Breaking Waves

Between Porto and Lisbon I spent a few nights in the surf town of Ericeira. It has charming traditional architecture and is renowned for breathtaking ocean vistas and over 10 local beaches to visit. Ericeira is officially a World Surfing Reserve, meaning it has become the permanent home for many world surfing champions. It is equally loved by lisboêtas who come here for a weekend getaway.

A little further south along the coast is the picturesque town of Azenhas-do-Mar. A 30 minute taxi ride from Ericeira it has great food options and spectacular views. Seeing the crashing waves against the rock pool reminds you that this wild patch of Portugal is more Atlantic than Mediterranean. If you’re looking for a place to stay in the area, Areias do Seixo sits between blonde beaches and a forest of pines.

Wine Route

By some stroke of luck I was able to book a last minute reservation at Quinta Da Côrte, a small vineyard and hotel high in the Douro valley. Once you reach the property the views are breathtaking. The French architect Pierre Yovanovitch recently restored the 17th century winery and house, and added adjoining buildings.

The public transport trek from Porto involves catching the Douro train from Porto to Pinhão and taking a taxi up the mountain. Or if you are clumsy like me and stand at the wrong platform in Porto, and miss the train, you can catch another train to the town of Marco de Canaveses and hop on the Douro train from there.

The bedrooms spare no detail from the embroidered pillow shams to the art from Etel Adnan. You can sign up each day for dinner and the option is typically between meat or fish 3 course meals. I also found a new-to-me soap brand Castalbel that I brought home from their store in Lisbon.

They have a wine tasting tour of the property that goes over the extensive history of producing wine in the Douro region. Both the new modern winery addition to Quinta da Côrte and the original (1800’s) winery are visible to view. Unfortunately living in Ontario means you can’t ship the wine back because of the LCBO monopoly on sales in the province.

The other winery’s nearby to check out are Quinta do Vallado and Quinta do Bomfin. Alternatively you can sit in the pool and enjoy the stunning views over the Douro region.

Guggenheim

On yet another rainy weekend in Northern Spain (“It’s like Manchester here” - a friend) I visited Bilbao; and while the city was interesting enough I was here for the same reason as millions each year, to visit Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim. Each exterior panel is shaped individually to form one structure — a lesson in management. The inside however I found to be cavernous and unremarkable with art struggling to adequately fill the vast space.

Kaixo!

I spent the majority of my vacation here in San Sebastián, Spain as the locals made their way outside to enjoy the start of summer in a place that is definitely not the sunny Spain you hear about further south. Here on the North Atlantic coast it rains almost daily, well in to June, but if you can spot a few clear days, between the beaches and being one of the worlds greatest gastronomical destinations (San Sebastián is home to half of Spain’s Michelin-star restaurants) this is a must visit for everyone.

Olà

I was quite lucky to end my summer 2022 travels with a 48-hour jaunt in Lisbon. I have been to Portugal before and now after this second visit, I'm more than ready to explore more. I mean, how could I not want to spend more time in a place where I can get a glass of port for €4? And walk into any old shop off the street and have the best seafood of my life? Or find a gelato shop serving my favourite seasonal fruit flavours (and, you guessed it, charging way under typical prices for it)? I could talk your ear off about the seafood and the wine and the piri-piri chicken, but I'll let you feast on some photos instead.