Our travel consultant, Tour Tailors, booked us into Morgadio da Calcana for two nights of a 14 night, you-drive, independent tour of Portugal. Of all the very nice hotels we stayed at, this stood out as our most memorable. This is a small, boutique hotel with a handful of modern, sparsely decorated but elegant en suite guest rooms created out of the stone sheds and out buildings of the main manor house with its 20’ high ceilings that dates back to this family’s original ownership in 1610. What made this so special for us was the personal involvement of the owner, Manuel and his daughter and sons, the totally relaxing atmosphere of the Morgadio da Calcana vineyards that surround you, and the superb candlelight, four course dinners with wonderfully paired ports and wine (which you can buy and have shipped home) from their very own grapes. It was a little hard to find as it is way up in the hills above the Douro Valley, but the drive there was incredibly beautiful. On arrival, once you locate the inauspicious doorway (it took us almost 10 minutes to locate it) and step through the beamed portal, you enter another world. You won’t be sharing this secret with a bus load of tourists. This is a special place that you should go out of your way to experience.
Terjemahkan