My Portugal Trip

[ChanceSchmerr]

As I have promised - My 16 Day Trip to Portugal!

I've already spoken of the odyssey required just to get to Portugal, so in point form.....

- A boat ride on the Victoria Clipper from Victoria BC to Seattle, where my fiancee and I visited my Aunt, Uncle and Grandparents, who just happened to drop it. Seattle was great, always good to visit Pike Place Market and hit up the first ever Starbucks like a real tourist

- Flight on US Airways from Seattle to Philadelphia to Madrid, Spain. TAP Portugal cancelled our flight to Porto from Madrid, never told us though they knew before we got to Philly the night before. 8 Hour wait in Madrid, where I fruitlessly attempted to visit the best Tobacconists in town. Left with 2 boxes of Cigars and flew to Lisbon. Another 5 hour wait in a crummy domestic terminal that could double as a warehouse. Thank God there was a bar with beer. Fly Lisbon to Porto, arrive in Porto at Midnight, pick up rental car, drive north to the village in which we'll be staying, Arcos de Valdevez.

- Driving in Portugal is awesome, everyone goes 160 Km/Hr. My kind of drivers!

Now, onto the rest of the trip!

Some general Observations -

-The country is a beautiful one. Eucalyptus trees abound, and the forest is full is lush. Houses everywhere of white and terracotta roofing - I felt like it could have been Italy.

- It was boiling hot every day. Most days it was 40 deg+, and if it wasn't, it was damn close. No rain after an overnight shower on the 2nd night. Any long distance walk precluded sightseeing because of the more important search for shade. Humid as all hell. At night when it dipped down to 35, you'd go to bed and sweat yourself to sleep.

- The house in which we stayed was pleasant, though spartan. One night we had a bat fly in - first one I'd ever seen in the wild! The house bordered on a field beside the river Vez, where we bought inflatable boats and floated down the river, which was quite relaxing. Fig Trees and grapevines everywhere. Too bad I hate figs. The Driveway to get to the house was an impossibly tight winding downhill path. This was annoying to drive through, and comes into play later.

- In the House, we (Fiancee and I) were sharing it with her parents, her brother and her brother's girlfriend, all of whom flew in from Toronto. They got there first, so we ended up with the shittiest, hardest bed + the smallest room. Never arriving last again.

- The Food when you eat out in Portugal is stunning. Overly simple in nature, but fantastic in taste, the food is truly something to write home about. I'd never been so impressed with something as simple as meat and potatoes with salad. Each restaurant has their own signature appetizer, which they bring out automatically after you order. It's always different, but always tasty. The fresh cheese and bread is the best, although olives and cod-cakes were delicious too. The cost is something to marvel too - The most expensive meal we had was maybe 40 euros for the two of us, and that was with lots of drinks!

- Alcohol is indeed cheap, plentiful and awesome. I drank too many Super Bock beers to count, and never paid more than a Euro for a beer. Fantastic Table wine for 2 Euros - you can't go wrong. Port Wine, more on that later.

- Forest Fires were a scourge this summer. Wherever we were, we could either smell or see burning in the distance. It was really quite sad. Rumours abound of a forest arsonist, but with heat like that, fire is going to happen. At least, with all the eucalyptus trees burning and the resultant smoke - my throat never felt better!

- Fuel was more expensive than I thought it would be. 1.39 Euros for a liter of the cheap stuff. I expected 1.15 or so. Must be the taxes, In Spain it was 1.12 Euros a liter. My rental car was a Volkwagon Polo. This was what I wanted, but it ended up being a little small for my 6'4" frame. Wouldn't recommend it to a tall guy. Also, I'm used to a 4Cyl engine having some guts - this 1.4 L pussycat had nothin'. When I hit the gas, it wouldn't leap forward....more like eaaaaaaaaaaaase into it. Life's too short for gutless cars - get something with a bigger engine. Unless of course, fuel economy is high on your list haha!

