July 18, 2024 and July 19, 2024

                                                                    Lamego.  Porto and Gaia

Today we rode the bus to the city center of Lamego.  We went first to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Remedies.  Many people make pilgrimages to the church.  The church is high above the city and is quite a climb up 686 steps.  Lucky for us, we rode the bus and climbed the last little bit. The church is baroque in style, very ornate.  It is small inside, but very beautiful and peaceful.  The view of the city below from the church is amazing.  We walked down several sets of stairs to the Main Street in Lamego where there were many stalls that people were selling just about anything you could imagine.  Clothes, shoes, underwear, food, annoying dog toys that made a squeaking sound and more.  (Don’t worry kids.  We didn’t buy your kids any of the annoying dogs that squeaked.  We love you too much.) It was a pleasant saunter down the the square.  We stopped to see the Unknown Soldier Statue from World War I.  (Portugal didn’t participate in World War II.  They were neutral.) There were dates carved in the statue and one date had been a 6 and then a 7 was carved over it.  That was odd.  

We did a little shopping, very little.  Which is good.  We were sitting on a step in the shade waiting for the bus to come back when a couple from North Wales asked to borrow some of the shade.  We got to talking and they were most interested in what the heck is going on the US!  We told them we didn’t know as we’ve been traveling but it will work out.  At least we hope so.  It’s interesting what they told us about what they hear about America.  It’s very one sided and when we mentioned other things that are going on, they were surprised.  I’ll leave the rest to your imagination.  

We went to a lovely winery and had a sparkling wine tasting and a small appetizer.  (Which we called lunch.). It was a nice respite and then we boarded the bus for the ride back to the boat.

Here’s an interesting fact we learned from our guide.  Do you know why port wine is called port wine?  What does port have to do with a sweet wine?  It’s because the sweet wines were originally made in the city of Porto.  Throughout Portugal people would travel to Porto to buy the sweet wines.  So friends and family would say “if you are going to Porto bring back the sweet wines for me.”   And eventually the sweet part was dropped and the wines were known as Port Wine.  

We each had a massage in the afternoon.  I went first so Bob could attend the ice cream social and I went to the disembarkation lecture while he was getting his massage.  They did give us wine so it was a win win for both of us.  The massage was wonderful.  Especially for my sprained ankle that has been giving me some trouble with all the walking on cobblestone.  We had a lovely dinner with new friends and ate too much as usual.  

July 19th.  I won’t be able to write tomorrow as we will disembark at 6:15am to begin our journey home.  We are a bit concerned as there is a computer failure throughout the airline system and we are not able to check in for our flights.  At the very least, we will go to the airport and hope the computer geeks have fixed everything.  We will be flying 3 hours to Paris and then a lot of hours to Seattle.  We will stay over in Seattle just to have a rest and then home to Pasco.  See?  It’s simple…she said optimistically.  

In any case, we had another full and interesting day.  We rode the bus around Porto and Gaia.  They are close by on this bustling port.  Porto has 6 bridges.  One was designed by Mr. Eiffel of the Eiffel Tower fame.  Porto is where Portugal began.  In 1143 the Romans came to this area and decided to start a city so they went to the highest point along the sea and built a monastery.  We walked to the train station to view the beautiful tiles of historical pictures.   We walked all over the area seeing the medieval walls that are still there, as well as the monastery.  It was a nice walk about.

This is an example of the tiles in the railroad station.  

Here is a lady painting tiles along the walkway of the river.  

We rode the bus to the winery “Calem”.  They have been making port for over 100 years.  We learned all about the process of making port, as well as the types of port and what to eat with them and then we got to taste a white, ruby and tawny port.  Calem is a big business and only releases aged port when the “market requires it”.  We walked along the river dodging the many items we could buy.  Porto and Gaia are very busy places.  

Here’s a few impressions and thoughts I’ve collected.  Portugal is a lovely country.  They’ve been around for centuries and were once one of the major European countries that colonized India , Africa and other areas.  Now it is a country where the people are nice, they love their work, family and they enjoy port and wine.

“Abrigada” means thank you in Portuguese.  You say Abrigada to thank a woman and Abrigado to thank  a man.  Thank you to all of you who “traveled” with us.  

