When I brought my group to Portugal I was fortunate to have Raffaella D’Intino, the director of “Episode” a leading travel firm based in Lisbon to help me arrange an Itinerary for our unforgettable eight day trip in June 2010

 

We met at Lisbon airport - a group of thirty two friends, twenty one from Israel and eleven from England. Sergio, our Portuguese guide is one of several employed by “Episode “. He greeted us and stored our luggage in the base of the large comfortable air-conditioned coach that was waiting for us outside the main gates. It took us twenty five minutes to arrive at the hotel, during which time Sergio gave us some feeling of the layout of the capital city and its history. We felt immediately that we had a guide who would make our visit both interesting and with a touch of humour, memorable.

During our travels over the next week we were impressed by Sergio’s general knowledge as well as specific information on Jewish Heritage. The coach always arrived promptly and soon we felt both the driver and Sergio were our friends too.

We had a full Itinerary which stretched from Lisbon –Tomar-Coimbre-Porto-Covilha-Belmonte-Castelo de Vide- Lisbon- Sintra and Evora

 There were many highlights which we shall all remember. To mention a few;

1.      The Baroque library of more than 300,000 tomes, built between 1717 and 1723 by King João V. A written description of the height of its halls and the gold leaf-decorated ceiling and walls can in no way give justice to the magnificent sight we beheld standing with open-mouthed awe and admiration,

2.      The meeting in the mountain city of Belmonte with past conversos who have now returned to their Jewish origins. The beautiful synagogue, the meals they prepared, the dancing and singing  together and the recently opened Jewish museum we visited

3.      The meeting with Mr Carolino Tapatejo, a past mayor and the instigator of the excavations/archeological project in the town guided us through the cobbled streets finishing at the small town square where the forced baptisms took place in the 15^th & 16^th centuries..

 We also tasted the rich kosher Port produced at Taylors wineries and enjoyed a cheese and wine evening with two varieties of excellent kosher dry red wines and kosher cheeses from the Braz factory in Covilha.

 I would highly recommend “Episode” for their promptness, attention to details, attention to our special interests and for their outstanding guide, Sergio, who made history come to life in a masterly manner,

Many thanks

Sheila Becker, “Sheila’s Friends”, Jerusalem

Dear Raffaella
 
What a wonderful trip we had and we are very very grateful for all the care and planning you put into this.
 
The travel problems on flights were thankfully not too bad and we are now all home with some wonderful memories.
 
Nuno was a great driver and really went out of his way to be helpful.
 
The hotels were fanatastic and the Possada at Belmonte was just magical.
 
We all appreciated the meals and the way you were able to help us with our strange diets!  The lunches in the local restuarants were really excellent and as you implied full of atmosphere.
 
We really liked the guides.  The guides in Evora, Belmonte and in Tomar stood out but all were well informed and did so much to make our trip just great.
 
Thank you so much Raffaella, you are a real star and please feel free to use this in any way you wish to publicise a five star tour operator!!
 
All good wishes - Alan