horseback riding and steak made a great weekend
From: Bill Cog....
Date: Thu, 27 Sep 2012 11:31:55 +0100
"a restaurant where the family breeds lusitano horses"
A friend recommended Obidos and Foz lagoon for some horseback riding,
so we came out for very long weekend. Our 5 days were great and much
better than being stuck in our fancy Lisbon hotel.
The apartment was just fine, clean and spacious. The view of the lake
and sea is fantastic, and Dave was very helpful in suggesting where
we might rent horses for trail rides. Not big ranches, but some fine
stables locally near the lake and castle.
Dave pointed us to a restaurant where the family breeds lusitano
horses, and the food there was cooked on the fire. It was good, the
best steak I've had since arriving, almost like being back home in
Tx. The boys had black boar which is hunted here.
Sorry we are having to move on so soon, but there's a lot to see in
Europe. We learned about some horse shows where we can see more of
those lusitanos locally so my boys want to come back in the spring. I
hope I can join them and return to Portugal.
Comments
Thanks for your review Bill, I'm glad you managed to the get some
riding with the stables near Obidos.
It's also great to hear that you enjoyed your meal in the small
village of Guisado in the hills beyond Caldas. We've known Luisa and
her family for over 25 years now and you can always count on good
service, good value and of course good food at "Solar do Amigos".
Even before we had the motorways people from Lisbon came all the way
out here for her meals and her home baked bread.
I usually have the T Bone and Cristina likes the fillet. I think your
sons probably had "porco preto" which is the black pig from the
Alentejo. That is pork which has wandered freely over the farm land
rather than being kept indoors. Some restaurants do have Javali, wild
boar, which has been hunted in the North for many years and I read in
the local paper last week is now being hunted on moonlit nights
locally as the wild boar are destroying crops.
It's a shame you are not able to return in November for the Feira
Nacional do Cavalo (National Horse Fair) as every year it attracts
horse lovers, breeders and riders from all over the world who share a
passion for the genuine Lusitano breed.
I do hope you'll be able to return with your sons in the spring when
the "Associação de Criadores do Cavalo Lusitano do Oeste"
(Association of Horse Breeders Lusitano of the West) will hopefully
be holding their annual fair. In 2012 it was in mid May with a parade
of fine horses passing through the streets of Caldas da Rainha.
I don't have the dates yet for 2013, but if you drop me a line in the
new year I'll hopefully know then, and I hope you will be able to
return with your sons.
The above message posted by: David | September 30, 2012 4:39 PM