McGaffs On The Fly

After quite a while not taking Little Al on the road, we thought it would be a great time to escape the Texas chill down and head west to warmer temps. Although he was a little upset for us leaving him so long, mainly because of the pigeon poo down his back, he was more than excited to hit the open road.

So on Tuesday it was “off we go” with no idea where we are going (we have ideas), where we will stay (there’s always Wal-Mart), how long we will be gone (best part of retirement) or what we will do (it will include hiking I’m sure).

We landed last night in Carlsbad, NM. We visited the area in 2020 but didn’t want to get “The Covid” so unfortunately we did not get to see the Caverns. Wow, what a miss. Today we spent over 4 hours there exploring on our own then getting a tour by Ranger Adaire deeper into the bottom. His nerd geology jokes and little tidbits about the history of the Caves were truly enlightening and made the tour a highlight.

Since we are so close to Guadalupe Mountains National Park we finished the day driving there to check it out. It was pretty cold and rainy when we arrived so not much to report…but…Joanie did get her National Parks Passport stamped. Winner.

Tomorrow to Tucson…need to find a place…

Our luck finally ran out yesterday on our day trip to Guimaraes which is about a hour and half day train ride north. We actually jinxed ourselves…”we have been so lucky that every time it rains hard we are in a building and haven’t got that wet.” That theory works well when you’re not sitting in a bar enjoying some wine and you have 10 minutes to get to the train. We were soaked running to the tracks, good thing for our European washer/dryer combo that only takes 10 hours to dry clothes!

It turns out that yesterday was also a holiday and much of the city was closed. We were able to see the medieval Palace of the Dukes of Braganza and enjoy a few local shops and cafes. The highlight was the tiny wine shop we stopped at right before the skies exploded. The wine he recommended and the steak sandwich we shared was absolutely delicious.

One more day then back to reality and all that entails for retirees…sorry Brett.

It was a pretty casual day for us yesterday as we just took it easy and tried to see all the things we hadn’t seen yet. The rain stayed away most of the day but just like most days opened up after the sun went down.

Of course our highlights of the day were places we ate at and today was a perfect day for trying all of the recommended local foods and locations to try them.

Conga – Casa das Bifanas – Joanie and Brett enjoyed their famous bifana sandwiches that are thinly sliced pork with sauce on a hard roll. I went with their classic pork sausage with fries, all were delicious. The place is not a secret, they opened at 11:30 and when we got there was a line of locals but the place is huge so we sat quickly.

For afternoon espresso and a snack (always dessert) we had to go back to Dona Mira Bar to enjoy the laid back atmosphere and great music. We did have to sprint to our apartment when leaving, another thunderstorm decided it was a good time to show up.

Finally for the evening we went to the recommend Brasao Aliados to get their traditional “Francesinha,” it is a delicious sandwich smothered in cheese and gravy with a pork filling. We were told to share it and it’s good we did, it was big enough for all three of us with some even left over. Then it was another sprint home in the rain.

Can’t wait to see where we eat today, taking a train to another city…

After a day walking around most of the city yesterday on a food tour, we thought a good day today would be in a van with new friends driving around the countryside. Other than the amount of time riding in the Covid transit vehicle we all enjoyed our tour immensely.

The tour included two winery tours with tasting, a river cruise, and a lunch at a small village restaurant. Our fellow passengers brought their special strains from Australia, England, and a city somewhere in the USA called Boston. They all brought a different perspective to the tour and by the end we hugged it out to show there ain’t no Covid can touch us.

Overall it was a great trip, less the long driving, with the highlights the great lunch and last wine tour. Tomorrow is a national holiday in Portugal so we’ll take advantage to rest and check out more of the city, this eating and drinking can wear a fellow out.

On behalf of my “Super Sizing” USA brethren, I would like to apologize for my families poor showing on our recent food tour.

We fought the food and the food won!

Yesterday we spent the full day on the Culinary Backstreet Food Tour with our food guide Bruno. Our tour started poorly, actually right before the tour, when we decided to have a quick snack before meeting him. Bad idea, as from the time he met us until he dropped us off 6 hours later, all we did was eat.

The tour was a fantastic time and quite a lesson in Portuguese history, influence from Brazil, different foods by region, and amazingly how little food it takes to fill us up.

We drank more Port, ate more pastries, tried new foods and set personal records on most sardines eaten in a day (we all tied at 3). Towards the end of the tour Bruno had to tell the restaurant owners to cut the food portions way back because we couldn’t keep up…how embarrassing. I thought maybe Joanie would lead us to victory because she is the champion eater of our family…but not.

Our day…

Imperio Bakery – we started with a “Jesuit,” a pastry so good and sweet that it makes my teeth hurt to think about it.

Merceario Liquor Store – a 90 year old liquor store where we had several types of cheese, pumpkin jam, and Port. If you were so inclined, you could buy a port back to your birth year or even to around 1845 ($3000 euro+)…we did not.

Marcos Ferriera – great food stand in the Mercado where we tried olive oil, olives, and lupine beans…more personal records for all of us, we’re not an olive family.

Tradicoa – another good stand in the Mercado with great nuts, figs, dried pears, and other dried fruit, which is run by a 5th generation family of the market.

Casa Louro Bar – more Port, ham, and our first run at fried sardines…really, not bad at all. Great vibe for a local bar too, I could party here.

Gazela – famous for being visited by Anthony Bourdain. Their specialty is fancy dancy sausage on buns…think hot dogs with a Portuguese twist, really good.

