Celebrating the 70's - A chronicle of time and temperature

  Saturday 5 th October 2024 Breakfast around the corner at our little café that opens before 9.00 am, or in some cases 12.00. No real coffee culture here and the Lads are suffering. All are now down to about one set of clothes and some urgent laundry will need to be done in Lisbon. Woody helpfully suggested that Flashy could always wear his dinner suit. The train trip to Lisbon was quite good as we had secured the last seats in first class. A group of Canadians came late to our carriage, only to discover another party seated in their seats. After some polite discussion and the intervention of the conductor, it appeared that the seated passengers had booked the wrong day (yesterday!) After finding temporary seats and then seats in the dining car, he informed the poor sod that he could have kicked him off the train, then helped him with his heavy bag, after informing him that it wasn’t his job to do that. If you are going to do something, do it in good grace. Other than that amus...

  Monday 30 th September to Friday 4 th October 2024 A travel day today with a speedy taxi to Madrid Aeroporto and a faultless check in to both Emirates for Andrew and Iberian for Flashy. The Madrid to Oporto trip is 45 minutes and it’s a small jet. And there’s always someone isn’t there? Clearly, all the big cabin bags go in the hold. They take them off you before you board, even at the steps to the plane. Well, here’s this dickhead and his stupid wife refusing to give up their huge “cabin bags” at the foot of the stairs in the hot Spanish sun. Luckily, the hosties were having none of it and they eventually went grumbling up the stairs with their other “cabin bags”. They barely fitted in the overheads. Idiots. The Exe Almada hotel in Porto is very well located in the old city and once arrived, a simple dinner in the restaurant across the road was the go. There were probably 80 pax on the first floor and down stairs with me, were another three single diners. A few backpacks and...

  Sunday 29 th September 2024 A restless night and a bit of a sleep in. Around 1.00 pm Andrew decided it would be a good idea to walk 2 kms to some Roman ruins (and 2 kms back in the hot sun). You know, you’ve seen one Roman ruin … Boy, those old Romans loved their concrete. Limping along, Flashy discovered a bar, as you do. This served excellent beer and like most bars here, the beer is very cold. Fred would be very happy. We also ordered one anchovy tapas. It came out on a French style toasted baguette about a foot long, a little garlic pesto and eight large anchovy fillets.  We were happy. As we were only half way home, we made it a bit further to Fino Bar, for a rest stop for a vermut, oloroso sherry, a bottle of Alberino and some more tapas. Then arriving at our apartment, we discovered that the restaurant directly below us was open. There seems to be no rhyme nor reason as to who opens when and for how long. Perhaps it is a Spanish mystery that we will never solve...

  Saturday night Gala Dinner The Gala Dinner at Parador de Alcala was a long affair, with tapas in the garden and the main meal in a giant dining room. The menu was French inspired, small perfect serves and plenty of matching wines.  A plate of four tapas to start: Iberian ham, millefeuille of Leon jerky, avocado cream with mango tatar and prawns, crispy shrimp, and octopus with potato and sweet garlic sauce. The wine Grego 2019 Grenache.  The entrée was medallions of monkfish and lobster, scallops and shrimp on a Russian salad. Wine: Puerta del Sol 2023 Malvar. The palate cleanser a Blood Orange and Syrah sorbet followed by the main of roast beef tenderloin, carrot and coconut and confit potato. Wine: Felix Martinez Cepas Viejas 2019 Tempranillio and Syrah D.O. Madrid.  By this time, it was 11.30 pm and we pulled the pin before dessert. We weren’t the only ones either. The evening was interspersed with Flamenco guitar and a dancer. Some in the Spanish contingent w...

  Saturday 28 th September 2024 Today is the BIG day. A tour to the institute where the Spanish have every variety of grape growing for research and after a walk around, a masterclass in Madrid area wines, then the big Gala Dinner in a beautiful, converted convent. A small problem arose in the morning with Andrew suffering a touch of Delhi Belly. Must have been an off prawn. Luckily Flashy was ok, so he soldiered on alone to the masterclass. Inside a magnificent chapel, with tables laden with glasses, we had a white, three reds and a sticky wine, matched with salami, cheese and chocolate. You see, the Spanish don’t tax their wine like spirits. They consider it a food. Essential to life. And, it is often taken with a matching food such as cheese or meats. Flashy was flying solo and was picked up by the Israeli delegation of one woman and 11 men, who naturally kept pretty much to themselves. Wishing him long life many times, he enjoyed their very Jewish company. They were a li...

  Friday 27 th September 2024 A smart move to have Friday off because the itinerary for today is longer than yesterday, if that's possible. A sleep in, lazy breakfast, some admin and already it’s 1.00 pm. Andrew has done the research and booked a smart restaurant called 1888 for lunch at 2.30 pm. We’ll probably be the only people there. Yes we were. An inside table and comfortable chairs and a menu with a mix of Spanish and French items. We started with a gin and tonic, just to see the theatre of the long pour and a pleasant Albarino. The starters of anchovies on toast and carpaccio of beef were paired with a 30 year old Olorosso sherry and another Albarino. The mains of rare (very rare!) duck breast with toasted grains and Andrew’s sea bass worked well with a Rioja light red. Desserts were not so inspiring, so we just has a couple of Pedro  Ximinez. While walking off lunch, we found a quiet square full of uni students, so sat down for a couple of drinks before heading back...

  Thursday 26 th September 2024 -Dinner And because there’s more mis amigos, the next stop was Bodegas y Vinedos Castiblanque in Ciudad Real. Passionate and funny winemaker, owner, his mate and the sommelier, presented three wines and more cheese and cured meats. Had enough yet? Off we go to another very industrial sized bodegas – Casa del Valle. Another boring winery tour. They really don’t need to do this. And to another masterclass of their wines from Rose to all the reds.   Ten wines in total. Many were struggling at this stage, including the two antipodeans. However dinner now beckoned. The restaurant was magnificent. Plenty of space and despite the 9.00 pm hour and full tummies, we anticipated a good meal. It was the best meal of the trip.  There must be a French chef in the kitchen as the portion sizes were small, perfectly seasoned (someone found some salt) and beautifully presented. The generous wines were also very good. We arrived back home at 12.15 am and w...