From the pool looking back at our amazing rural hotel.

I had the town of Ponte de Barca in my sights mostly because it seemed on the map to be a good distance from Port, and close enough to the border to make the following day's driving bearable (we were on our way to Santiago de Compostela, Galicia).  Once we'd made it into the general area of Ponte da Barca it was around five in the evening and we began looking for a place to stay.  After two unsuccessful detours from the main highway, we saw a small sign for rural lodging.  They say the third time's a charm, but we were on the verge of giving up twice before we finally made it!  It was a narrow, nearly one-lane track which was very poorly signed and wound up the mountain at least 10km (which when you're driving slowly feels like forever!).  We couldn't have been more relieved when at last we rounded a corner and there before us was a beautifully restored stone farm house with a swimming pool, lush lawn and one of the ubiquitous hórreos  we would see all through northern Portugal and Galicia. 

...The next question was would they allow dogs?

Despite his original shock and concern for Bela's size, the kind owner took pity on us weary travellers and made an exception to his no-pets rule.  We assured him that our puppy was very used to people and being inside, that she didn't cause any damage and that she wouldn't bark.  She was an angel and all was well.  Once we got our things and Bela settled in the rooms, we jumped in the pool--water has never felt so good!

Views over the pool our across the mountains. You can see the hórreo on the right.

This little haven on the hillside was the best place we stayed our whole trip!  What a great find.  Our host treated us to homemade current berry cake when we ordered a bottle of cold, white wine from the region, and we sat about sipping and enjoying a snacky dinner at the poolside until the sprinklers spoiled the party! ;)
The next morning we were sad we had to leave (we already had reservations for that night), especially after the AMAZING complementary breakfast: toast, butter, jam, ham, cheese, cereal, fresh fruit, cake, yoghurt, tea, coffee, hot chocolate... virtually anything you could possibly want for breakfast.  All of it was prepared and served by our host's wife and daughter.  The place had apparently been in the family for years and just nine years prior they had begun restoration--it was incredible.

We sadly packed up the car after taking seconds on the delicious orange bunt cake from the breakfast buffet, and headed back down the hill with Santiago in our sights.

Bela the travelling puppy ready for the road!

A thumb's up for last night's jackpot find! :)