Evora

Evora

April 7

We took a cab from the ship to the airport to get our rental car.  Our driver was a charming man who told us that he went to college to be an engineer because his father told him there was no money in a degree in history.  He later decided to get his degree in history and tourism and also discovered that he loved to drive so he now works as a cab driver and also as a guide and is never without work.

We got stuck in traffic at a spot where there was construction going on and the road was one way.  One bus failed to obey the sign to stop for traffic in the other direction and so we got log jammed.  Finally our direction backed up and let the other traffic through and then we took off.

The car rental was as they always are, slow and not very cheerful.  The car is a brand new Audi, very nice and almost big enough.  Ron drove, Nor navigated and Lynn and I were tucked in the back with three of four of the overflow bags.

The drive was uneventful, after we learned the clutch—I don’t look forward to my turn to drive!  We arrived in Evora about three after driving past some amazing cork forests.  The trees are basically skinned every nine years and then marked to indicate the year they were harvested to that they will be left to renew – this process can go on for as much as 100 years.

The approach to Evora is much like arriving at Lucca, you see a high battlement and then drive through one of the portals.  The wall is a true battlement not a berm as in Lucca.  The wall also did serve to keep the invading Spanish out.  Our hostess Marta met us as the apartment, it is a very nice place just off a main plaza.  Our bedroom is small and Nor and I are in bunk beds—but the bed is very comfortable and the bathrooms work!

We walked around the town, it is mostly flat, nothing like Porto or Lisbon but not completely flat. The town dates from Roman times and there is one remaining Roman temple, likely a commerce center but called the temple of Diana, it sits on a high hill and overlooks the valleys beyond, pretty amazing place to watch a storm roll in (nertz!)  There is an inner Roman wall of which there are some remains, built into the walls of buildings and in some places in the town, there are digs going on to excavate recently discovered baths and home foundations.  The baths are actually in the city building!

We ate dinner at Cucchina Caterina.  It is clearly a local restaurant, in the back is bar frequented by the men of the neighborhood.  We sat near the entrance and were served some wonderful bean soup, meats and fish.  After dinner we strolled a bit more and found a place to buy some fruit for tomorrow’s breakfast, we had tried earlier to drive to a supermarket but were unsuccessful in finding it although we actually found street signs indicating the direction to go.

Back to the apartment and another serious game of Rummikub played with our Portuguese playing cards.



April 8


When we got up this morning Ron walked to the bakery to get us a loaf of Pao rustica--
Really really good!  We also had fruit, cheese and a bit of a cherry spread that was delicious!

Once cleaned up we took our Rick Steve’s guide book and set out on our walking tour of the city.
We chose not to go into the cathedral—we really have seen a lot of churches with amazing altars and we decided we had paid enough to see the churches.  We walked on to Vasco De Gama’s home, which is now just a mark on the wall of the current building.  The city is all cobbled streets and of course they are very narrow.  The walls are all painted white plastered walls most with bright yellow trim near the ground and near the roof line, the roofs are all red tiled. The doorways are primarily painted green but many have chosen red or black as a distinguisher.

We walked into a café on the praca Giraldo the main square of the city for a ‘light’ lunch!  We walked on did a bit of shopping and then went back to the room for a well deserved rest before dinner.  Oh and to get our umbrellas and rain gear as the promised storm has arrived.

Our dinner was at the Café Alentejo, we arrived at 7:15 only to be told that they did not open until 7:30 so we walked back up the street, found shelter under the arcade and waited for 7:30.

The restaurant was quite small and filled quickly, we each had something different, I had ribs—very tender and very rich, Ron had duck, Lynn had lamb and Nor had Oxtail Stew—it was so very good!  Tomorrow we eat only fruit and vegetables!

Back to the apartment where Nor won another game of Rummikub—breaking all his previous records by winning two games in a row! And Ron won the second game!  Come on girls get focused!

April 9.

When we got up we realized that the storm had settled in and we decided (Ron and I as the designated drivers) that the drive to Monsaraz was not a good idea.  So we opted for a more leisurely breakfast and a walk to the Bone Chapel.

