2015 PARADORS OF NORTHERN SPAIN + PORTUGAL: 2015 PARADORS OF NORTHERN SPAIN + PORTUGAL

2015 PARADORS OF NORTHERN SPAIN + PORTUGAL
0CTOBER 11 - 25, 2015

October 11-12
NEW YORK *** BARCELONA

SPANISH FLAG

Flew Delta from JFK to Barcelona, arrived the next day, and I was picked up by a Tauck representative and brought to the Hotel Le Meridien which is right on La Rambla, the center of the city.

Here we start a two-week trip to Northern Spain and Portugal on Tauck's Paradors of Northern Spain. While in the Pyrenees I might visit Andorra. After Spain we continue on to Portugal to visit Porto, Coimbra, Fatima and Lisbon.

After checking in I went for a walk passed the Liceu Opera House and like last time, no opera scheduled for the time I'm here (darn!). Passed by the Roy Lichtenstein sculpture El Cap de Barcelona, then walked along thenharbor and had tapas and beer at TapaTapa Maremagnum.

Walked along the beach until I reached Frank Gehry's Peix (Fish), a copper sculpture. Walked back towards the hotel passing by the Cathedral and some Roman ruins. Met with our tour director and other members of the tour group for cocktails and welcome dinner at the Cent Onze Restaurant at the hotel.

October 13
BARCELONA City Tour

After our champagne (cava) breakfast we went with a local guide for a walking tour of the Rambla, Barri Gòtic where some buildings date from Medieval times, some from as far back as the Roman settlement of Barcelona, and remains of the squared Roman Wall can be seen next to the Cathedral.
Catedral de Santa Creu i Santa Eulalia

Next we boarded the bus to go up to Montjuic to have a panoramic view of the city and see the Olympic Stadium and the Palau Nacional then we visited the Antoni Gaudi-designed Sagrada Familia, a UNESCO Heritage Site. Construction commenced in 1882 and Gaudi devoted his remaining life until his death in 1926. The minor basilica is scheduled to be finished by 2026, the centenary of Gaudi's death.
Montjuic * Estadi Olimpic * Palau Nacional

Sagrada Familia

Back at the hotel I prepared to go to the St Josep Boquerria for lunch. Found the same place (Barcentral) where I ate at in 2010 and I ordered a grilled seafood plate consisting of lobster, gambas, Navajas, clams, squid, hake, mussels. Delicioso! With Spanish beer!
St Josep Boquerria

October 14
Montserrat *** Parador Castell de Cardona *** La Seu d'Urgell

This morning's destination was the Benedictine basilica in Montserrat where the La Moreneta (the Black Virgin Mary) is.
Montserrat Basilica

Our next stop was the Castell de Cardona, a fortress initially constructed by Wilfred the Hairy in 886 in both the Romanesque and Gothic styles and currently used as a parador, a state-run luxury hotel. Its main structure is the torre de la minyona from the 11th century and also the Romanesque and Gothic church of St Vincenç.
Castell de Cardona

Canònica de Sant Vinçent

We ate a wonderful lunch at their restaurant consisting of meat and truffle canneloni as appetizer, followed by duck confit with port wine sauce and roasted pear, and finished with a timbal de mató which is made from fresh cheese, honey, lemon essence. Local white wine was very good.
Restaurante Abad

We continued along the western edge of the Sierra del Cadi to Castellciutat near historic La Seu d'Urgell in the Pyrenees. We checked in at the Hotel El Castell de Ciutat then later walked to the castle for a musical entertainment.
El Castell de Ciutat

Dinner was at our hotel's restaurant and it was a delightful 5-course tasting menu. Started with delicious gazpacho soup, then boiled lobster with caramel iced pear, dates and algae toast with a mesclun salad; Catalan style monkfish with clams; beef tournedos with a port wine sauce and crystallized potato; and chocolate panacotta with a touch of tonka bean with red fruit and flowers. Too much! Then had espresso which kept me up all night.

October 15
La Seu d'Urgell
At La Seu d'Urgell we went to see the Museum, the Cathedral, the Diocese Museum which has frescoes from the cathedral and also a copy of the Urgell Beatus, an illustrated religious book. Then we walked to the Olympic Parc Olimpic del Segre where the canoe slalom competitions were held during the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympic Games. Paella lunch and cooking demo followed back at the Castle then a short trip to neighboring Andorra.

Back at the castle grounds, we had a seafood paella cooking demonstration by the chef which we enjoyed eating accompanied by nice wines of the region.
Paella Cooking Demonstration

After lunch we had a choice of activities and I chose a trip to neighboring Andorra where I bought a Swatch watch.
Andorra

Dinner was a seven-course menu at the medieval castle.

October 16
Pamplona *** Monte Igueldo *** San Sebastian
Today we traveled through the beautiful mountains of the Basque country before arriving in Pamplona, or Iruña (Basque), the historical capital city of Navarre, famous worldwide for the running of the bulls during the San Fermín festival. This festival was brought to literary renown with the 1926 publication of Ernest Hemingway's novel The Sun Also Rises. Had coffee and cake at the Café Iruña, Hemingway's haunt in Pamplona. Then walked along the streets where the bulls run till we reached the bullring.
Pamplona

San Sebastián Upon reaching San Sebastián or Donostia (Basque) we drove to Monte Igueldo to get a panoramic view of the seaside resort, then checked in at the beautiful Hotel Maria Cristina the only 5-star hotel in the city.

