The Portugal Papers

We needed to leave and return to the EU to get our passport visas stamped. Or maybe we didn’t. We were never sure, but to be on the safe side, our OTP (Official Trip Planner) booked an overnight trip to the UK to meet friends for dinner. We stayed at a gorgeous Victorian mansion on 35 acres in the English countryside of Windsor, right on the River Thames. It was a memorable 30+ hours. Here now, is the story.

Air Portugal offers an early, but direct flight from Porto to London Gatwick airport. The flight was uneventful, but we then faced a 1.5 hour, traffic-heavy Uber ride to Windsor. The sight of Oakley Court, our hotel for the night, made the journey worth it. We checked in and immediately had lunch in one of the little salons. The food was excellent, and I was particularly excited to drink a real Diet Coke, with ice! (Coca-Cola zero açúcar isn’t the same.) Here are some interior pics of the hotel.

As gorgeous as the hotel and grounds were, our room was…lacking. We had clearly been given one of the un-remodeled rooms, complete with old carpet and 80s decor. It did, however, have cold air-conditioning and a bathtub, both of which I was happy about. We decided it would be fine for one night. After a bath and a nap, we met Lisa’s friend Tina in the lobby and headed to the nearby village of Cookham for dinner at Bel & The Dragon, a charming inn and restaurant. It was a beautiful, breezy evening. We met Tina’s husband Matt and their adorable dog Elvis at an outdoor patio table. What a lovely couple, and what a lovely evening! We went to sleep late that night, full of good food and happy memories.

At around 6 AM, I woke to the sound of pouring water. Half asleep, I thought I was home and we had another bathroom flood! (See my June 3 post for that story.) I jumped out of bed and ran through the bathroom doorway, under a waterfall? No, actually the air conditioning vent in the ceiling was pouring water onto the carpet! I grabbed towels, a trash can to catch the water, and turned off the air conditioner. I called to Lisa, who was, let’s say, unhappy about the early wake-up call. I tried to get back to sleep, but gave up after about an hour, so we rallied and went downstairs to breakfast. The water had slowed to a loud drip drip drip by then.

Fortunately, the rest of our stay was lovely! We enjoyed breakfast outside while our room was addressed, and spent most of the day relaxing by the Thames. It was heaven. Here are some pics.

By late afternoon, we finished lunch and reluctantly gathered our things to head back to the airport. In route, Lisa received a news alert that there was a severe water issue in Gatwick, affecting the airport. Uh oh… surely it would be addressed by the time we got there, right?

Nope! Gatwick Airport had no water, which meant no open restaurants, no open lounges, and no bathrooms! We spent the next several hours in crowded airport space, sweating and limiting our water intake. I was ready to ditch the airport and head back to the Thames, but cooler heads (Lisa) prevailed, and we stuck it out until our flight was called. After a very long day, we made it through passport security in Porto, with NO STAMPS ADDED TO OUR PASSPORTS. Apparently, everything is digital now. Regardless, we saved our boarding passes and headed back to Braga. But we will always have Windsor, and the River Thames.

I hope you all had a fun weekend!✈️