WHAT do a former Tory councillor from Kent and a Wimbledon-supporting socialist have in common?
They are both sharing a beer with me on my “solos” group tour of Portugal.
And the three of us are talking over the day’s activities with a Trump fan from the east coast of America.
Luckily, politics is off the menu.
Very much on the menu, however, is sardines, salted cod and the country’s speciality egg yolk pastries. But more on them later.
We are part of a 26-strong group on a dash around the southwestern-most territory of Europe, which is packed with old-world charm.
Our adventure, organised by solo tour specialist Just You, starts in Porto, where the steep hills that rise up from the River Douro are dotted higgledy-piggledy with colourful houses.
Author JK Rowling lived among the granite streets here before she was famous — and it is said the city’s gothic architecture, along with the traditional robes of its university students, inspired her world of Harry Potter.
At least one establishment, bookshop Livraria Lello, cashes in on the fact, charging entrance fees to see its elaborate interior and upstairs cafe where Rowling would drink her coffee.
Talking of elaborate, it doesn’t get much more so than the “Gold Church”, real name the Church of St Francis.
Designated a Unesco World Heritage site, its interior is dripping with carved wood covered in gold leaf, with the precious metal having been shipped over from Portugal’s former colony of Brazil.
It’s certainly dazzling, as is a trip down the Douro River to the vineyards, which supply grapes for that most Porto of products . . . port.
Can you get more Portuguese? Well, actually, my guide informs me that, historically, it was mostly grown here by the British.
The two countries have long been allies, with many Englishmen living in Portugal in the 1600s.
Back home in those days, the English liked wine but were always at war with the pesky French, meaning booze cruises across the Channel were often a no-no.
Instead, they turned to north Portugal and the Douro Valley to grow their own.
It will come as no surprise then that many of the port brands bear English names.
These include Taylor’s, Cockburn’s and Sandeman, and you can see lots of them emblazoned on the wine cellars that fill the hills of the city of Gaia, which is just across the narrow river from Porto.
By the way, white port (yes, that’s a thing) is tipped to be the next big thing in the cocktail market.
After time in Porto, Gaia and the Douro Valley, day four of my eight-day trip sees the group begin to wind south to capital Lisbon, but not before stops at Aveiro, Coimbra and Obidos.
Let’s take them one by one. Aveiro is marketed as the “Venice of Portugal”. OK, it has some canals, but a trip on a large, electric gondola just doesn’t feel as romantic.
A fellow traveller did remark on its Art Deco beauty, though.
Coimbra could maybe be the Oxford of Portugal, boasting the country’s oldest university, which dates back to 1290. Bats live in its library to eat book-destroying bugs.
A guided tour of the city, which was once the capital, will take you into the grand university building, which sits among former church schools in a street that was the widest in Europe until the 1800s.
You will also likely hear the story of Don Pedro and Donna Ines. I heard it twice and am still a little hazy on the details.
Based on truth, it is Portugal’s Romeo And Juliet tale, which involves the 14th-century prince Pedro digging up the five-year-dead corpse of his mistress Ines.
He then crowned her queen and made his courtiers kiss her hand. The things we do for love.
The walled city of Obidos continues with the historic buildings. Perched on a hilltop, the medieval settlement is completely enclosed by its fortifications. And its small size makes its stunning streets very manageable to navigate.
While there, it’s worth trying its cherry liqueur, called ginjinha, which is served in chocolate cups that you can eat afterwards.
The final days of the tour were spent in Lisbon, a city built on seven hills.
This may make exploring its small streets a challenge, but you can always hop on and off the quaint yellow trams.
The downtown area and main squares are flat enough and filled with impressive buildings despite the earthquake that devastated the area in 1755. A couple of miles out from the centre lies the Belem district.
Its Belem Tower is a small, picturesque fort which marks the transition from tall forts (for shooting arrows) to horizontal ones (for hosting canons).
And it does this by combining both aspects of those designs as it juts prettily into the Tagus river.
Thirty minutes drive from the capital lies Sintra, another Unesco World Heritage Site. With its microclimate making it cooler and wetter than Lisbon, it stays green all year round.
It also plays host to colourful palaces where past royalty would spend their summers hunting.
I’m sure they feasted well, too. And I didn’t do badly on that front, either.
The Portuguese say they have 365 different recipes for cod (one for each day of the year).
It is often dried and salted, which they call bacalhau. I had bacalhau covered with onions and accompanied by wafer-thin fried potatoes.
Another national delicacy is pastel de nata, an egg custard tart pastry, often dusted with cinnamon.
Grabbing one with a coffee will only set you back a couple of euros for both the treat and the drink.
It’s the sort of thing you can do to while away the hours with new-found friends from the group of initial strangers on the tour.
Which, arguably, is the key factor of the holiday’s success. Do you like your travel companions? Are you cut out for solo travel?
Cards on the table, this was my first solos tour. I met people I liked and no one I disliked. Ages ranged from 40 to 95, though 85 per cent were retired.
Lots I spoke to had been using solo tour companies for many, many years.
For some it was their first time.
If you haven’t tried it before, all I can say is: You might like it, you might love it.
But you only live once (unless you’re Donna Ines) . . . and Portugal is well worth a visit.
GO: PORTUGAL
GETTING/STAYING THERE: Just You’s eight-day Picturesque Portugal escorted tour for solo travellers includes flights from London, overseas transfers, B&B in 3* and 4* hotels with a guaranteed twin or double room of your own, four dinners and welcome and farewell drinks, accompanied by a Just You holiday director and specialist local guide.
Multiple departure dates available, with prices starting from £2,169pp.
See justyou.co.uk.