Dressed for dinner at the hotel restaurant: porrusalda (potato and leek) soup, oxtail, and rice pudding. After dinner went for a walk in the neighborhood.

Hotel Maria Cristina***Victoria Eugenia Theatre***Kursaal Palace

October 17
San Sebastian Walking Tour***Pintxos

Great pintxos (tapas) food at a couple of places.

Walked around for a while then had to go back to the hotel to rest after a couple of sangrias and great tasting tapas!

I couldn't resist going back to one of the pintxos places for dinner! So I had mussels and roasted quail and quail egg, delicious!

October 18
Bilbao *** Fuente Dé
This morning we visited the titanium-clad Frank Gehry building, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao with its main exhibit of Basquiat art and Richard Serra sculptures.
Guggenheim Bilbao

Next we visited Santillana del Mar, a medieval village where we had lunch at the Parador Gil Blas.
Santillana del Mar

We drove next through the scenic national park Picos de Europa until we reached Fuente Dé where our Parador is located literally at the end of the road at the foot of a mountain peak. Nice dinner at the parador's Restaurante Alfonso XII.
Parador de Fuente Dé

October 19
Riaño *** León
Today we crossed the Cantabrian Mountains on the way to the high Meseta Plateau of central Spain into Castille. First we stop at a small town called Potes to check out an outdoor market. Lunch was a picturesque town of Riaño ar the Restaurante Presa.

We drove on to León where we checked in at the Parador Hostal San Marcos de León which is the former seat of the Knights of Santiago. Later we went on a walking tour of the historic center of the city including the Cathedral and the Plaza Mayor. Leon is an important stop for pilgrims on the way to Santiago de Campostela. Dinner was at the parador's Restaurante Rey Don Sancho.
Parador de León

October 20
Astorga *** Santiago de Compostela
First stop today along the El Camino de Santiago (The Way of St James) was in Astorga to visit the Catedral de Santa María de Astorga and the Palacio Episcopal designed by Antoni Gaudí.

We arrived in Santiago de Compostela late afternoon and after checking in at the Parador de los Reyes Catolicos, we went for a short tour of the parador which had been accommodating pilgrims since the 15th century, then we took a walk to the historic center of town for a guided walking tour. The extraordinary Cathedral of St James was the focal point of the tour with its extraordinarily enormous censer. The cathedral is the reputed burial-place of Saint James the Great, one of the apostles of Jesus Christ.
Parador de los Reyes Catolicos

Cathedral of St James

Dinner was at the Restaurante Libredon at the Parador.

October 21
Santiago de Compostela *** Viana do Castelo *** Porto
Morning was leisurely spent by revisiting the cathedral and buying some souvenir gifts before lunch at the parador. Then we boarded the bus to leave Spain and cross the border to Portugal. First stop was coffee break in Viana do Castelo and a walk around town including a nice little church with beautiful painted tiles.
Misericordia Church, Viana do Castelo

Porto We drove on towards Porto, crossed the Douro River and checked in at the Sheraton Hotel. Dinner was at the hotel's restaurant.

October 22
Porto
This morning was spsent touring the city including the Livraria Lello, a beautiful bookstore, the Gothic church of Sao Francisco, and the São Bento Railway Station, before enjoying a cruise on the Douro River aboard a traditional Rabelo boat (used to transport barrels of port wine along the river for 200 years). After a nice lunch on the riverfront we took the funicular and went to the shopping area before returning to the hotel by subway.

Tonight we visited Taylor Fladgate Port Cellars for port tasting and dinner.

October 23
Coimbra *** Fátima *** Lisbon
This morning our first visit was to Coimbra, the site of the oldest university in Portugal. Lunch was at a local restaurant.
Coimbra

Fátima is associated with three local children: Lúcia dos Santos and her cousins, Francisco and Jacinta Marto, who on 13 May 1917, while guarding their sheep in the Cova da Iria, witnessed an apparition of a lady dressed in white. Cova da Iria is now the Chapel of Apparitions.
Fátima

Arrived in Lisbon early evening and checked in at the Four Seasons Hotel Ritz and after resting and a cocktail I set out to look for a local restaurant in the neighborhood. and found Relicário.
Lisbon

October 23
Lisbon City Tour
First stop on the city tour was the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, a monastery of the Order of Saint Jerome in Belém. The monastery is one of the most prominent examples of the Portuguese Late Gothic Manueline style of architecture in Lisbon. It was classified a UNESCO World Heritage Site, along with the nearby Tower of Belém, in 1983. Vasco da Gama's tomb is in the church.
Mosteiro dos Jerónimos

Belém Tower (Torre de Belém]) or the Tower of St Vincent, a fortified tower is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (along with the nearby Jerónimos Monastery) because of the significant role it played in the Portuguese maritime discoveries of the era of the Age of Discoveries. The tower was commissioned by King John II to be part of a defense system at the mouth of the Tagus river and a ceremonial gateway to Lisbon.

Next stop was the Museu Nacional dos Coches, housed in the old Horse Riding Arena of the Belém Palace, formerly a Royal Palace which is now the official residence of the President of Portugal. The museum was created in 1905 by Queen Amélia to house an extensive collection of carriages belonging to the Portuguese royal family and nobility. Among its rarest items is a late 16th/early 17th-century traveling coach used by King Philip II of Portugal to come from Spain to Portugal in 1619.

We next stopped at the Discoveries Monument which celebrates the Portuguese Age of Discovery (or Age of Exploration) during the 15th and 16th centuries.