What a fascinating place, the church in which the chapel is located is under major restoration, there is scaffolding both in and outside, inside there is a lot of work going on including restoration of the frescos, by artists on the scaffolding with tiny brushes and bright lights.

The chapel was built in the 1600’s by three monks who thought that the city was getting too worldly. They scavenged bones from around the city cemeteries and lined the walls with the bones and sculls. It is pretty creepy!

After the chapel we walked around the corner intending to go to the mercado and ran into a renaissance fair—complete with costumed vendors, street shows and falcons.  We wandered around the stalls for a while.  As Nor said “what a concept a renaissance fair in a place that actually had a renaissance!”

We then walked into the mercado and bought our vegetables and a bit of cheese and sausage for our dinner.  It started to rain again so we headed back to the apartment.  I am really enjoying this pace, I like being able to take as much or as little time as we want to snoop around a chapel or at a fair that we just happen upon.

The storm broke a bit so we walked around another part of town and ended up at the temple of Diana at an outdoor café for a coffee or beer (gender dependent choices it seems).

Dinner of sautéed vegetables and salad—boy did it taste good!
Then more Rummikub!

Tomorrow we head to Obidos!

The Rest of the Duoro Story

April 3 Pinhao – Vega de Terron

Today we traveled again by bus to a beautiful little town. Lamego.  The highlight of this town is the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Sorrows It is high on a hill and is approached by 586 or 586 steps.  Each landing as you climb (or descend) is finished in a scene on the blue and white tiles

We have been told that the blue and white tiles are traditional colors while the brighter tiles in Lisbon and the south are more recent in origin.  While in the town we visited the street market in the long plaza in front of the church steps.  I found a lovely hand made table runner and so bought it from the lady who made it.

The rest of the day we lazed on the deck of the ship and watched the world float past.

April 4.  Today we are in Spain!

We rode for about and hour and a half and arrived in Salamanca.  It is called the golden city because of the golden colored sandstone used for most of the construction.  We were actually allowed to wander on our own for a whole two hours!  Nor and I walked the narrow streets and visited the cathedral.  It is most unusual because there are actually two sanctuaries joined together.  There was a cathedral in the city and the bishop decided to build another grander cathedral.  The thought was that once the new cathedral was built the old one would be torn down but when they finally finished the second they decided to keep them both. They are both lovely very narrow with very different altars.  In the new sanctuary we saw all the groups getting their litters prepared for the evening processions.  All during holy week (this is holy Saturday)  the various groups will carry litters around the church with statues of Mary or saints or Christ on top.  Each litter bearer wears a hood to cover his face so that he can do his penance in privacy—he is not showing off, that he is carrying the litter, in theory, no one knows who it is.  Around town on balconies and on the balconies of the town hall in Plaza Major are the banners of the various groups – the families, we are told, are very proud to be members of these groups and so hang the banners, but only during holy week.    Salamanca is a university town and many of the church buildings are now used for classrooms  There is a story that if a student finds a frog before his or her exam for her doctorate, she will pass, so I have purchased a small frog for Raquel—not that she will need the help of the frog to pass, but it seemed like fun.

We returned to the ship in time for dinner—oh good we didn’t miss a meal!

April 5.  Easter Sunday.  We began the day at 7:00 for an early ecumenical Easter Sunrise service.  It was a nice way to begin the day.  Later Lynn gave us each a little chocolate treat—Nor’s is chocolate sardines!  And we found a chocolate bunny on or beds from the ship line.

We traveled to a high hill castle  Castelo Rodrigo.  The castle is in ruins but the walls are still standing and people still live in the small houses on the very narrow streets.

In the evening we drove –again—to Quinta da Avessada, we were entertained by traditional music played on accordion, tambourine and drum.  We then had a tour of their wine making processes.  This Qunita is a cooperative so all the people of the village participate in growing and preparing the grapes, they then share in the profits.  The exact details were not explained but we did learn that is makes it possible for the smaller vineyards to exist because they share the costs of the necessary equipment.

