A recent post of Paulo Carneiro, one of our Brasilian Owners, on Facebook about Guimares - Pousada Santa Marinha, reminded us how beautiful that part of Portugal is and gave us the idea of sharing with you all some experiences of ours.
About 10 years ago, when the restoration works at Vagli were about to be completed, Fulvio finally decided to follow one of his dreams: driving east of Lisbon throughout the Alentejo region, so similar to Tuscany, and then heading North towards Porto. A dream cultivated for years, after speaking with so many Portuguese migrated to Brasil, where Fulvio lived for many years.
The language, the Culture, the fantastic food - in particular the Convent sweets - were slowly absorbed on the other side of the Ocean, but he didn't have the opportunity to visit and experience them "live".
Apparently Fulvio and Aurora's philosophy for this trip was "discover in depth" a country, for many aspects, very similar to Italy, but in many ways so different…; the constant guiding factor being the routes of the pilgrims of Medieval and Renaissance times, who were actually following a network of roads connecting the many churches, convents and pilgrim hostels.
This is not just a journey, but a way of confronting oneself with a world of spirituality and, at the same time, with the very earthly joys of architecture, hospitality, home-cooked food and incredible variety of wines.
The countryside is beautiful and, as already often mentioned, very similar to Tuscany. It's the typical landscape were you do not necessarily want to reach your destination; quite the opposite. You want to indulge your adventurous side of "getting lost" throughout all minor, hidden roads… and you can be sure that they will always take you to some stunning view or a church or castle.
And, at the end of the day, the almost mystical welcoming atmosphere of austere monasteries or castles or convents, which have been very tastefully and respectfully restored and turned into magnificent hotels; the State owned Portugal Pousadas Group began in the 1940's when the first regional Pousada was created. These beautiful hotels are often in superb locations, offering the visitor a sense of history, culture, tradition together with regional hospitality and cuisine. By clicking this link you can access all of the 33 hotels spread out the entire Portugal.
Let us point out some of them, which are still distinctively clear in Fulvio’s mind, even after 10 years!
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Fulvio’s concludes:
I’m sure that the pictures and the story behind each one of them will encourage you to plan a trip soon… and, of course, please, after a day spent wandering around this beautiful country, go for the more “autochthone” experiences made of the most varied cod fish dishes, accompanied by Portugues vinho verde (which is actually a very special red wine - perfect for cod fish) and of course, at the end of the dinner, the dreamy doces conventuais (hundreds of sweets made of a delicious mixture of eggs and honey)… long hours spent creating these little pieces of Art.
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