Wish us luck in our travels home.  We’ve had a marvelous vacation and are glad you joined us.

Love BC and GC                                            

                                                                                

                                                                July 17, 2024 

                                                      Barca d’Alva and Pinhao

                                                     Happy Birthday Sydney!!!! 

We bussed to Castelo Rodrigo and had a walking tour of an historical village.  They grow a lot of almonds and olives.  This village is very small and the buildings/homes are small and made of stone.  There is a Jewish part of the village as well as an Arab and Christian area.  Everyone lives peacefully and practices their preferred religion.  This was not always the case.  The first King of Portugal wanted to marry a Spanish Princess but she would only marry him if all people in Portugal that weren’t already Catholic would agree to become “new Christians” and give up their other faith.  So the villagers practiced their own religions in secret and professed to be a “new Christian.”  Oh! If someone did something that deserved death the punishment would be to be tied up and the pushed down the cobblestone road to finally roll off the cliff.  Yikes.  It seems that the drop at the end wouldn’t matter as by the time they rolled down the road they were already dead.  

                                            Can you imagine rolling down this hill to your death?

We shopped at several small shops.  We tasted almonds and various liqueurs.  There were at least 20 different types of almonds to try and all sorts of olive oils.  They make real cork items (not the fake stuff) and I was pleased to buy 2 placemats of cork that I will use in a future quilt.  We purchased a few other things that shall remain nameless in order to protect the surprise for the gifted.  

We had a quiet and restful afternoon on the boat.  I finished the book I was reading.  We sat on our minuscule balcony and watched as we went through the latest lock.  It was eerie to sink down and see the walls closing in on us.  We could touch the walls without reaching far at all.  It gets darker and darker and then a little wet.  We finally decided to leave the balcony and sit in the cabin as we were getting wet!  It was a fun experience.  

We had dinner off the boat at Quinta da Avessada.  This is a family owned winery and event center in Favaios.  This winery is in it’s 6th generation of family.  The views from the winery and as you drive up the roads is breathtaking.  We had a lovely dinner of Portuguese food and three different wines from the winery.  Lots of fun!  The cake was very good as was were the wines.  

Portugal is beautiful.  Lots of up, down and winding roads, green, the people are so nice, the food is good, the little towns are quaint and the rows of vineyards curl all about on mountain sides in rows that are cut into the mountains.  It’s a beautiful place to be.  

Love, BC and GC

We shopped at several small shops.  We tasted almonds and various liqueurs.  There were at least 20 different types of almonds to try and all sorts of olive oils.  They make real cork items (not the fake stuff) and I was pleased to buy 2 placemats of cork that I will use in a future quilt.  We purchased a few other things that shall remain nameless in order to protect the surprise for the gifted.  

We had a quiet and restful afternoon on the boat.  I finished the book I was reading.  We sat on our minuscule balcony and watched as we went through the latest lock.  It was eerie to sink down and see the walls closing in on us.  We could touch the walls without reaching far at all.  It gets darker and darker and then a little wet.  We finally decided to leave the balcony and sit in the cabin as we were getting wet!  It was a fun experience.  

We had dinner off the boat at Quinta da Avessada.  This is a family owned winery and event in Favaios.  This winery is in it’s 6th generation of family.  The views from the winery and as you drive up the roads is breathtaking.  We had a lovely dinner of Portuguese food and three different wines from the winery.  Lots of fun!  

Portugal is beautiful.  Lots of up, down and winding roads, green, the people are so nice, the food is good, the little towns are quaint and the rows of vineyards curl all about on mountain sides in rows that are cut into the mountains.  It’s a beautiful place to be.  

Love, BC and GC

                                                                              July 16, 2024

                                                              Quinta da Roeda Port Tasting

We’ve had a busy two days so there wasn’t time to update the blog.  Here’s what we were doing.

July 15th we went to Pinhao where we docked.  We traveled to Quinta da Roeda where Croft has been making  Port since 1588.  It has been passed down for generations.  We took a walking tour through the vineyard and our guide explained all about how they care for the vines, then took us into the room where they stomp the grapes for hours and hours while drinking wine.  It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it.  We then went to the large gift shop and had two glasses of Port.  A Ruby and a Tawny.  The Ruby would be good over ice with tonic water.  The Tawny was fine, but not as good as the two we tried in Sintra at the Port shop.  

