Portugal and Spain Culinary Tour 2022
Here are some highlights from the 2022 Culinary trip to Portugal and Spain. Many people thought this was our best trip ever! We began in the gorgeous country of Portugal and had a panoramic city tour of Lisbon to kick things off. We stayed at the Four Seasons, and like all Four Seasons, it was elegant, classy and pampering. The city of Lisbon is linked with the heroic deeds of the Portuguese maritime exploration, in the 15th and 16th centuries.
Next we traveled to the Ocant Hotel, which is located on the beautiful Douro River. This river runs west to east and lays claim to the area’s wineries, port producers, and boasts the deepest locke system in the world. We can attest to how high it is because we went through it! During our day along the Douro, we went on a fascinating wine tour and then had a long, leisurely lunch outside, viewing all the vineyards around us. After this, we tried grape stomping! That was really fun. This vineyard still hires people to stomp the grapes three hours a day.
The group enjoyed a private guided tour of Sintra the next day, which has hundreds of years of history and culture to explore. Doing a short walk in the old city center we found ourselves surrounded by the old houses now converted into small quaint handicraft shops and traditional pastry shops.
The nest day we went to Porto. We visited the Stock Exchange Palace, Church of Saint Francis, the Cathedral and Lello Bookstore at the Ribera district. The stock exchange was very big because they were major traders and were not afraid to explore, which brought them riches. The 24 carat gold details within the churches was absolutely stunning, as was the mix of Neo-Gothic and Art Deco elements in the bookstore.
Then we flew to sunny and HOT Spain. Our hotel was over the top and was the home of the much loved Alfonso XIII, nestled right in the heart of Sevilla. This year marked the 500 year anniversary of the circumnavigation of the globe, so it was celebration time everywhere in Spain.
We had a walking tour of Sevilla which included seeing the Cathedral, Giralda, Alcazar, and Santa Cruz Quarter. The second day we did a private guided tour of Cordoba, which was simply gorgeous.
In Barcelona we did a culinary paella class and we enjoyed an olive oil tasting with the chef to begin the visit. Through the city tour we visited The Picasso Museum and discovered the ancient and medieval remains, great food markets, authentic shops and other charming hidden sites. We rounded out the trip with a Gaudi architectural tour to see the Sagrada Familia.
