Portugal (2014)
The Holiday Itinerary
We visited England and Portugal for approximately 3 weeks in May 2014. We split our time in London with stays in Pucklechurch in Bristol and Porto in Portugal. Our Itinerary was follows:
- Fly into London
- 1 night in London
- 4 nights in Pucklechurch
- 6 nights in London
- 6 nights in Portugal
- 3 nights in London
- Fly home from London
This is the Portugal portion of the holiday
May 18
Day 13 - We Arrive In Portugal
The TAP flight is a little delayed in departing Gatwick Airport and we arrive in Porto at about 2:30pm after a 2 hour flight.
At the airport we find the Europcar desk and catch the shuttle bus to the hire car site. It is only a few minutes away. Our hire car is a manual Renault Megane. The lady at the counter sets our GPS address for us as the address we are given for Hippikos is a little difficult to understand and it is confusing to distinguish streets, towns, areas etc. Anyway, we get the GPS set and head off
I drive and to complicate matters a little is the fact we are driving on the other side of the road (right side of the road) and the gear shift is on my right hand, rather than left hand. Despite that it doesn’t take too long to get the hang of it and not too many gear grinding shifts!!
We get slightly off track a couple of times but find Hippikos in the end and arrive at about 4pm in the afternoon. On arrival, we wander around to find our host Antonio who is the owner/manager. He shows us to our room and we meet some of the other guests. Afternoon tea arrives and we are provided with some white wine & sherry. We also have some orange cake, cold meats with bread and cheese, chips and biscuits.
After eating we are given a tour of the facilities, stables and meet the horses – some of whom Donna will be riding over the next 5 days.
After that we wander around the grounds some more.
A little late we all come together for dinner and what a feast!
Again we start with the white port wine & sherry. First there is a half avocado stuffed with apple salad and smoked salmon. It is delicious. Next is a mushroom and chestnut soup. Main course is slices of rolled pork with pineapple served with potatoes and vegetables. Dessert is chocolate cake with white cream icing. There are also cheeses, tea and coffee. Throughout the meal there is also white wine, red wine & champagne. There is plenty to eat and drink and we have to stop before we explode!
Dinner is served at a long table with all the guests together. There are 12 guests (including us). Most of the guests are from Sweden, Norway and England.
Antonio joins us for dinner and is a generous and interesting host. We head to bed about 10:30pm.
What a day and what a location. Hippikos is beautiful and I think we will be overfed and probably have far too much to drink over the next few days. But what the hell – I think we will definitely enjoy it.
May 19
Day 14 - The Lessons Begin
Today is the first day of Lessons for Donna at the Hippikos Equestrian Centre. Donna will have 3 riding lessons per day for the next 5 days.
Breakfast is at 8am and consists of a range of foods, from cereal, toast, jams to eggs & bacon. There is plenty of tea and coffee as well. A great start to the day.
Donna’s first lesson is at 10am on a Lusitano horse called Venturoso. It is a compact, short necked grey horse and is ridden in a Pelham.
During the lesson Donna did walk, trot, canter, leg yielding and flying changes. The horse was well drilled and knew the changes and would anticipate.
Donna’s second ride was at 12 noon and was flat work on a huge 17 hh bay horse called Celtic Warrior. This horse was more like Donna’s Metrix at home in both size and length.
It rained during the lesson and as it was outdoors, Donna got quite wet.
Lunch was after the lesson and was another big meal. First course was small ;flattish’ sausages with green peppers & olives and bread. Next was soup. Main was a large roasting type platter. On one side was different meats & sausages. On the other side was veges. This was followed by cheeses & quince paste, with tea and coffee. There was also very nice white wine to have with the meal.
After lunch Donna and I went for a short walk around the neighbouring streets.
Donna’s final lesson for the day was at 6pm on Trefolio who was a 17 hh Bay stallion. This was Donna’s favourite horse so far.
Dinner was late tonight, about 8:30pm as the last group of riders rode at 7pm. Again there was pre-dinner drinks and nibbles. First course was a ratatouille type salad with cheese. Then potato and leek soup. Main was bread crumbed topped baked salmon & salad. Dessert was a marble type cake. Then finished with tea, coffee, cheese & biscuits. There was also more wines with dinner.
About 11pm we left for bed.