We just got back from our stay at the family Ribeiro’s villa in Alfena. What a truly wonderful experience! Entering the premises through the impressive automatic gate, we found an oasis of peace and quiet in the middle of the small town of Alfena, near Porto.
The Ribeiro’s
dog immediately started barking, as it always does to strangers. After Mr. Ribeiro
told the dog we were good people, it kept quiet, as it did for the rest of our
stay. Quite an intelligent dog!
The
reception by Mr. and Mrs. Ribeiro was very warm and welcoming. They made us
feel at home right from the start. They showed us the house, which is very
beautiful. The pictures on the website are not exaggerated: it meets the
WYSIWYG-principle: What You See Is What You Get. Everything is as nice as you
see it in the pictures, or better.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Ribeiro did everything to make our stay enjoyable. They
showed us where the nice restaurants were, the nearby bakery and supermarket,
and gas station. Mr. Ribeiro even took me out in his car to help me get some
documents scanned and printed, right when I needed it.
The villa is
very luxurious. Especially the bedrooms, which are very spacious and beautifully
furnished. In addition to the curtains, all have nice wooden paneled shutters
to keep the light and warmth out. Keeping the warmth out was unnecessary in our
case, as temperatures were not that high; we kept the shutters open to let some
warmth in instead.
As it is an old villa, dating back to 1883 with a private chapel dating from
1774, some doors are a bit low: people like myself (1,91 m) have to be careful
not to bump their head, as the owner never ceased to point out when leading us
around.
The living
room has a nice surprise for most people: it has a pool table right in the
middle. The French windows open up to a very nice garden, with a large swimming
pool. Many birds can be seen and heard in the garden, like the robin, the great
tit and wagtail. You have no idea you’re right in the centre of a medium sized
town. Only the remote barking of a dog can be heard. Other than that, it is
very nice and quiet. As said,
Mr. and Mrs. Ribeiro, or Sebastian and Goretti, were very friendly; they live
at the other side of the manor and we had very pleasant and long talks with
them. Of course it helps if you speak Portuguese, like my wife, or French, like
me. But if you don’t, there is always Helder, either in person or at the other
end of the phone.
Since we were planning to visit Porto and do some more sight-seeing, we chose this beautiful villa in Alfena. From the villa, you can easily reach Porto in ten minutes. Porto is a wonderful city, beautifully located on both banks of the river Douro and well worth a visit! The cities of Braga and Guimarães can be reached in half an hour and Viana do Castelo in just 50 minutes. Or take a drive around the countryside along one of the rivers Támega and Douro. You won’t be disappointed.
To sum things up: we had a wonderful experience at this beautiful villa. We liked it so much that we decided to prolong our stay, instead of returning to Lisbon. We will be back!
When you visit
Porto, don’t bother to find a free parking space, like many Portuguese do. Just
go to one of the parking garages: there is always enough space and they cost at
most € 5 per day. Your car will be cool when you return too! The parking garage
at the Dom Luis I bridge is very convenient. Right near the port wine-cellars,
the Douro cruise terminals and the famous Ribeira quarter at the other side of
the Douro (just cross the bridge and you’re there!). An open sight-seeing bus
will take you to most of the famous spots in Porto.
A wonderful
day-trip is a cruise along the river Douro. We did one of these cruises with a company called Barcadouro. One of the options available is a cruise where you embark at 8:15 AM in Porto and
sail under the famous bridges, pass two impressive dams (14 and 35 m
differences in water level) and see the great port vineyards on both river
banks. At about 3:30 PM you disembark in Regua, from where you will take the
train back to Porto. Don’t forget to sit on the left-hand side of the train for
the best views!
No comments:
Post a Comment