We were so tired from jet lag, eating and drinking and the time change that we napped for about 3 hours.  So we missed a talk on Cooper Winery, but the nap made us feel better.  

The next day July 16th we went to Fox do Sabor to visit the Palacio dos Condes da Acadia.  It was built in the 18th Century and the family still owns it and stays there occasionally.  It is very ornate and fussy.  But then again, in a couple of hundred years styles change.  The family decided to open it up for tours.  It was interesting to see just how much things change.  The entrance and staircase was huge and the rooms were small.  The art, the painted ceilings, the Knick knacks were very interesting.  

This is the entry way stairs.  Check out the tile work on the walls.  There are scenes all over the Palace. 

Would you want this guy watching you from your tile walls?

Next we took a bus ride to Viseu.  We had a walking tour with a lovely woman who did a great job explaining where we were and why, all the while keeping us from being run over by fast cars on skinny, bumpy and tiny roads between the buildings.  We walked for about an hour all around ending up at Pousada de Viseu.  A Pousada is close to what we would call a bed and breakfast.  This building was a hospital before it was turned into a Pousada.  We had another huge lunch buffet of Portuguese food.  Burp!  Afterwards we walked the city some more until we got tired and found a little shop that had tables and chairs in the shade.  We enjoyed a “lemon ade”.  It was very refreshing and so nice to just sit and watch the people go by.  

We had a 2+ hour drive back to meet the boat.  This provided the perfect opportunity to take a short nap.  We got back to the boat and realized that the “Sip and Sail” time had already begun.  (In our vernacular sip and sail is called “Happy Hour”).  The gin and tonic was a perfect way to relax.  Bob had scotch.  Dinner then ensued and we ate way too much.  We went back to our room and sat on our minuscule balcony and drank a glass of the port we bought in Lisbon.  Graham’s 20 year Tawny Port.  We slept good last night.  I didn’t wake up until 6am which is so much nicer than my  usual of 2:30 am.  

We are having fun, seeing great sights and enjoying ourselves.  Hope you are all well.  

Love, BC and GC.

                                                          July 15 2024 

                                                  A trip to Casa de Quinta

Yesterday we boarded the bus for a drive to Casa du Quinta.  It was a 45 minute trip through lots of small towns, it was up and down and a twisting drive. It was beautiful.  

Around noon we arrived at a large estate that was owned by Contessa Maria and her husband.  Maria was a Contessa as a child and became a Contessa when she married her husband.  This estate was owned by the husband family for generations and was sold.  Maria was able to design scarves to make money to buy the estate back.  It is now a huge estate with many bedrooms, meeting rooms and is wedding venue.  Maria treated us exuberantly with open arms, saying “You are beautiful!  You are amazing! I am so glad you came to see Maria!”  Over and over.  “Please follow Maria, she will show you the beautiful gardens and the beautiful home!”  She told us to have some green wine that was made at the estate.  (Green wine is wine that was recently made.)  “Have green wine.  It is low in alcohol so you can drink and drink and drink!”  The wine was very refreshing and we also had these little pastries that are like a pizza folded over.  I finally figured out that the lady leading us around and shouting “It’s beautiful!” Was Maria.  She spoke about herself in the third person.  “Maria wanted to buy her husband’s estate back so I decided to earn money designing and selling scarves.”  Long story short Maria has turned the estate into a bed and breakfast, event venue, classes, anything to get people there so Maria could make money.  The gardens were beautiful, the dining room was two rooms and each room held a table for 50+ people.  I kept chuckling at Maria and her  sales pitch.  

We were shown to a barn like structure that was set for the 100 or so of us at tables of 7.  We had the most delicious lunch.  Salad with a nice dressing, then came mushroom Risotto, Pork wrapped in bacon, sweet potatoes, rice, fruit, and greens.  Servers just kept coming with huge bakeware spooning delicious food onto our plates.  The seasoning and sauces were very good.  Unusual flavors that made us eat more than we should have.  The Pork was a round small piece that was so tender.  Lucky for us a guide was sitting at our table and told us a lot about the seasoning and cooking.  The pork is soaked in Lemon and orange juice for two days and then seasoned and cooked with the bacon around it.  Oh!  I mustn’t forget the crème brûlée for dessert.  Another large spoonful of excellent food.  We boarded the bus for the ride back and nearly fell asleep.  Here I am with my close personal friend Contessa Maria.  

