Tuesday we said goodbye to Casa d’Henrique and to our now familiar little town of Vieira do Minho. One last picture of Castro Vieira do Minho.

Of course it wouldn’t be a proper good bye without a parting pastry and coffee run from our favorite cafe, Flor de Cacau. We then got gas and prepared to drive south in the rain. But.. the wipers stopped working.. which was particularly suspicious since the rear liftgate close button had been acting up. I pulled over, found the manual online, found the section of fuses, and read that.. all fuse related issues are to be handled by Jeep.. Ok.. so I opened the hood, found the fuse box, opened and inspected it (easily and safely!) and didn’t see any blown fuses or replacements if I had needed them. By that time the rain had stopped so we decided to drive anyway.. and the wipers came on. Maybe some electrical gltich prompted by the wet weather? Anyway.. on with our journey south!

We drove ~3.5 hours plus some pit stops. Mostly highway across huge high-elevation mountains and massive bridges over deep river valleys. Of course I was driving and Savitri was napping and researching so we have no photo evidence.. maybe we teleported.

Covilhã! About 20 minutes before we arrived, we came around a corner and saw this amazing city poured down the face of the mountains in the distance. In typical Portuguese style the buildings are all off-white with terracotta roof tiles. We will ummm. take pictures of it and post them later!

As we approached, the sheer height and steepness of the mountainside got increasingly pronounced and I started to wonder how driving up was going to work. Turns out.. mostly-not-too-bad! The roads, albeit steep, remained full-size and well signed right up into the heart of Covilhã. We were maybe 5-6 blocks from our hotel at this point, so how hard could it be? Never ask yourself that, even silently. Our route took us the shortest path, which unfortunately got progressively narrower and narrower and steeper and.. we got to a turn that we couldn’t physically make into a road the same width as the car.. and with a car parked in it. We called the hotel and managed to drive out another way and around to the hotel. Turns out much of the old part of Covilhã is a narrow street maze.. and by Covilhã I mean Portugal.. and much of Europe!

We checked in at Pena d’Agua Hotel, and were greeted by a very welcoming team. They took all of our bags and guided me to a secure private garage up the street. Not having to deal with parking is a big deal here! The hotel is beautiful, a mix of classic and modern conveniences. Our room looks out of the top floor of a building already way up a hillside, so our view goes for many miles.

Once we were situated we immediately turned to dinner of course. We made reservations at Casa das Mūralhas a short walk and short time away.

What an amazing meal! Enter.. the appetizers.

We’ve had a lot of delicious food across Portugal, but in most cases we’ve added a touch of salt or piri piri to bring out the flavors. We don’t mind that a bit since it supports people who prefer or need lower salt levels. These dishes were perfect (for us) as they were. Incredibly flavorful and nuanced. As is the custom in Portugal, the soup was served as a dry bowl with the solid ingredients, then the hot soup itself was poured in carefully. It looks beautiful and retains the firmness and textures of all the components. Similarly the crisps were clearly placed fresh on top of the pear jam immediately prior to serving, preserving their crisp, flaky exterior and complementing the sweet soft pear. mmMMMM!

As usual, we felt like we were already getting kind of full.. and our mains arrived. We tend to swing back and forth between heavy and light meals, and since the previous night was goat and pork we opted for seafood. Neither of us were in the mood for picking through the bones of full fish, plus we also like to try familiar ingredients done differently in addition to totally new things. Both of us were drawn to the tuna, and after getting more detailed descriptions from the waiter we opted for both the tuna and the salmon.

WOW. I rarely order salmon because I cook it a lot at home and am often disappointed in restaurants over-cooking it. It has happened on this trip even. This salmon was absolutely perfectly cooked though- crisp and tasty on the outside and moist and tender on the inside. The tuna was nice and rare, and cut-with-a-spoon tender. The sesame seeds had a little salt mixed in as well. We didn’t get any wasabi head-smack from the wasabi puree, but the sauces were indulgent and the asparagus fresh and cooked just right. This place know how to cook.

At this point we were beyond stuffed and “would you like to look at the dessert menu?” was met with laughter.. and a slightly embarrassed “well.. yes”.

I usually jump on dessert regardless but could barely breath I was so full, so Savitri took one for the team and ordered the cinnamon cake. Like the soup, they present it on the table then pour fresh, hot caramel over it. It’s a great touch and you can see the temperatures and textures interacting.

We slowly dragged ourselves to our feet (by our shoestraps?) and poured out onto the street. It was about 9:45pm and it was totally silent. No road noise, no people noise, nothing. I think it was a combination of being somewhat late on a weeknight, being off-season for tourists, being higher on the hill than the active areas, and the steep slope absorbing any noise from the social areas. Whatever it was, it was nice.

We worked our way back through the tiny streets and alleys back to the hotel.

We changed quickly and managed to get in 15 minutes in the sauna and Turkish bath (steam room) before they closed. Then, thoroughly sedated by the day and food coma, we retired to our room. I then had one last meeting at midnight (4pm California time!) and we passed out.