- The ultimate purpose of the trip was to meet and visit with my Fiancee's grandparents, who live outside of Arcos and are in very bad shape. I had never met them as they havn't left Portugal in forever, and Chantelle had last met them when she was like 12 or so. So it's been a long time for her too. Her Grandfather has advanced alzheimers and other ailments. He is nearly catatonic, and on better days could respond with simple words, and on other days not at all. He is wheelchair bound. Her Grandmother is in better shape and can walk slowly, but her mind goes faster, she is in and out. When she's there, however, you can have a simple conversation with them. She is a very sweet lady, and seemed to approve of me, if not like me. It was very heartbreaking to see them, to see anyone in such a state, but I am glad I could meet them before they were gone, and it was very emotional for my Fiancee too. Their house is situated in a small hamlet up the side of a mountain, and The view from their house is astonishing. From their lemon, orange, fig and pomegranate trees and grapevines, you can see the whole valley in front of you. As picturesque a spot as you can ask for.

NOTE - This paragraph is about all the family that happened. Just skip over if you'd rather just hear the good stuff!

I've mentioned before about the family drama. In short - I like to say what's on my mind a lot. This has not always worked well for me and her parents, as they have often spoke of their liberal tendencies, while seemingly expecting a very controlled atmosphere without anything said that they don't approve of or believe. I tell it like it is, so we don't gel the best. I went to Portugal hoping to improve my standing with them, and looking to stifle any but the most basic conversation, just so I don't say something else that they misinterpret from me. I'll say that both in my family and in my work in the Navy, I'm encouraged to speak my mind, and very often do. This makes it difficult to do the opposite. In addition to her parents, I hoped to get to know her brother better. He's 24 and a policeman in Toronto, though he still lives with his girlfriend in his parents house. Anyway - things seemed to be going ok. Her parents were extremely pre-occupied with themselves, as they were planning to buy a house and car to move out to Portugal for retirement. That's ok - it would be better if they weren't so ignorant of the people around them but that's their choice. One day, we were having lunch and her father begins to talk about the upcoming meeting that day with a person whose house they wanted to buy, and how he wanted to arrive an hour late just to make him sweat and all that. I thought that was kind of rude to the man, whom we all met a few days prior, and who seemed a very pleasant, nice man who was interested only in finding the best person to buy his house, someone who would treat it right after a careful restoration. I said as much, noting that this was not a multi-million dollar business deal, just a home purchase, and why would you want to 'sweat out' somebody for something like that, seemed kinda mean to me. I found out later that the father took offence to that. Fine. Then, as the parents began to discuss how they were going to pay for the house, apparently centering on the fact that they couldn't buy without selling their home in Toronto, I stopped paying attention as it wasn't my business, and focused on my meal, which was tasty with a spice I couldn't peg. When I noticed the bay leaf in my dish, I chuckled to myself, as bay leaves are an 'inside joke' with my family. WELL - the ongoing conversation between the lords of the earth across the table was what they thought I was chuckling at, and her mother immediately told me how she was offended by that. I had no idea what was going on. She left the table, and the father got up and said "Sometimes, I really don't understand why my daughter wants to marry you. I've held back for a while, but I am seriously considering taking back my permission to marry her. Remember that." I starting to ask him to qualify that - because you can't just say something like that and walk away without explaining a little more - It's pure cowardice to say something like that and walk away before the other person can respond. But all he did was cut my off by yelling "remember that!" and walking away. So I'm left sitting there wondering what the hell just happened. After that moment, things went bad to worse. Her brother took it upon himself to pull aside my fiancee and tell him how little he thought of me, and how he doesn't believe she should marry me, the parents said not a word to me, and I'm left attempting damage control with no tools to do so. It came to a head one night where my fiancee just fell apart and spent a few hours with her mother and brother talking, with all the strife and anger and whatever else coming out from the past few years. Takeaways from that include all the accusations from her family regarding me. I'm stingy, ungrateful, arrogant with no social skills, I have terrible table manners, I'm rude and I'm going to crash and burn very shortly in life. I don't 'fit' in the family. That's great. I cannot say one thing about my opinions of them, because then I'll be lucky to ever see them again, let alone speak to them. Some of that great double standard they employ that I just love. After that bottoming out, and a long talk with my fiancee, where we both agreed that her parents went far to far but that I'm not perfect, things got a little better. I started being able to talk to the parents again, albiet about basic topics. The brother and girlfriend left shortly thereafter without nary a word to me. I got a handsake and a one eyed look from the brother. It was more than I expected from him after hearing how low apparently I am in his eyes. In all - I think a restoration is possible. I won't ever be popular with them I don't think, but I don't expect to, nor do I require it to be happy with my fiancee. All I can be now is the better man, and let the chips fall where they may. This was a big venting paragraph, so forgive me that. I did warn you - but it feels great to just get it out of my system.

