Portugal (Coimbra, Porto, & sailing the Douro River) June 9-16, 2013

Sunday, June 9- Drive to Porto

George shows off his cape

Today right after breakfast, we boarded our buses for the 6 hour trip to Porto to board the Viking Douro. We had a couple "comfort" stops on the way including a very special stop in Coimbra.   We first stopped at the one of the oldest universities in Europe, the University of Coimbra. We saw the amazing library which houses very rare & very very old books .... ( a quick fact that we learned was that JK Rowling was staying in Porto while writing her first Harry Potter book and that she based the Hogwarts' capes on the black capes that are worn by the University of Coimbra students... )

Old University of Coimbra

We then stopped for lunch at Republica da Saudade. I chose to try the typical Portuguese dish of salted cod. It was quite good. We tried some of the local Douro Valley red wine and enjoyed a beautiful musical show of fado music.

Generally fado when sung is sung by women but here near the university in Coimbra, it is sung by men. It is very emotional music. 

Enjoying Vihno Tinto & Fado music with lunch

Fado singer & musicians

"The only thing that matters is to feel the fado. The fado is not meant to be sung; it simply happens. You feel it, you don't understand it and you don't explain it. " Amalia Rodrigues, the "Queen of Fado"

Small streets & big buses in Porto

We arrived in Porto a bit after 4pm, were welcomed on board & settled into our room# 106. 

Night sail on the Douro River 

Old church covered in azulejos

After dinner, the captain took the boat for a " night sail" up & down the Douro River in Porto to see the lights on the old buildings, Port houses & the many bridges including the one built by Eiffel before he built the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The lights were quite spectacular.  

Monday, June 10 - Porto & Bitetos

Our sleek modern bus

Typical tile front on buildings

Inside the train station

Today we went on a half day bus & walking tour of Porto. We concentrated mainly on the old historical sections of the city. I really love the way this city looks & feels. The cliffs & homes built up the sides of the hills, the very old buildings & bridges against the backdrop of the river. 

Port sampling at Calem

We first stopped at the old cathedral, drove past many historical buildings & then stopped at the main train station here. The walls are covered with the typical azulejos of this area. Beautiful. Since today is June 10th, their Independence Day here, many of the stores are closed. Only a few tourist stores were open. We did pick up a couple tshirts. 

Driving back to ship. Ours is the 2nd one.

On our way back to our ship, we stopped at Calem, one of the old port houses here and sampled three types of port after a tour. We had three very generous pours of their white port, ruby port & the tawny port. My favorite was the tawny port. I've had them both in the past but have never tasted side by side. 

Statue is a twin to the one we have in California!

We spent the afternoon resting on the ship while some of the guests went on an optional tour. We were rewarded about an hour into the journey by being on board as we went thru the first of several locks that we will transit on our journey.

Our dinner tonight was not on the ship. We were treated to a wonderful dining & fado experience at a very old 12th century monastery, Alpendurada Monastery near our docking spot in Bitetos. This old Benedictine monastery has been restored and turned into a beautiful inn and museum. 

Dining at Alpendurada Monastery

After a glass of Vihno Verde and some great photo ops overlooking the beautiful Douro River & Valley, we had dinner served to us & were treated to another fado music show. This time the singer was a woman....

Beautiful view of the Douro River Valley

We returned to the ship down a narrow winding road which took about 15 minutes. I must say, our bus driver is amazing!

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June  11- Regua, Lamego & Pinhao

This morning started with a bit of excitement when our toilets wouldn't flush & showers wouldn't drain. Luckily, the issue was promptly fixed & all was well except breakfast needed to be served in the lounge instead of downstairs on the dining room. Apparently there was an issue with a pipe in the ceiling of the dining room & water came out of three of the vents in the ceiling. By 8:30 though, they were serving hot breakfast there as all had been repaired. We ate in the lounge tho because at 9am we were in

Typical terraced vineyards along the Douro

another lock gaining altitude on the way east.




 At 9:30, Patricia, our tour manager gave a 30 minute talk/lesson on the Portuguese language. Later this morning we also had a lecture on the Douro River Valley and the wine growing & port wine making. 

Regua

Beautiful azulejo covered staircase in Lomego

After lunch & after reaching Regua & docking, we boarded the buses for Lomego. Lomego is known for it's Nossa Senhora dos Remedios, a gourgeous twin towered church built at the top of a hill overlooking the Douro River Valley. Every September, many worshippers arrive and climb the 686 steps to the top...it's a double staircase with terraces decorated with urns, statues & azulejos.

