These days, with travel bookings just a click away on the internet and countless guidebooks romanticizing Provence and Tuscany, it is hard to believe that the clichéd off the beaten track Western Europe still exists. And yet, when presented with the name Portugal, a surprising number of people ask what part of Spain it’s in and whether people speak Spanish here. In fact, it really is a country too often overshadowed by its more prominent neighbour, symbolized by that powerful, imposing black bull, and one in which many hidden treasures truly do exist.

I met Eva in Lisbon, as part of a foreign women’s dinner group. One evening she’d bring along a fancy salad with fennel and pomegranate, another she’d provide a cake with persimmons or some other exotic fruit; other times she’d make perfect sushi (her mother is Japanese-American). It didn’t take long before I came to learn why she had a reputation as a gourmet cook. So when a couple of years ago she and her husband Pedro established a bicycle tour company, I could easily imagine how delectable picnics in some gem of a 1000 year old village would be an integral part of it. 

Eva is from the San Francisco Bay area and Pedro is from Lisbon: Terracotta Journeys is a kind of active, health-conscious, culturally aware California meets its Western Coast of Europe twin. Pedro is a cyclist, surfer, rock climber and former boy scout, adept at using a loaf of bread as a pillow, and with years of experience as a tourism consultant and an MBA to boot. They created Terracotta Journeys as a way to combine their love of Portugal’s beautiful landscapes, culture and history with their passion for physical fitness and wholesome, while at the same time sophisticated, cuisine.

They offer bicycle tours, ranging from several days in length days to over two weeks and, with the cycling itself usually spread over 4 hours each day, they take visitors to such uniquely stunning places as the Alentejo, known for its flat plains and gentle olive and cork tree covered hills, and the Douro River Valley where the vineyards from which Port wine is produced line the terraced hills like so many of garlands on a Christmas tree. Accomodation is in 4 or 5 star hotels such as pousadas (www.pousadas.pt ) : castles, monasteries, fortresses and other historical buildings tastefully converted into very contemporary hotels. After an active day along beautiful, unspoiled roads these are the perfect places to relax in elegant surroundings and sample the best of regional Portuguese cuisine in gourmet restaurants. 

Tours can be custom made, such as one this spring where the emphasis will be on one of Eva’s specialities: fine food. There’ll be visits to cheese makers, wine cellars and local produce markets. Other tours focus on outdoor activities such as surfing, canoeing, rock-climbing and hiking. They also do walking tours in places like magical, fairlytale Sintra, up in the hills near Lisbon, and have a min-bus for those who would like to go farther afield to places like the charming village of Obidos or the 12^thcentury monastery in Alcobaça, both an hour or so from the capital.

It’s been 15 years now since Eva came to Portugal. During her first years she was kept busy introducing the country to visiting family and friends. Now it is more often than not guest travellers she is showing off the country to, yet they receive the same attentive, personalized treatment as visiting friends. The tours are a way to take care of both body and soul: the cycling as gentle or as challenging physically as the body dictates while the soul is nourished by the inspiring beauty of rural Portugal, great company and delicious food. For more information about Eva and Pedro’s venture, visit www.terracottajourneys.com.

Mary Fowke,like Eva Graburn, is a foreigner living in Lisbon, but hails from  Nova Scotia, Canada rather than the US. She has a part-time psychotherapy practice and enjoys writing in her free time. 

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