‘Sunny Portugal’ with Collette

I booked “Sunny Portugal” through AAA Vacations (800/922-8228, ww1.aaa.com); the 10-day tour was run by Collette (Pawtucket, RI; 800/340-5158, www.gocollette.com). Its cost, including air, single supplement, insurance and optionals, came to $3,854.

Flying TAP Portugal, I left Miami, Florida, for Lisbon on Nov. 11, 2016. The service on the flight was very good.

The tour provided a kaleidoscope of fond memories. 

We drove through sleepy villages with whitewashed houses, some covered with hand-painted tiles, and reached the Marian pilgrimage site of Fátima. Who can forget the mosaic panel that covers the curved wall of the presbytery of the Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity or the pilgrims moving on their knees toward the Basilica?

At Cabo de São Vincente, we stood on cliffs while the Atlantic crashed on rocks 200 feet below. This was the most southwestern point of mainland Europe.

For history buffs, there was the medieval walled city of Évora and the Roman temple dedicated to Diana.

The optional dinner ($85) was at the Palace of Queluz, whose construction began in 1747. It is a fine example of rococo architecture and was used as a summer home for the royal family. The dinner was held in the restaurant Cozinha Velha, once the kitchen of the palace. The dining room has high stone arches, a freestanding fireplace and marble columns.

The optional visit to the Portimão Museum, which traced the importance of sardines, was followed by a cruise aboard the 2-masted Caravela Santa Bernarda along the rocky Algarve coast. During the cruise, passengers could board smaller boats and glide into the grottoes.

Of course, during the week, we listened to haunting fado music, munched on sweet pastéis de nata, visited cork factories and did wine tasting (at the José Maria da Fonseca Winery).

It was a delightful, well-run trip. The weather was perfect. 

On Nov. 20 I flew from Lisbon to Miami, just in time for Thanksgiving.

PHILIP SHART

Tamarac, FL