Columns

(Part 2 of 2 on Portugal)

In May 2003 I traipsed behind Geoffrey Newman on a weeklong trek with The Wayfarers titled “Dorset Gardens: Rambles and Roses” (April ’04, pg. 42). The Wayfarers, a UK touring company, has run tours through the English countryside and beyond for close to 30 years.

Finishing dinner at Rome’s Ristorante da Fortunato, my friend Stefano explained that his greatest joy is an after-dinner drink called grappa. I tried my best to enjoy the local firewater and failed.

Sipping the grappa, Stefano instructed me, “You must not be in a hurry when taking a grappa!”

He savored it carefully, sniffing the aroma and lingering over every taste. He then told me that his ultimate joy is to have a glass of grappa — and a Tuscan cigar — while cruising on his sailboat to Corsica.

Dear Globetrotter:

Welcome to the 442nd issue of your monthly foreign-travel magazine, the one that prints the reports you send in.

(Third of three parts)

(1 of 2 on Portugal)

Two of Portugal’s most remarkable monasteries — Alcobaça and Batalha — lie within 12 miles of each other 80 miles north of Lisbon. One celebrates a tragic love, and the other, victory in war.

If the tide is out, you can walk a quarter-mile cobblestone causeway to St. Michael’s Mount. Don’t worry if you linger on your tour of the castellated mansion atop this tidal island, a mirror image of Normandy’s famed Mont-St-Michel directly across the English Channel. When the tide comes rushing in, a motorboat ferry will carry you back.

Most visitors travel to the island for the sole purpose of wandering the public, grand rooms of the castle, owned and continuously lived in by members of the St. Aubyn family since 1646.

Americans get the shortest vacations in the industrial world. With so little time, the pressure is on to make all the right choices when planning a trip. But how to select the right destination!? It ultimately depends on your interests and your tastes — and what your experienced travel writer tells you.

Dear Globetrotter:

Welcome to the 441st issue of your foreign-travel magazine, the one you can help write.