View of Lomego from the stairs

Gary, Donna, Bill & I asked to be dropped at the bottom so we could climb the stairs. Everyone on our bus clapped as we took off. It was a gorgeous climb & actually the best part of the day. 

After seeing the church, we went down the stairs, found the mercado in town where we joined our ship's chef as he showed a group of us how he buys fresh local fish, meat, veggies & fruit.  We were able to sample some fresh bread & freshly sliced prociutto.

We had one more stop on our way back to the ship and it was a spectacular drive. Thank heavens for our very talented bus drivers as they maneuvered our huge buses up the very narrow & winding one lane cobblestone terraced driveway to the quinta. Those with"vertigo" issues were encouraged not to look out... We took a winery tour & sampled some port at the Quinta Do Seixo (pronounced 'say-show")(Quinta means winery house). This quinta is run by the Port house of Sandeman which was founded in 1790.

Amazing bus drivers keep us on narrow roads thru vineyards

We also learned today why wineries plant rose bushes in their vineyards. I've heard many guesses but we learned today that the winery/quinta owners put them there as an alarm of too moist conditions because roses will be affected by mildew before grapevines are. 

So far on this trip we have had a lot of cloudy & rainy weather but today the sky cleared and it was a beautiful day.... From about 15C to today's 30C.

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June 12- Pinhao &  Barca d'Alva

Coming out of one of the locks

Deep inside the lock

Pictures can not do justice to this beautiful countryside!!!. The miles & miles of terraced vineyards are amazing. 

The railway bridge

Very tight!  No one could stand on sun deck.

Today has been quite relaxing as we have cruised through mostly unpopulated & beautifully terraced hills of grapes and olive trees. We passed through a couple more locks, the first one was very close on both sides of the ship and the radar, tables shade and even the captain's bridge on the top sun deck had to be lowered.. We were asked to sit down on the lounge chairs or sit on the floor of the sun deck  because the clearance was so tight under a railway bridge we came to.

After a late lunch, we arrived in Barca d'Alva around 3pm & within 15 minutes we were on our buses again and headed to Castelo Rodrigo, a hilltop historic village. We walked past many very old and some vacant homes to see the Parish Church. The church was founded in 1192.  We enjoyed the old city and its beautiful hilltop views then stopped at the little cafe for more views and a glass of vihno tinto. 

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June 13 Thursday- Salamanca, Spain

Today was a full day tour by bus to the old city of Salamanca, Spain. We left promptly at 8:30 & drove for around two hours. Along the way we saw the high plateau and saw several stork nests which are reputed to bring very good luck on whose property they choose to build their great nests. These are birds who remain monogamous for their entire lifetime, an interesting fact. 

When we arrived in Salamanca, the six of us asked to be let off the bus as we arrived at the southern end of the old city. From there we walked to the Museo Historia Automocion and wandered the three floors of old, interesting vehicles. 

From there we climbed the hill and were lucky enough to get inside the old cathedral for about 30 minutes before it was closed for a state visit by the Crown Prince of Japan. 

Making our way to the northern edge of the old town to meet up with the tour group for lunch, we walked through the massive square, Plaza Mayor stood with the crowds hoping for a peek of the pageantry that would accompany the Crown Prince's arrival in the square & enjoyed a piqueno cup of lemon ice cream. 

We all met in a very nice hotel on the north end of old town for a lunch of fresh salad, seafood paella & custard & ice cream along with some local wines. Along with lunch came a very nice flamenco show with wonderful dancers & singers. 

After lunch, we (4 of us) decided to explore the city on our own instead of going with the tour as we had already seen the cathedral & we wanted to walk at our own pace. As it turned out we made a great choice. 

Our first stop was at a mercado and though it was afternoon, there were several vendors still there so we were able to get a few pictures. We are all great photographers (Gary, Donna & Bill) except me & my iPhone camera... but I'm still having fun.

Our next stop was the House of Shells, an old manor house whose outside walls are lined with shell motif. 

We turned and realized we were across the street from the very famous  facade on the wall of the University of Salamanca. Unfortunately, their only tour of the campus in English was at 5pm which was too late for us to catch so we opted to climb the towers for a gorgeous 360 degree view of the old city. Since we four were doing this on our own it was easy. It would have been impossible with our tour. There were 240 stairs to climb to reach both towers but the views of the city & of the storks nesting near the top of them made the trek well worth it. 