Restaurante Salmao – a fried dinner version of the sardines where we were given a quick lesson on filleting them and eating the oily little critters. They were really good and if you didn’t like them when you ate them no problem…they stayed with you into the next day.

Dona Mira Bar – our final stop at a Brazilian run bar for banana cake, carrot cake, and ding dong cake. It’s owned by a Grammy winning producer and a quaint back street bar that was a wonderful ending to the night. Side note, if you don’t like nude photography and art then this might not be your place.

Best surprise of the day. Turns out our guide Bruno’s day job is translating English books into Portuguese versions. Two of the works he has done are by my favorite writer (when I want to think) Ken Follett and another (when I don’t want to think) John Grisham. I wouldn’t consider this a brush with a celebrity but as far as Bruno is concerned it was close enough.

More coming…

We (the girls) decided that, although we have a wine dinner cruise coming up, that they could not wait and we needed to cross the Rio Douro to find out what Port (wine) was all about. With these two fearless leaders, I have quickly found out that most of our adventures will lead to either a) drinking or b) eating. Who am I to argue, as it turns out those are two of my passions also…so…I’ll be their Huckleberry!

Along our long walk we learned that there is more than one bridge across the mighty river and if you choose the wrong one you have a lot more walking in front of you. What are the chances, we chose the wrong bridge? More walking = more food to consume = winners.

Our visit to “the other side” included lunch at Temple D’ouro (great sushi restaurant with a robot server), a nasty rejection by an angry doorman at Sandeman Bar because they were “already too crowded,” a wonderful wine tasting and Port lesson at Quevedo Wine Tasting Room, and finally some green wine and dessert at Sabores da Fininha on the riverfront. All were outstanding except the grouchy dude at Sandeman…but…he was around my age so I get it.

Can’t wait for tomorrow, I bet we’ll be walking…eating…and drinking.

After a much needed 12 hour sleep (really did happen), we spent our second full day with just one planned event and the rest of the day walking around the city.

The day was highlighted by a visit to Livraria Lello & Irmao (Lello Bookstore). It is one of the oldest bookstores in Portugal and worldwide rated as one of the best, but the real draw is that is where JK Rowling would visit and was inspired to write The Harry Potter series. I was more impressed with the fact that this retail bookstore charged a fee (with long lines waiting) to enter to have the privilege to purchase books for a fee…what a business plan!

We were able to avoid the on and off rain most of the day but did end our night running from canopy to canopy to avoid the pouring rain. You know, it’s one of this things you’ll laugh about later on but while it’s happening you’re really pissed. In this case it’s like we were pissed on and have the wet shoes and clothes to prove it…can’t wait to laugh about this one.

After a quick stop in Newland, NC for Adult Summer Camp, we’re back on the road. It was a great 10 months but it’s so nice to start traveling again. Little Al didn’t make this trip across the Atlantic, turns out he can’t swim but he will be with us soon on US adventures.

We weren’t sitting idle for 10 months, we…bought a house in the Appalachian’s and updated it from its glorious 1970’s decor…played more golf than we thought we ever would (I have learned that more play only hurts my game while Joan quickly caught the bug and improves with each play)…we found a wonderful group of people that have created a fun loving community and quickly took us in as if we were lifelong friends…we unfortunately buried two awesome men, Joan’s dad and my older brother…and we moved back to Austin to take advantage of warmer conditions (maybe). More to come on our summer fun…

In order to take advantage of some credits we received from our cancelled 2020 overseas trip, and Joan’s theory that you have to spend money to save money, the three Amigos landed in Porto, Portugal for a 7 day adventure. The city welcomed us with tears of joy in the way of wind and heavy rain for a 72 hour period. The good news is that it has been intermittent and we’ve been able to sprint around the city without too much sogginess.

Joan and Brett have assured me that they have planned city adventures ($$), wine trips ($$), great dinners ($$) and plenty other things an old retiree would love to do.

Hang on, more to come…

The McGaff’s haven’t been on the fly, turns out when you buy a new home (built in the 70’s) you don’t have the time to travel like you are used to. We’ve made a move to Newland, NC to get away from that much mentioned Texas heat. Unfortunately, our unanticipated accepted bid on our new home was closed in January and I’ve been cold since we moved to our mountain home…be careful what you wish for.

More to come, just want to let you know…

After dropping big sis off at the Charleston airport we had the decision to make of which direction to head home and what to see along the way. Should we head north to I40 to get above the rain…or south to I10 to get behind the rain…or just take I20 and “let the game come to us?” And should we stop along the way to visit the states we pass through…anything to see or do we haven’t already? (Nothing personal GA, Al, MS, LA)

The answer is that we are ready to get to DFW to see our granddaughter’s, so we have made 2 stops and plan to arrive at The Vineyards Campground in Grapevine later on Sunday. Since we have been to NC and enjoyed the brisk early morning, and late evening chill, we cannot logically deal with any more south USA humidity. So we head to Texas where…oh yeah, we’ll at least we get to be home.

Bonus…the AC is my Airstream has decided now is a good time to challenge my sanity and has gone on the blink. The thermostat on the inside temp currently shows 32 degrees so although it’s actually a humid 80+ it will not turn on. After a quick call to a rv repair shop and going through the idiot basics (“No, it’s not on celsius”…”Yes, I have reset the thermostat”…”Yes, I’m sure it says 32”), I have decided that I will not lose to a stupid thermostat. I will win…just wait.

Late side note before posting…I won. Check Airstream forums for my amazingly brilliant answer to the surprisingly common issue (hint – it’s neither amazing or brilliant).

Nothing…more to come…for now.