Now - the best parts of the trip - in Vignette form!

- With a rental car, we did lots of travelling and day trips - it was the best way to get away from all the family crap going on! In Viana Do Costelo, a seaside town, we toured the old city center and enjoyed this scenic town. It is situated on the shore, with a tall mount behind it, crowned by a large church overlooking the coast. The view from up above was excellent, although the smog from the forest fires was around everywhere. Of course, wherever you went, the touts followed. This one guy with some cheap souvenirs followed us for a few minutes, while we politely declined his wares. Finally, after nothing but portugese, he loudly bellowed "TYPICAL!" and walked away. Funny as hell! Lastly about Viana - the biggest tourist attraction apparently in this city is some old hospital ship tied up on a dock. Don't ask me why. We declined to go.

- The city of Braga was a neat day trip. Some very nice architecture, and a classic switchback-esque road to get there from where we were were the highlights. In some hole-in-the-wall wine store, I was sorely tempted to buy a 1912 bottle of vintage port for 700 Euros. Shoulda bought it!

- Near the end of the trip we went to Guimaraes (sp?), a whole town that is a world Heritage site. It is the home of the Portugese nation, where the first king of Portugal was from. Excellent place to go for old medieval structures, the old town center is all preserved, with some fantastic artifacts around. Tops in this town (literally) was the old castle, dating from the 12th century I think. We paid a euro to climb to the top of the keep and get some pictures of the city and countryside around. Just a neat old castle! Later we tasted some of the best gelato we'd ever had - I'll spare you the pictures though haha!

- We made a couple of trips to a town outside of Coimbra, where my fiancee's godparents live. They are tons of fun, full of life - finally some family members I get along with and seems to like me! Our first trip, we had a roast pig - just the juicyest pork you've ever had, seasoned to perfection. Her Godmother was pleased as punch to watch me eat as much as I did - but you had to, it was so delicious! Joining us for dinner that afternoon was a guy called Joe. He's noted in one of the pictures below. Joe is a jolly fellow, who offered to take just the men on a "local" wine tour. As the afternoon heat was too much to bear just sitting around visiting, I was happy to come along. Turns out, Joe makes his own wine, and he took us to his little storehouse in the village. Wish I had brought a camera for the tour.....He had fruit trees in the very back, with peaches, figs and plums, and so many steel and wood drums and barrels for the win. He showed us the premises (very much in need of a woman's touch.....) and led us to the front room. Adorning the walls were calendars from 2001, and empty cans of beans were lined on the shelves. I thought we had ended up in Ken's place or something. He proceeded to give us glasses of wine from amongst his production - turns out he makes quite a lot of it, made and sold to order. He started with young reds, and went older and older as we got redder and redder. I'm no wine writer, so I can't tell you particularly what we were tasting, and Joe's english left a lot to be desired - but he appeared to have taken a liking to me. He wanted to know what I alone thought of each wine as we tasted, so I did my best to describe what I was tasting. At the end, as we got up to leave, he pulled me aside with his oldest wine we had tried and told me "we gonna finish this toghether now - you and me!" So we sat back down and finished off the bottle before her father, brother and Godfather knew what was going on. It was damn good wine! We headed back to her Godfather's house for dinner, and as we ate, Joe proclaimed me to be his "Best good Friend"...but then the wine got the best of him as he forgot my name. In all, one of the most enjoyable evenings in Portugal. Joe told me after dinner that again, I was his "Best good friend, and I never gonna forget you". The feeling is mutual - the man is already a legend for me!

