Winery in the Hills of Silves
Saturday’s blog is written by Bob:
We checked out on schedule just as the fog rolled into Lagos. The view was so magnificent yesterday, but was nothing but a dark fog bank at 10am. We had a tour and tasting scheduled near Silves and the drive was only 30 minutes away, so we swung by the coast for one more look (this time, sunny).
High in the hills of Silves, surrounded by orchards of lemons, figs and pomegranates, Quinta do Frances Winery, owned by a practicing doctor and his wife, had only begun in 2004 and now gown to 6 employees and 50K bottles a year. They planted acreage along a river valley that appeared to mimic the Russian River Valley of CA. The host was very nice as she toured us the vats and barrels. We had a tour of the winery and tasted three wines, a red, white and rose’. We departed with a few bottles for later and said goodbye to other tour mates, all who were Europeans, making us the only Americans.
The town of Silves was a Moors capital in the 1400’s before the crusades erased all landmarks of the Muslim culture. It sits on a hill over looking a river below. We ventured to the castle and Cathedral for a short walk and lunch. The cathedral was build entirely of sandstone by several of the crusaders who find it as there lasting rest place. It was large, dark and gritty.. like sandstone had been failing form the walls.
As planned, Mary navigated us to a pottery factory along the route to our flat. Porches Pottery had a stunning display of hand painted pottery… we could have done some real damage if it weren’t that they closed right after we arrived. They shut the door and we had the place to our self to checkout. The two daughters of the original owner cared to our purchases and shipping. Business is good and they ship worldwide. This will be something to look into when we get back.
Painters table at Porches Pottery
We finally arrived at our flat on time and waited a few minutes for the attendant. The flat is well equipped and has a great view of the ocean. An upscale studio with modern amenities and a killer view … all for $90 a night!!! It fun to try different places with Mary doing the research. This was one of her best finds!
We walked a short way to the beach and sat on a restaurant balcony 60 feet directly above the beach enjoying wine and beer before dinner. Hearing the waves made me want to retire RIGHT NOW but regrettably I left my flip flops at home .. a requirement for retirement Dinner was excellent. We sat outside next to a heater and had a great meal before retiring for the night to write the blog.