                                     

We’ve been through 3 different locks now.  The one this morning was a big one.  Bob got some great pictures of the locks.  We had a little bit of our port we bought in Sintra on our minuscule balcony and watched the walls “move” as we went through the lock.                                                                                                             

                                                                   

                 

                                                                       

This is how close the boat is to the sides of the locks. 

 

We took a long nap that afternoon because of the green wine and some leftover jet lag.  Dinner was excellent as usual.  We have met some very nice people.  Everyone is somehow connected to Cooper Winery so we have something to talk about as a conversation starter.  We are having such fun!

PS.  You can look up the Casado Quinta on the web.  It’s amazing!

Love to all, BC and GC

                                                              July 14, 2024

                                                     Cruising the Douro River

Yesterday was a long day of driving from Lisbon to Porto to board our boat “Amadouro”.  It’s a small boat that has 50 rooms.  So there is about 100 of us, plus staff.  

On the way here we stopped in Tomar to see the Convent of Christ, a 12th Century religious complex built by the Knights Templar.  It was built over several centuries each ruler adding their own touch.  Some of the architecture is rather incongruent with earlier versions of the building.  It is always humbling to walk the corridors, see the rooms that people several centuries ago lived, worshiped and died.  

                                                            

                                                              

                                                             

                                                                                                                       

We had a good lunch in the town of Tomar with some new friends from this trip.  Bob had a pulled pork sandwich and I had soup.  The sandwich wasn’t at all like the type we are used to.  It was delicious and not smothered in BBQ sauce.  My soup was great.  It had some type of bean, with a light broth.  We drove the rest of the way to meet our ship in Porto.  I have to say, the bus drivers are masters at maneuvering the large vehicles through tiny streets and turning around!  

Our room on the ship is the last one down the hall on the 2nd floor.  It’s perfect because it’s quiet.  We unpacked, finding unusual places to put our clothes and other stuff.  This morning I couldn’t remember where I had put my underwear but then remembered that it was in the nightstand drawer.  

We had a meeting in the lounge to go over the safety rules.  It was the best time ever!  Usually it’s a horrible thing that you have to wear your large orange life jacket to the muster station and wait for the bells.  This was all of us sitting in the lounge, drinking wine/champagne listening to the head guy entertain us while showing us how  and where to go with our life jackets on if need be.  This cruise is put on by Neil Cooper who is one of our favorite winery owners in Red Mountain.  So it’s different in that everyone is kind of “related” through Neil.  It’s been fun to meet and eat/drink with new friends.  

Dinner was so good.  More wine! I had the fish in a most unusual cream sauce.  Bob had beef tenderloin, very good.  We sat with our new friends and had a great time.  We met another fun couple in the hallway as we were going to our room.  I decided to take one of our “special” sleeping pills as I have not slept more than 3-4 hours each night since we left.  I woke up this morning at 6am and felt so much better for having slept longer.  Yay!  

We went through our first lock after breakfast and it was so cool to stand on the top deck and watch it all.

                                                                         

We are enjoying ourselves and wish you were here!  

Love, BC and GC 

                                                                                       

 
                 

        

   July 12 2024 

Lisbon, Portugal

Today we took a drive to Sinta to see the Pena Palace.  It was in a smaller 

bus as the roads are very narrow.  And I mean very narrow!  The traffic getting 

out of Lisbon was like every other big city during commute time.   Sinta is 1700 

feet tall and was covered with mist and clouds as it is near the ocean.  The road 

up is extremely windy and very small.  The growth of trees and bushes is very thick 

and it makes for a dark misty ride. 

The Pena Palace is remarkable as it was built in the 1500’s and of course they didn’t have the equipment like trucks,  cranes, and earthmovers.  Everything was done by human power.  Sinta is a small town that the very wealthy people would have summer homes at because it is much cooler in the summer.  

We had to take a smaller crowded bus up the steep hill.  We were standing and holding onto a bar while crammed together with others.  The driver went so fast that I was holding on with both hands, leaning against the pole and I was still bounced up and down off the floor.   It was something else.  Then we had to walk up a very steep curving hill to reach the entrance of the Palace.  