- Our visit to Porto was another excellent day, probably the best day that was spent with the whole family there. In the morning we toured Porto itself, the cathedral followed by some old medieval steps down to the World Heritage old quarter of town. It was ridiculous trying to find parking, but Porto is meant to be walked if you want to enjoy it's charm. In the afternoon, the fun really began. After her father got us lost trying to find our way across the river, we arrived on the south banks of the Douro river to begin the first of three Port wine tours. Prior to our trip, I talked to the intrepid Ken to find out where the best places to go were in Porto, and he put me into contact with a lovely lady in the industry, who managed to set us up with 3 wine tours, 90 mins apart, with a "little bit extra". As it turns out, we had the best wine tours ever, except maybe Ken's tour - there were no 1860 Vintage port tastings for us. We sure loved what we got, though! First up was Graham's, and since we had gotten lost, we were late for our first timing - so I ran up the hill in the 40 deg sun to make sure we didn't lose the reservation. We made it for a 15 min late start. Excellent, informative cellars tour, and the tasting was excellent - All free, and 7 total wines we tasted - fantastic! My favorite was the 2003 Vintage Port. I thought it would need more age, but it's mighty fine right now! Of course, our tour took longer than I thought, so now were 20 mins behind for the second tour - so I ran down the hill and along the waterfront in Gaia to Ramos Pinto to save the time for that tour. Not an easy run after a bunch of port wine! We started that tour 30 mins behind, but it was by far the best tour we had - Ramos Pinto is a smaller name, but they are all about class and art - their tour was exceptional. They took us through the offices of the port house, showing us old risque advertisements and all their medals for their port - this was interesting. Whenever I see a wine or a cigar band or box with a bunch of medals on it - I always wonder - what are these medals - did they used to have cigar and wine festivals in the 19th century to ensure that everyone had some medals? Does anyone ever see them? Well - now I saw them. They are real! The tasting for Ramos Pinto was the tastiest - 6 port wines, and they started us with a 10 year tawny...when thats the worst one of the tasting, you're in for some good port wine. I loved the 30 year - they told me it'd be awesome with a cigar. I will find out soon! The last tour (and the hardest run for me, we were still late) was Sandeman. Just the crappiest wine tour you've ever seen.....but I guess we'd been spoiled. The tour guide was all canned material, no interaction, and the tasting was just two of the worst ports they had. I do NOT recommend Sandeman for port wine tours. All in all, Ken's friend really came through for us - we had too hella good tours in Porto that we won't soon forget. Thanks for helping set that up, Ken!

- I told you about the tight driveway to our rented house....One day, we were leaving to go to the river upstream for some swimming. My fiancee was rushing things in a bid to get out the door, so I pulled out fast from the driveway..and listened to the squeal of my car scrape against the granate fence post beside us . I scraped the back right door and quarter panel real good, all I could see was dollar signs - this is work that could cost $2000 in North America - but I had no idea how much mechanics screwed people over in Portugal. Shiiiiit! Sure ruined the swimming at the river, although probably a good idea I didn't swim much, my fiancee had a leech grab on to her in mid-stream, so that was the last time we went to that part of the river! In any case, I called VISA to ask for a credit extension to pay for damages - to find out that VISA insurance would pay for the whole thing!. Travellers - make sure to pay for your rental car with a Visa - they cover damage claims, even overseas! (as long as there is no third party lawsuits, IE don't hit someone!). So that was a narrow miss - in the end, it didn't cost me a dime! Chris 1....Portugal 0.

