Many foreign guests come from Northern Europe or North America and many of the Portuguese guests live in the city. All are very interested and curious – which is great! Once settled in at Quinta da Bouça, these are some of the doubts or questions that we get most frequently bigsmile
Photo sent by Danielle&Clement from Canada (May2015)
So many orange and lemon trees … Do you have oranges and lemons all year round?
Lemons, yes! Closer to Autumn a bit less, but we do pick lemons during all year! Most of our orange trees bloom in the Spring time. Actually, during the entire year, on the same tree there are oranges already orange colored and, at the same time, still green … It is a curious phenomenon that also happens with lemon trees. We pick the most juicy and sweet oranges in the Winter time. But some orange trees are of a later variety and it is also possible to have some fairly good orange in the Summer.
What is the difference between “ObrigadO” and “ObrigadA”?
We get many foreign guests on Quinta da Bouça. This question about the Portuguese language is made very often! And the answer is simple: “ObrigadO” should be said by male speakers “ObrigadA” shoud be said by female speakers.smile
Photo sent by Manuela&Pedro from Portugal (Sep2014)
It would be great to bring our dog/cat. Can we?
Yes, pets are welcome. However, for the safety of everyone, starting on your pet itself, you can only bring it to Casa da Raposeira. This guest house has a large fenced garden where he (or she) will have lots of fun!
All other guest houses have their own private garden too, but they are connected to the whole 16 hectares of the property. Specially dogs, they could find a way of escaping…
We love hiking. What are the hiking routes you recommend?
To this question we have too many answers! Fortunately, around us there are many footpaths for hiking that are well worth.
Using the opinion and experience of our guests, we highlight the PR2 of Cinfães (Bestança Valley) and PR1 of Marco de Canaveses (Soalhães).
[We’ll be highlighting this topic in our blog, stay tuned]
Photo sent by Toni&Ray from the UK (Sep2015)
When’s the grape harvest season at Quinta da Bouça?
Usualy the harvest is done in the second half of September. With not that many vineards, our harvest lasts no more than two days … That is, we harvest the grapes in a day and a half. Everything else is handled in the following days until the washing of the baskets, of course.
Our production is modest but the harvest involves us all. And when there are guests present, it is a bonus for everyone!
Check more activities and descriptions about the Farm Life in our blogsmile
Since we’re staying for a bit longer period, we decided to spend a day at Porto. Mosteirô Station is less than 10 min. away. Is it better to go there by train or car?
To not go by car can become very practical when arriving in Porto! The Douro rail line takes you to the very center of the city, to the beautiful station of S. Bento. Here, you can visit on foot around the historic city center and it is also easy to find tourist transports (such as Hop-On Hop-Off buses).
However, there are guests who prefer to be free of schedules and visit Porto by car. After all, it’s only one hour driving.