I have had to write all of these for a single posting because the shipboard wifi is not working.

April 6, Last Day on the Duoro!

We began the day floating along the Duoro looking at the sights we had seen just a week before and being surprised that we had not seen them before.
In the afternoon we traveled to a palace that has belonged to a family for 31 generations.  They were of course noblemen at one time, they are now diplomats and business men.  The home which is now a residence and a small boutique hotel and winery contains some lovely handpainted wallpapers from the 1700 and 1800 hundreds.  They are painted on large sheets of paper and then hung.  We saw a biblical scene, scenes from Don Quixote and scenes from the United States, (Niagara falls and west point most notably).  The home stood vacant for about 30 years the owner told us and there were leaks in the ceiling so there has been some damages to the paintings.  The current owner told us it will take over 100,000 euros per room to restore them.  The paints on the walls are still very bright, they don’t seem to have faded much, if at all, it was explained this is because of the minerals and natural products used for the paints.
We were treated to What ELSE? Wine, this time Vino Verde—it was the best we had the entire trip.  Vino Verde is made from young grapes and can be very light and somewhat effervesent.

Then back on the bus and on to Giumarche the first capital and birthplace of Portugal.  The city was at one point pretty much in ruins but Salazaar (the recent one) wanted it restored and so with the help of World Heritage designation it has been restored.  It really is lovely capped by a castle/palace and then down the hill into the narrow streets of the town,there was almost a french feel to the village.  Well worth the trip.

Back on board and we said hello and goodbye to the crew members.  Dinner was noisy and fun afterwards we heard music from a Tuna group, which is a group of young men traditionally university students, who play traditional instruments, and sing to earn money.

They told us that their traditional robes are part of the inspiration for JK Rowling’s Hogwarts wizards robes.  She did start writing the books here in Porto and our guides were careful to point own where she wrote and a bookstore that was part of the inspiration for the village outside Hogwarts.

All packed up – off the boat at 9:30 and on to the car rental and EVORA!

Mateus and Port

Remember the round/flat bottle, remember how cool we were when we started drinking Mateus--Well, to day we went to its home!
The Palais of Mateus!  A bus ride up the narrow roads to the Palais of Mateus.  The winery is no longer owned by the Count but he and his family still live in the back part of the Palais. They opened the front part for tourists, I am sure to help maintain the grounds and the buildings.  The grounds are lovely!  Very formal with low and high privets in complex patterns.  The requirements of the patterns are so particular, according to our guide that only one person is allowed to trim the hedges.  Within each of the patterns are plants of all types including lots and lots of roses.  One of the big attractions in the garden is a tunnel of sycamore trees.  Again according to the guide it is so high and curved that they have to have special ladders in order to keep it trimmed.  The best line of the trip so far came from our guide as she showed us some of the religious relics collected by the family, She said “ 85% of the Portuguese are  Catholic, the other 15% are bad Catholics”.

Back on the bus and to the Sandeman Quinta for you guessed it a Port tasting.  This Quinta is high up on the steep hills, there were places where I am sure the bus wheels were right on the edge of the road.  The views were fascinating.  The sides of the mountains are almost entirely carved with terraces for vineyards.  Some, the oldest, have granite walls supporting the terraces, these all run horizontal to the side of the hill.  Some, areas, are really not terraced at all just graded and here the lines of vines are vertical to the side of the hill.  And finally there are some that were machine graded, these make the sides of the hills look like the pit mine walls in Bisbee and Globe.  The guides explained that they do not use irrigation and must rely on the rains and the ability of the vines to find water.  This is partly why the granite is so good for wine grape growing The granite runs vertical which allows the roots to dig deep into the rock, the rock holds the heat and or cold to keep the vines at a constant temperature and it also holds water so the roots can find water.

Back to the ship, this evening we had local musicians and singers joins us after dinner they sang traditional songs including Fado, as they ended the performance they walked around the room and we all joined in behind, we even formed arm bridges for everyone to go under.