- Our voyage back was terrible - you know about the salmonella after we got back - but that's not the whole story! We got on our flight from Porto to Lisbon no problem. But once in Lisbon, we arrive with 1 hour of connection time to find that our flight to Philadelphia was on final call already despite being 1 hour from leaving! Fiancee raced to the gate, I raced to the DF store to get the bottle of Balvenie Port Wood Scotch I coveted. I met her in the passport line to get into the international terminal - which tells you how quick the line was moving! We got to the gate with 40 mins to go to departure, and they asked us for our bag tags...never a good sign. Sure enough, in Philly - all 4 of our suitcases had never left Lisbon. Great. At least US Customs never asked to look at all my "Dominican Cigars" in my carry on bags! So we got on our flight to Seattle. Of course, our plane's cockpit instruments were blacking out.......so muiltiple fixes (and no free booze!) later, 3 hours after departure time, we took off for Seattle. It was a comedy now, let me tell you! By the time we reached Seattle, it was after midnight and we didn't even care about the crumminess of our 50$ Rodeway inn room. Taking the train the next morning to downtown Seattle, we had to feel like it was smooth sailing now. Nope! Our Clipper ferry, the newest in the fleet - had mechanical problems...so we had to turn back 30 mins into the sail. They shoehorned us into the next hour's boat, so we were packed in like sardines...but at least they lowered the price of booze on the sail. Mimosas for all! We arrived in Victoria, without further incident, and celebrated with lunch at our favorite seafood place on the water. Enter Oyster Sandwich....

Lastly - THE CIGARS!!!

One day we went an hour north of where we were in Portugal to visit Vigo, Spain, a charming port town. It was a fun city - with a ridiculous driving experience! I don't know if european folks are used to this - but a 4 lane, 8 entrance Roundabout? I don't know how I got through that without additional damage - I mean, there was traffic lights INSIDE the roundabout!!!! Who knows how many I ran trying to get the hell out of that thing??!?! Hilarious. I actually enjoyed the challenge, and drove it flawlessly on the exit. Meanwhile - I went to the El Corte Inglis Department store in downtown Vigo...where they had a lovely walk-in Humidor - JACKPOT!!!!

In addition to the 2003 box of Upmann Sir Winnies and 2009 RE box of Punch Super Robustos from the Madrid Airport, I found...

El Rey Del Mundo Grandes de Espana, 2001 (Loaded with Oils, smell divine ......they had 15 boxes in the cupboard below!!!!!!!)

Ramon Allones Grandes RE Espana 2008 (The smell of these babies in the 3-4-3 box was fantastic - these will be blockbusters!)

Rafael Gonzalez Lonsdales 2001 (These were....good. Not the greatest box for construction, but for the price point - I'm not complaining as I have been searching forever for a box!)

and 2 singles of the Sancho Panza Coronas Grandes - I finally get to try these!

As I throw in, I took also a box of Hoyo Coronas, 2001 - I figure, why not - they are lonely and forgotten in the corner, construction and smell are good - discontinued....go for it!

They had others I liked, but it was either 2000/1999 cigars, or they just weren't great construction. The El Corte Inglis in Vigo - Highly recommended if you're looing for the hard-to-find smokes, especially the ERDM GDEs.....I'm not kidding about the 15 boxes!!!

Vigo made up for Madrid's failings in the Cigar aspect. What a haul - you can see below!

Enjoy the pictures, I have added captions where Applicable!

That was my Portugal trip. Truly, the best of times, and the Blurst of times. The family stuff nearly ruined it, but I still had tons of fun at different points. That's it though - next vacation spot is Cuba, no ifs, ands or buts!!!!

Please note - where the bands look all over the place on the cigars - for most boxes I had removed the bands and reboxed them in Non-Cuban boxes for US customs - so the bands weren't easy to all put back as they were! It was worth it though!

