Your say ‘The treat to end all treats’
From Madeira to the Douro, Portugal has stirred your passions. And did someone mention the pasteis de nata?
In the extreme north of the country, where Portugal meets Spain, we stopped in a tiny village to source the ingredients for a picnic lunch. The owner had not a word of English and my Portuguese was little better. Gesturing and miming were getting us nowhere, so I resorted to the only other language I speak. “Parlez-vous français?”
The old lady’s face lit up. “Ah oui!”
She had learnt French at school, even longer ago than me, and we conducted the sandwich transaction in rusty schoolgirl French.
Later, when I opened the lunch bag, I discovered an extra little pastry inside. Travel is about people and communicating, sometimes in surprising ways. Hilary Aitken, Renfrewshire
WEBCAM WONDERS
The internet keeps me in touch with my beloved Madeira, last visited 13 months ago. On YouTube I see people wandering the familiar black and white cobbled streets, and jogging round the marina.
On the 24-hour Funchal marina webcam, at 8am I see the Lobo Marinho ferry set off to Porto Santo and return at 8.30pm bedecked with bright lights.
Launching myself off a vertical wall ladder into the buoyant ocean always thrills me, as does following a narrow levada path with the irrigating waters rippling alongside. My evening meal would be espada [fish fillet] and fresh vegetables, passion fruit pudding, a rosé wine, a black coffee and a glass of Madeira… if only I were there!
Enid Hanavan, Lancs
A SENSORY PARADISE
The Algarve with its piercingly blue skies and year-round sunshine. The honey-golden beach at Luz, swept clean by Atlantic tides. The rock formations of Praia da Rocha, sculpted by wind and wave. Rock pools inviting exploration, where camouflaged octopuses avoid capture but excite the imagination of the young. Exploring the lighthouse at Cape St Vincent, our toddler startled by the appearance of Mr Grinling from his book – surely not? But to the boy it was.
Portimao harbour; boats’ fenders creaking; fishermen grilling sardines over makeshift fires. Al Garbe – land of the setting sun – so finally, pasteis de nata [custard tarts], the hunter’s moon of patisserie; a treat to end all treats. Janet Webster, Manchester
THE WEEK
In the 1960s my parents
had a VW van and I remember camping on Praia da Rocha beach and jumping the waves with my sisters. In the 1970s my boyfriend and I – plus
his grandmother, our chaperone – stayed at the Hotel Atlantico in Monte Estoril. We returned the
year after (sans chaperone), visited the hilltop castle of Sintra and
got engaged in a fish restaurant overlooking
Cascais Bay, having bought a diamond ring
from a jeweller’s in Cascais earlier that day. Years later, we took our four sons to Salema where they paddled on the beach
and collected fir cones from the hills behind the bay. They still adorn our Christmas tree every year.
Three years ago, we retraced our steps. The Hotel Atlantico had gone, so we stayed in Lisbon – quieter this time, as in 1975 the junta had taken control and tanks stood in the square to suppress any uprisings. We took the tram to Cascais, found the jeweller’s still trading and ate in the same fish restaurant as 45 years ago.
Fiona Brown, from Devon, wins an overnight stay for two people worth £250 from England’s Coast iCool comforts: the hillside town of Sintra near Lisbon offers fresh perspectives
Porto is an achingly beautiful city, best enjoyed on foot. We got our bearings from the top of the Torre dos Clerigos church tower with its sweeping views. Not to be missed were a visit to the baroque São Francisco Church and a tour of the Palácio de Bolsa, which took my breath away. A delicious lunch was followed by a walk through the Ribera (riverside) district with its maze of narrow, cobbled streets full of merchants’ houses and cafés. The terracotta-roofed houses, with their azulejo tiles, spilling down to the Douro River make it a postcard-perfect setting. A river cruise revealed impressive bridges; a riverside stroll in the sunshine ended with pasteis de nata and sherry from one of the many port wine warehouses.
Margaret Riordan, Somerset
TIME SHARE IS NEVER WASTED
We have walked the levadas and paths of Madeira almost every spring for the past 30 years. Friends shook their heads when we admitted to buying a timeshare apartment near Reid’s Palace hotel, but we never regretted it and no one ever refused an invitation to join us.
Nothing beats the joy of walking along a fast-flowing irrigation channel, lined with moss and ferns, high in the mountains – with sunshine, sparkling clear air and stupendous views of the peaks of Arieiro and Ruivo. The odd vertiginous section adds to the adrenalin rush, as does the thought of it being a cold, dull February day back in the UK.
There are more walkers now, but it is still possible to experience the beauty of the island in isolation, escaping the crowds, most of whom don’t explore further than Funchal. They don’t know what they are missing.
Jill Thorley, Dorset
VIEWS THAT NEVER GET OLD
A few years ago, I travelled to northern Portugal with three of my best female friends for a cycling holiday. As 50-something NHS doctors, we have an annual ritual of riding with each other for a week, leaving behind our busy jobs and our family responsibilities.
I had never been to Portugal before but was blown away by it. Savouring pasteis de nata at the end of a beautiful cycle ride along the north coast, having happened upon a little beach coffee shop, lingers long in the memory.
Nor have I ever forgotten the last day of the trip as we cycled from inland to Porto – the smell of sea air, the dramatic and jaw-dropping views of the Douro River and finally the seafood dinner.
Next time I will go with my husband, to explore all the other wondrous places and sample yet more delicious local food and wines. I’m dreaming about it.