It's a Wrap!
Day 12: May 6
At left is a photo of Porto's city hall that I took on our walk back to the hotel from the restaurant last evening. It was the blue hour. And above was my view out of the cab window when we reached the airport today at the other blue hour time of day, just before sunrise. It was all very fitting, because I was having my own blue hour right now, not wanting to accept the fact that this fabulous trip had come to an end.
Only one other couple in the group was flying home today. Some were heading to new destinations in Europe, others spending a little more time in Porto. Not yet retired, I'd be back at my office in three days. Missing all my new friends while daydreaming about walled villages and red tiled rooftops, pastéis de nata and fado music, cork oak trees and mosaic patterned sidewalks, grilled octopus and blue and white tiled churches, terraced vineyards and cloistered monasteries. And everything else that made Portugal so special and wonderful.
Over the next few days, our private Facebook group was very active as we stayed in touch to share post-tour experiences. Chris and John were continuing the celebration of their golden wedding anniversary with a month-long stay in the town of Domme in the Dordogne region of France. It was fun to see them kayaking on the Dordogne River and living like locals in a quaint stone cottage. Siblings Ed, Greg, Rick and Barb went to Dublin after our tour to meet up with spouses, significant others, children, nieces, nephews, etc., the whole clan gathering for a family wedding. They shared a photo and we could imagine how exuberant the celebration must have been, if all the relatives are as much fun as those four! Mary Margaret's and Anne's husbands had to continue to fend for themselves for a while more because the two friends were spending five nights in Amsterdam before heading home. Laura and Steve were getting some fun in the sun in Portugal's Algarve region. Sandi and Paul? It was arrivederci to them when they left Porto bound for Italy!
I'm happy to say that our private Facebook group hasn't yet faded into oblivion. We still use it to stay in contact with each other. Claúdia's posts have been delightful: a photo of Gonçalo blowing out the candles on a cake when she was at his family's cork farm on his birthday, a description of the fun one of her tour groups had dancing barefoot in the grapes at Quinta de Santa Eufemia, photos of her attempts at replication of Teresa's cod casserole, one of the dishes that had been served to us at the quinta. She shared her recipe when several said they wanted to try making it as well. Some of us have bravely tried our hand at making pastéis de nata and we've used the Facebook group to share photos of our efforts, along with trial-and-error tips. The 17th Century Hieronymite monks can rest in peace. We haven't cracked the code of their Pastéis de Belém recipe. (From Anne: "Do NOT try to make them with Pet Ritz pie crust. Dismal failure!" Doggedly determined, her next and best effort was with homemade pastry.) We've let each other know which Portuguese wines we've been drinking, found in our local stores. Mark shared his discovery that a pretty good peri-peri sauce can be purchased at Trader Joe's. Steve noticed that TCM was going to be showing The Miracle of Our Lady of Fátima and he very thoughtfully sent notice to all. Can you tell we all have a little Portuguese in our DNA now? When Jessie posted that the 2023 Rick Steves tours were available for booking, asking, "Who's going to sign up and where?" the end result was that eight of us booked the same date for the Best of the Adriatic tour! I'm beyond excited that I get to travel again with some of our new friends from our Portugal tour!
Portugal connected us and we've remained connected. Here is everyone. Thanks for being wonderful travel companions and thanks for the memories!!
Sandi, Paul, Anna and Blaine
Mary Margaret and Anne
Brian and Jessie
Gary and Vickie
Anne and Mark
Chris and John
Ted and Carolyn
Ben and Julie
Steve and Laura
Ed, Barb, Greg and Rick
Laura and Jack
Kevin and Nancy
Thank you Rick Steves!
Thank you to Rick Steves for re-opening tours in 2022! It felt so good to be in Europe on a tour again, making new friends, enjoying the splendor of world class sites that had gone un-visited for much of the prior two years, spending time in the company of local guides and hosts who were clearly thrilled to be fully employed again and eager to show us how grateful they were. Thank you for picking great hotels, for discovering Claúdia 19 years ago and having the foresight to add her to your team, and for designing a Portugal itinerary that couldn't have been more perfect! It was a wish-we-could-do-it-all-over-again experience! For twelve days, our eyes, ears and tastebuds were treated to a sumptuous feast! We embraced it all, absolutely loving our first visit to Portugal. Our tour was a just-right mix of group activity and free time, urban adventure and rural beauty, learning the history and experiencing the culture. We're cherishing the memories. We left a little piece of our hearts in Portugal.