The Adventures of John & Hill

We had a wonderful drive continuing on to the area of Portugal where we would be staying. If you ever drive through Portugal, one thing you'll notice is that most of the (really) old towns you see have a couple things in common. They are built up on a high hill and there is usually a castle at the very top. While it might only take us a half hour to drive between two towns, back then they would be too far apart to see one from the other. You can understand the need for a lookout and protection for each town.

Here is just one pretty example


We were advised to visit one of these towns in particular, called Monsaraz. It is a white-washed town perched on the very top of the highest hill in the area, and the town dates to pre-historic times. We used our trusty "Boa Cama, Boa Mesa" guide to find a restaurant, and the one it suggested was wonderful. It had views of the countryside all the way to Spain, complete with an old Portuguese woman cooking up our delicious lunch.

Our table


Our view from the restaurant


One of the neat parts about the restaurant is how hidden it was. We never would have known it was there. See the tiny brick entrance on the left side of the photo?


Here you can see the town. Quite a bit in Portugal reminds me of Greece.


I just love that you can stop in a random town and it feels like a destination in and of itself. Monsaraz is known for their pottery, so my mom was able to buy quite a few souvenirs for friends. Here are a few more pictures.






On our drive we also stopped at a family vineyard. The woman showed us all of the machines and explained the processes the wine goes through. Because they do everything on site, they have their own bottling and labeling machines as well. It's neat to see on such a small scale. We bought a couple bottles to take with us.


I'll be back soon to wrap up our trip in Portugal's wine country.