My Sir Winnies!

These pictures really don't tell the whole story - these things smell and look like oily Chocolate.

The one I smoked in Portugal was a revelation...chocolate, cocoa, coffee, cinnamon....it smoked like a dream!

Punch Gran Robustos - RE 2009 for Spain

These are definitely too young to properly judge. They smoke good now, with sweet notes and that sour Punch taste, but they will be at their peak in another few years.

Ramon Allones Grandes - RE 2008 for Spain

Felt really lucky to find these! Interesting to find a regular production size as an RE, but they have the richest bunch aroma I've ever encountered - they ought to really shine in 2-3 years or so. Love the 3-4-3 presentation! Note the scratches on the top of the box near the Habanos banner - US Customs inspected our luggage when they finally arrived 4 days later - but didn't confiscate the cigars OR the port (I know they looked because of the box damage and the humi pouch that the cigars were in was left open)........they took our 2 lemons and 2 oranges we were bringing home from her grandfather's trees. Imagine that.........Cigars got through, but the lemons didn't make it.

Hoyo Coronas. A good box of go-to smokes at a great prices, and discontinued to boot! Smoked a few of these, they have cream and coffee notes, solid tobacco flavour.

Rafael Gonzalez Lonsdales.

Boy I love the classy label on this box!

Tasty smoke, with nutty flavours and a smooth cocoa overtone. Exactly what I was looking for!

El Rey Del Mundo Grandes de Espana.

I wish I had room for more than just one box. Smoked 2 of these at a barbeque last week - Just a great, classy smoke with floral charactor and sweet honey tastes. Ecstatic to have found some!

Now we get into the trip pictures! Here I am, being a douchebag tourist at the first ever Starbucks in Seattle.

Our first meal in Portugal. What's on the table is an example of what they give you before the meal comes. That meat (Presunte) is some damn tasty ham!

The view to the right at sunrise from her grandfather's house. Just awesome.

A modern Portugese house. They build 'em right!

The Roman "Pont" That Ponte de Lima gets it's name from. Still in use today

My Fiancee's Grandparents. So Glad I could meet them!

Big Family midday meal. A classic - barbequed Chicken and salad with roasted potatoes. Unbelievably good tasting food.

Elaborate Fountain in Braga. I guess the square was more active when the thing was built.

The day we went to the beach. A little too rocky for my taste.

This was the best-presented meal I had. A Skewer of Veal, giant prawns and roasted peppers. It tasted bland (blandest meal I had the whole trip!) but at least it LOOKED awesome!

The Square in Viana do Costelo

Possibly the best road-sign i've EVER seen. I was on high alert for a kilometer afterward. For what - I have no idea!

My fiancee, Chantelle and I in Viana do Costello

The best Pork anyone has EVER TASTED! (our host actually offered up the jaw.....I declined )

Our meal at her Godparent's house near Coimbra. My "Best Good Friend" Joe is on the left at the far end of the table.

Eating Barnacles in Vigo, Spain. I know, I know.

Porto!

Possibly the best steps to stumble drunk down....medieval staircase into the old city from the Cathedral, Porto

Porto from across the Douro in Gaia

Our Graham's tasting....Don't worry, I finished that last glass too!

I've had some port by now......

Ramos Pinto was much more classy....

Actual Medals that Ramos Pinto has won. Not just random medals on a bottle label or cigar band anymore!

Anybody Thirsty?

I've had a LOT of Port wine.

I love this - the evolution of the Port bottle! I wonder why they don't use the ones at bottom right anymore?

Everyone loves Aqueducts! At least, I do - these were the first ones I've seen outside of Rome. In Povoa de Varzim.

A view of the Rio Vez, winding its way through Arcos de Valdevez, the village where we stayed.

Nice architecture in Guimaraes. But you're not looking at that - you're looking at the hypnotizing pathway in the foreground!

12th century castle in Guimaraes.