By the time we arrived back at the ship, the crew had set up a great Portuguese BBQ dinner on the Sun Deck. After dinner, our onboard musician, Manu played & there was much dancing.... Of course, it ended again with their version of a  conga line. 

Wine is no charge for lunch and dinner with Viking which is a great deal. On this cruise it is also permitted to bring your own bottles of local Portuguese wine on board & the staff will open, pour & store the wine for the guests....another fabulous deal. All of the staff on this ship are Portuguese and are very proud to show off their home to the Americans & Brits here.

Some of our fabulous Viking crew

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View from our room

June 14-Vega de Terron & Pinhau

The morning was spent relaxing, taking pictures, & going on the tour of the galley. I was amazed at the size of the galley which I consider quite small for a ship that carries 120 guests plus the crew. They do an incredible job & Chef Nuno must be very very organized.

We left on the buses mid-afternoon to ride up to the cute little village of Favios.

Dona Manuella busy making loaves

Our first stop was at one of the oldest traditional bakeries in the Douro Valley. We met Dona Manuella as she was busy making the traditional four corners bread. She usually makes 1000 loaves a day in the wood fire bread oven. Today she was making 1800 in preparation for Saturday. 

Batch of loaves baking

Dona Manuella & daughter

We were each served a partial loaf of bread with cheese, quince jam & butter and a little cup of the local wine, moscatel ( pronounced moosh-ke-tel).  There was live musical entertainment and she came out with a wine bottle on her head and did a little silly dance...she is quite a character and very genuine.

Making bread old fashioned way

Dona Manuella entertains the tour group....

We then got a quick tour of the Bread & Wine Museum, yes, you read right. It was built mainly for the promotion of this area and Viking helped to pay to build it. VRC is the only cruise line that comes to this quaint little village. Our next stop was at the wine cooperative of Favaios. They employ very modern methods & are very eco-conscience.  6 million liters of wine are produced every year by this cooperative. 

Favaios wine cooperative

We were then taken to the 100 year old Quinta do Avessada for a delicious Portuguese dinner and more musical entertainment. The setting was very beautiful. This Quinta is a place that hosts many weddings & large gatherings.

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June 15- Pinhao, Regua & Porto

This has been our last day of cruising and I will greatly miss waking up to the tranquility of gliding down the river and viewing the incredible scenery here in Portugal.  We have also greatly enjoyed sleeping with our French balcony doors open the last two nights. Although on the port side of the ship, we have had water views both nights. It's been very peaceful  & calm, with only the plopping sound of fish jumping....

View from our French balcony

Our group drove this morning to the palace of Mateus (what they call Casa de Mateus) high above the Douro & the town of Regua. This palace is very recognizable from the label on bottles of Mateus Rose, the rose that accounted for about 40% of  Portugal's wine exports in the 1980's. 

The palace is over 200 years old, was the last house of the Count of Vila Real and is of Portuguese Northern Baroque style. It features grand formal gardens and gorgeous views.

The palace of Casa de Mateus

The rooms that are open to the public (the family still lives in a portion of it) have an abundance of chestnut wood used for the floors & beautifully carved ceilings & doors. There are many valuable pieces of furniture & artwork. No pictures are allowed inside. We also saw the chapel on the property which was the first building there. 

After wandering through the gorgeous formal gardens with their water mirrors (what we call reflecting pools) "a mini Versailles", we stopped at the cafe for a cafe con latte and then went for wine & port tasting. We bought two bottles of red table wine & a half bottle of port for our continuing journey into Spain tomorrow with David & Lynnette.

Sad farewell to our amazing bus drivers & tour director

Our favorite, Marta chats with Donna & Bill

Gary finds Vivian's sunglasses

After the drive back to Regua and our ship, we enjoyed lunch and then worked on the dreaded task of packing up for our departure tomorrow.

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June 16- Porto, Lisbon & Sevilla

After an early breakfast & farewells to our friends & traveling companions, we left the ship and caught a taxi to Porto's Companna train station. We caught the 8:52 train to Lisbon from Track 8. Even tho this is the "slow" train (the faster one left too early), Gary clocked the train at around 90mph. The train ride lasted about three hours to the Lisboa Oriente station.

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