History of Port Wine: Port wine it seems was discovered in the 17th century when British merchants added brandy to the wine of the northern Douro region to prevent it souring and to improve its shelf-life during shipment to England. The wine was called Port, after the port city of Porto. Since Warre’s established the [...]
Meet the Mysterious Don at The House of Sandeman: We’re on a port wine-tasting tour of The House of Sandeman. Our “Don” guide (in fact, a blonde woman dressed like Antonio Banderas in “Zorro”) meets us at the entrance. Even after claiming for years ‘reformed status’ as regards his time as an ad agency creative [...]
Algarve Chimneys – Sightseeing Attractions: Throughout the Algarve you’ll notice that the walls of houses are mostly whitewashed. As we know, the Algarve has very long, hot summers and the whitewash deflects the hot sun from the buildings. Why So Many Chimneys? Why then you may ask do these same houses have so many chimneys, [...]
French by Name but Portuguese in Cuisine: Tonight we find ourselves in Chez Lapin, a rustic restaurant on Oporto’s waterfront, close to where we disembarked from our river cruise. Although this restaurant has a French name, Chez Lapin serves traditional Portuguese and Oporto cuisine. I ask Sergio, the owner’s son, what was behind the French [...]
A Pleasurable Cruise on the Douro: With the sun setting in the horizon, we board our Porto Cruz river boat at the Cais da Ribera, one of the quays where river boats are moored. The ramp from the quay to the boat looks steep, but I make it okay, even on high heels and carrying [...]
The Cockerel that Saved a Pilgrim’s Life: On any Portugal holiday, you’ll no doubt see an abundance of colourful ceramic cockerels in souvenir shops. This cockerel has its origin in the pretty town of Barcelos where, according to a local legend, it is said to have saved the life of a traveller who was wrongfully [...]
Oporto is a good place for Traditional Handicraft: Most visitors to Oporto do not come with the intention of shopping for big ticket items, although if you are dying to buy international designer wares, these are available in some of the larger shopping centres. Like many other Portuguese cities, Oporto is a good place to [...]
The Most Beautiful Bookshop in the World! You’ll hear many people describe the Lello Bookshop as the “most beautiful bookshop in the world” and when you step through its front door you’ll be bowled over by the stunning architecture and rich interior decoration. It’s no wonder that this bookshop has become such a popular sightseeing [...]
Porto Tram City Tour: On your Oporto holiday, you can visit Oporto’s historical monuments, theatres, cafes, restaurants, city hall and more on a vintage tram. This charming Porto City Tram Tour is a Hop-on Hop-off tour that gives you the freedom to stop for as long as you like at places of interest. Starting at [...]
Cafés that are not just coffee houses: On your Oporto holiday, make time to have a break at some of the city’s cafés, not just for the coffee and cakes, but because these grand looking cafés represent a period of life in Oporto in the past. The Café Majestic is one such café which we [...]
You can also find us on
Facebook
Twitter
Google+
LinkedIn
We're Helen and Tony Page, and we love travelling - lucky as we've been doing it for the last few decades!
Tony has long been a professional photographer and writer, but Helen now writes most of the posts and takes a lot of photos herself!
Travelsignposts is our main travel planning site, but Tony also runs the Travelsignposts Photo and Guerrilla Travel Photography web sites, as well as publishing the Take Better Digital Photos and Guerrilla Travel Photography eBooks.
Read more about Helen and Tony or contact them.
Take Better Digital Photos eBook
Guerrilla Travel Photography eBook
Liked this post? Share it!