Seems pretty defensible from up top

my Fiancee admiring the view from atop the castle

The ever-present forest fires.....being fought by a helicopter with a giant barrel of water. Seriously, we watched this guy go back and forth with water like 10 times. He was still going 4 hours later. The fire continued.

Sunset from her grandfather's house. Isn't that a wicked view or what?

"Parting is such sweet sorrow". Porto from the air as we leave Portugal.

Hope you enjoyed!

[cigcars]

*What lovely pictures! What lovely scenery! What delicious looking food! What lovely people!!! Next time you go, take me!!

[MrGlass]

Read the whole thing - no wonder it took you so long to get to it.

Thanks for sharing this with us.

Nick.

[rusty]

Great pics, thanks for sharing

PORT!!!

[LeafLover]

Thank you for sharing all of that. Was like I was watching the Travel Channel.

But, Chance, no pics of you and cigars? Did you not get a chance to steal away and burn one?

[slee87]

damn thats a nice trip thanks for sharing now its time for me to sip on some PORT!!!!

[bob25]

Thanks a lot for sharing.

Looks like great times.

Great pics!

[investandprosper]

I admit, I only read the juicy family drama and looked at the great pictures

Sorry to hear that you had to endure those issues during your vacation. If I were in your position, I'd sit down with her father (preferably over a cigar and a drink if he enjoys them), just you two, and hash it out. It might not be pretty, but it could clear the air.

Thanks for the pics! Those Sir Winnies and Ramon Allones are something else. Loved the 12th Century castle too!

[Ken Gargett]

glad you enjoyed the tours. oporto is one of the great cities. so much fun.

did the pork come from a town south of oporto? i forget the name but it is famous for its suckling pig - whole string of restaurants do nothing else.

[cigarros]

Fantastic review! Great picks! Thanks for sharing!

Cigars and port

[partagasd4]

Great cigars and port! Sorry to hear about the family troubles, but your fiance chose you and that's all that matters. Cheers

[Guest rob]

AWESOME TRIP REPORT, Schmerr. Really fricking good.

Thanks for taking your time and helping me pass some of my time!

[DrunkenMonkey]

Thanks for sharing this, Chris.

[laficion]

Chance,

FANTASTIC simply FANTASTIC reporting.

Sorry to read about the family trouble, but that happens to the best of us

and many of us have been there also, family will be family

If I'm not mistaken, THAT must be the longest and the most complete report

in the history of FOH . Great and interesting story, Fantastic pics., plus

those cigars look WONDERFUL, seems like many are from 2001 and I must say,

they really look tasty Thank you so much for sharing it all with us.

Congratulations and BRAVO !!!!!!!!!

[anacostiakat]

Damn! Great pictures! Thanks for sharing!

[bolivr]

Awesome mate I should do a travel report on my trip and you have raised the bar.

[CanuckSARTech]

Excellent, Chance.

A very detailed and interesting report, sounds like an amazing trip (aside from the obvious). Great pictures, beautiful views, nice cigars, and what seems like a better appreciation and wonderment of your fiancees family history and homeland.

I hope all the positives definitely outweighed the negatives for you.

Thanks for sharing the story with us - I enjoyed reading it.

[And, nice score on the Visa insurance coverage. I always use my travel Visa for that sort of stuff, too, but I've never had to use it - glad to know you were covered. More money for cigars!]

[Geo17pip]

Looks like an amazing trip! I cant wait to do something like that in my near future.

[PigFish]

Great thread Chris!!! A few comments!

Cigars... great.

Trip pics... great.

Blue jumpsuit on grandad... great.

Roasting one of my brethren!!! We have gotta' talk! -LOL

Not that I am cherry picking.... but nice score on the GdE and the RG Lonnies! Thanks for sharing. -Ray

[toto]

Thanks for the great trip report! Detailed with photos. NICE.

Good haul on the stogies!

NOthing beats family, good food and good cigars!

Thanks for the read.