The Palace is very well preserved with even furniture and wall coverings.  There are a lot of stairs that curve all over the place.  We walked through the entire Palace and was amazed.  King Ferdinand had this place built for his wife and 11 children to enjoy.  

                                          

                                                             

                                                                     

Here is a picture of a welcoming gargoyle.  There were a lot of symbols that were built into the structure of the Palace.

                                                   

We did a lot of walking on uneven surfaces again today.  All of Lisbon walkways are made with white 3” or so squares of limestone.  They are rough to walk on and also slippery.  It’s even more fun when the walkways are wet and on hills.  

Once we got down to the city of Sinta we had free time.  Bob and I went to a quiet restaurant and had goat cheese and veal carpaccio.  It was so good! 

                                                  

   

                                                                 

Since we had more free time after our lunch we decided to find a Port store and have a tasting.  The “Bar do Binho” called the House of Port was very quaint and filled with bottles of port.  We sat in a little booth and the owner proceeded to pour us four different glasses of port.  We had white, ruby and tawny.  He was very generous in his pours!  He then educated us on everything about Port you could imagine.  It was quite an enjoyable experience.  

                                                                                          

                              

   

We got back to the hotel and promptly had a nap. That felt good!  I am still waking up around 2-3 am and not going back to sleep.  But it’s getting better.  

  

Tomorrow we have an all day trip to get to Porto where we will board our ship for the cruise.  This little side trip has been very interesting and fun.  We’re glad we did this.  Lisbon is a very nice site with lots of history, interesting sites and good food.  

Hope you are all well.  We are!  BC and GC

                                                          

Last evening we walked to the best restaurant!  Our guide Nicky went on and on about how wonderful Portuguese pizza is.  They call it “Pinze”. The crust was very thin, flaky and crisp.  We shared a Parma and cheese pinza with a lovely bottle of red wine.  Of course we had to try the desert. “Caramello Tart”.  It was delicious.  Warm caramel in the middle of the soft pastry with a scoop of vanilla ice cream sitting in a puddle of whip cream.  We needed the walk back to the hotel after that!

We had a fun day today.  We woke up very early after getting some well needed rest.  Breakfast at the hotel Intercontinental then into the bus for our morning in Lisbon.  It was an overcast day, which is nice because it can get hot here.  

We had three tour guides that spoke to us about the history of Lisbon as we drove through the city.  There are about 3 million people in metropolitan Lisbon, 10 million people in all of Portugal.  The name “Lisbon” comes from the Portuguese language meaning “Peaceful Bay”.  The first ruler of Portugal was Queen Mary the 1st.  (I guess you have to start at the beginning, huh?). She didn’t have any children to be heirs.  So, she promised God that she would build a large church to honor Him so that God would give her children to be future rulers of Portugal.  She then had six children.  Our guide stated “Be careful what you wish for.”  

Portugal makes lots of tile.  They love to have it all over the walls of the streets in beautiful designs.  Tile keeps the buildings cool/warm in the seasons as well as when it rains the walls get washed easily.  Clever and the tile walls are so much nicer to look at than pollution stained stucco.  

We ended up in the “Belem” area of Lisbon.  “Belem” is Portuguese for “Bethlehem”.  As is usual in Europe they build huge churches and we went to see one which also doubled for a time as the Presidential Palace.  

                                               

This is called a “Tuk Tuk” and they are all over the place.  You hire them to take you wherever you want to go in Lisbon or even in other places in Portugal. They are a glorified golf cart.  

We went to the ocean to see the landmarks there.  We didn’t get any photos of them, but they were very interesting.  One was a marble map of all the countries that Portugal had been occupying and had trade with in the mid 1500s.  Portugal had quite the empire stretching to India, China and Africa.  

The Tagus River meets the Atlantic Ocean here and lots of shipping goes on.  It was a lovely day to stand at the shore of the sea.  I love the sea!  

We came back to the hotel and took a really nice nap.  We are starting to catch up and get with the local time.  Now it’s off to find some dinner.  Bob wants to visit a local wine store and then have dinner here at the at the hotel.  Sounds good to me!  

Thanks for joining us.  Take care, love BC and GC.