Wednesday 11 September 2013

Day 2 - A VAN Adventure for the Clan

Family was slow to rise this morning, but eventually everyone found there way to breakfast. Monica had briefed everyone the night before about possible activities and we quickly agreed to head off to the Espora Winery for lunch and a tour. Getting out of town in our nine passenger van was a bit challenging, but we succeeded with no adverse events and only a few bruised feelings :)

The 50 minute drive seemed like a mix of the Okanagan Valley, France and parts of Ontario. We drove the wine route and saw lots of vineyards as well as farmland and cork trees. The winery is huge,with hundreds of hectares of grapes, as far as the eye can see. We arrived around 1pm and had a wonderful lunch accompanied by non-existent service. Treats included various cod dishes; octopus, wonderful wines and a cottage cheese based custard that Sarah swooned over. Unfortunately the glacial service meant we didn't finish lunch until 4pm, thus missing the 3pm tour.

We all retreated to the pool at our hotel and relaxed for a while and then went our separate ways for dinner. The front desk recommended a delightful little restaurant called "a quarter to nine", located at the junction of 2 alleys. We sat outside and our waiter was friendly, efficient and a provided us good advice on food and wine.

We shared a small tomato salad followed by monkfish, shrimp in a stew like sauce and accompanied by fresh potato chips. We struck up a conversation with the couple next to us when we offered to let them try our wine before they ordered their own bottle. Soon after I looked down the alley and saw David and Anuzya wondering up. They had received the same recommendation from the front desk. They sat near us and when they were debating what wine to choose the couple next to us returned our favour and let them have a sip of theirs. We ended up having great conversations and also great Port!

Sarah and Josh found their own romantic spot for the evening.

1 comment:

  1. We were set to shadow book Air Transat, but then I got scared of overcrowding. A movie friend of mine, up for TIFF, gave us his letters of transit for Lisbon. Apparently, Ilse and Victor had decided to remain at their winery in Casablanca Chile and we got their tickets -- so a free air trip!!!

    All we need is a room....

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