[thechenman]

Chris...thanks for sharing the story and the pics of your trip. Sorry to hear about the pitfalls, but hey...you scored some gorgeous sticks on this trip. Family is family and hopefully things iron out over time. Good luck, and I hope you are back to feeling 100%.

[Mr.T]

Thanks fot that incredible summary and journey! Felt like I was right there with you. Sorry to hear about the in-laws. I find that relationships with in-laws are the trickiest! I get along very well with mine and I like them a lot even though we are very, very, very far apart when it comes to things like politics. I hope you can work things out with them because if not it can be a strain on any marriage...It's never good to let things fester, especially when you are going to be with one you love for rest of your life! Thanks again for the great summary! Look forward to your next vacation.

[ChanceSchmerr]

Glad you all enjoyed my experiences! I look forward to some posted reviews of these cigars as I try more of them. I think it was definitely worth the wait to get out as much of my trip as I could. I love reading about people's trips to Cuba and Ken's narrow escape from vacation to Italy and Monaco, and Rob's drunken tomfoolery in Havana, and Guy's adventures in France with his cigar club......just trying to meet the standard that already been set!

Oh, and Piggy - did I mention how scrumptious that suckling Pig was? Melt in your mouth pork....

But, Chance, no pics of you and cigars? Did you not get a chance to steal away and burn one?

I smoked a few in Portugal, but since her father seldom smokes cigars because the smoke bothers his eyes, and her brother didn't seem interested to join me, it was always just myself, literally hiding away to have a smoke. Not the best way to enjoy a Habanos, but the Sir Winny I smoked under the fig tree was fantastic, and the Punch Gran Robustos I tried elsewhere were also good. There was just no one interested in snapping a picture of it, sad to say!

glad you enjoyed the tours. oporto is one of the great cities. so much fun.

did the pork come from a town south of oporto? i forget the name but it is famous for its suckling pig - whole string of restaurants do nothing else.

The Pork came from the village of Barcouco, south of Mealhada and just north of Torre de Vilela, 10 Km north of Coimbra and about 100 km south of Porto. We ourselves were in the village of Pisao when we had the pork. You shoulda been there, Ken - I think you would have liked Joe and his wine! Besides, after those wine tours in Porto, the whole family was a big fan of you and Joana.....they like you more than me!

[Azksig]

Great pics! You are going to make a few members very jealous with your score of the GdE

[Ken Gargett]

the whole family was a big fan of you and Joana.....they like you more than me!

after everything you've said about the family, turns out they have great taste in the end!!

did you get to meet joana or was she busy having more kids? she is an absolute hoot, so much fun, and seems to me that she just about runs portugal (i ended up in this magnifcent home high up in the douro for a few nights - was full of winemakers, bankers and supermodels as far as i could work out. one night when we were watching soccer - the owner's brother or father or uncle or something had set up or owned sporting lisbon or benfica or one of the portuguese teams, not to mention the bank of lisbon. the father turns to me and asks how i've ended up with them. i start to explain that one of his sons apparently knows someone who knows joana. 'oh, joana' he says. end of discussion. apparently all that needed to be said).

if you think portuguese drivers are bad, and they are shocking, she is the all-time worst. she drove us around a lot of portugal on my first trip when i met her. terrifying. held on for grim death the entire time. she'd start explaining something to us and completely forget she was driving and we'd have to tell her to watch the road because she'd completely forgotten about it. she would be on two mobiles and doing the make up at high speed while abusing other drivers more often than i care to remember. she first picked us up at the airport - she had only just got back to work after 12 months in intensive care and hospital for, of course, a massive car accident - and drove us into lisbon. suddenly we were going the wrong way on a four lane road in the middle of the town. cars going everywhere to miss us. some bloke actually filmed us as we went past. meanwhile joana is abusing all the other drivers who are swerving to miss us, because she thinks that this road used to go both ways and not just the one and they must have changed it while she was in hospital so that makes it not her fault.