Zürich, Switzerland Sunday 30th & Monday 31st: An overnight in Zurich on the way home. My flight from Porto didn’t arrive until after 10.30pm and so I didn’t get in to my Zurich Hotel, Hotel Marta, until 11.30 pm. It was a small and humble boutique hotel but was well located in the Old Town … More One day in Zurich

Thursday 27th October: Day trip to Braga & Guimaraes. Our trip today was out to the area of Braga and Guimaraes and we took this with our guide John from Living Tours. We had been hoping to meet some other people on this tour but, sadly, we were the only participants for this particular day.

Sunday 23rd October The rain had arrived on Saturday night but cleared enough on Sunday morning to allow us out for a walk. The sun even made an appearance but that was the last one for the day however. We finished our walk with a stop for coffee along from our apartment.

Sat 22nd October: Mark arrived. I had known for about a week that Mark was arriving today but he’d kept it a secret from most others. He had an even longer journey than I did as he arrived into Lisbon and then hired a car for the 3 hr drive up to Porto. His trip … More Guess who turned up?

Saturday 15th October: It was a gloomy start to the day but I set off at 9 am for my usual morning walk, however, this was punctuated by a stop to purchase an umbrella. I had been advised about a restaurant that offered a cheap breakfast and so thought I would give this a go. … More My 2nd full weekend.

Tuesday 11th October: Home day. Today was slated to be a home day doing my research but I did take a morning walk before putting in a couple of hours in front of the laptop.

Monday 10th October: Open Top Bus day. There was a public holiday in the USA and Canada today and, not surprisingly, trading market action was pretty slow. It was another spectacular day here after the fog lifted though and so I thought that I should make the most of it whilst it lasts as rain … More Monday: Open Top Bus day.

Sunday 9th October: Cathedral Mass and tour to Aveiro. The fog was thick this morning and so I didn’t get out until almost 9 am. I didn’t dally though as I wanted to be home in time to do some chores before catching 11 am Mass at the Cathedral. I was only a few minutes … More Sunday tour to Aveiro

Friday 7th: This was a quiet day of just a morning walk and trading but I did go downstairs for dinner which proved to be most enjoyable. The venue, Dalva, was right beside the apartment block and I’d highly recommend them.

Wednesday Oct 5th: Day 4 My morning started at 4am and so it proved to be a long day. I ventured along the Douro for my morning walk and as today was a public holiday there was less car traffic but many more MAMILs on the road.