Porto and Beyond

Porto and Beyond!

The first day on the water we had a morning tour of Porto—we revisited many of the spots that we had seen with Lynn and Ron but did learn some new things from our guide Ricardo.  He told us that the tiles were used because after the earthquake of 1755, the citizens needed a quick way to decorate their newly rebuilt buildings and tiles were the choice.  What has become clear is that unlike other countries what seems to hold a bit of reverence for their royalty the Portuguese really dislike the royals who were expelled and the church.  The country is according to Ricardo a county of the bourgeois.

The last stop on the tour was at Graham's port wine cellar.  We were taken through the cellar and then tasted three different levels of Port, something called six grapes which is very young, another that was 10 years old and finally one that was 20 years old.

We left port at about 1:00 and sailed up river to Entre dos rios.  Dinner was at a reclaimed monastery.  It is now a hotel.  We were greeted by a young woman playing the role of a countess.  She guided us through the hotel and told us its history  During the dinner served by waiters dresses as monks we were entertained by a very fine opera singer

We are now sailing further up river  We just went through a 114 foot lock.  Pretty cool.  The sides of the river while still very very green have become much steeper and higher.  It is a much more lovely part of the river.  Far less industrial but more lovely.  The vineyards that we have seen thus far are steeply terraced.  Since wines are new to this region I am not sure how people made a living.

We had a lecture from Sam Pillsbury yesterday about how to drink wine and today about wine growing from our cruise manager Sebastian.  laster we head to the Palais Mateus and suprisingly a wine tasting

Fatima and Porto

We rose to our alarm--wait this is vacation!  Did I mention that daylight savings time has started?  Boy--first you have jetlag to contend with and then daylight savings!  Not fair!  Oh well we are on to Porto today!

Jose' met us at 9:00 and we did our sardine trick with luggage in his trunk--we could be in trouble later this month when we try to get into our rental car!  Nor, Lynn and I played kneesy in the back seat but were really pretty comfortable.

First stop Fatima!  Such an interesting place.  I have never been to a site of a miracle before.  It was really very moving, even for an old sinner like me.  Here, three children were visited by the Virgin in 1916.  The story can be found on the internet and I think is better told on those sites than here.  There is a chapel at the place where the children saw their visions, it is open to the plaza which likely rivals St. Peter's in size.  At both ends of the plaza are churches, one where there were outdoor altars erected, likely for Easter, is very traditional, at the other end is a very modern church, the main church is very simple and looks like to seats at least 2000.  Below ground level there are six smaller chapels and an exhibition area.
There is an area to buy candles and then a forno--oven where you light your candles, there is fire below the candles which quickly melts the candles and I suspect sends the wax to be recycled for later use.
Although there were many people, it wasn't crowded on this Monday of holy week, and although many were taking photos there was an attitude of respect by all and certainly deeply felt emotions by some.

Next stop Porto, Lynn and Ron are in a very elegant Intercontinental hotel tonight and we are in a much more boutique style hotel close to the river.  After we said good bye to Jose' we checked in to our hotel.  Nor and I then went for a walk in the neighborhood.  It is very old, older than Lisbon Jose' told us.  This is the birthplace of Henry the Navigator and we walked by his home.  As we walked along the river we saw our ship the Amavida pull into dock.  We were quite excited as I got to thinking that was  pretty silly since we are going to live on it for the next seven days.

We ran into Lynn and Ron as we were walking up to the cathedral.  They have dinner at their hotel included so we will be dining separately.  The cathedral is on a high hill and we arrived after walking up some very narrow and steep streets.  The plaza gave great views of the city and the river.  The cathedral itself is quite narrow inside but very lovely.

Back down the hill and into a tapas restaurant for dinner.  We had one dish called Sausage of hell, it was served on a pottery dish that raised it from the bottom and in the bottom was a liquid accelerant that the waiter lit so we could cook the sausage.  It was excellent as was the rest of the meal and the wine.

Back to the room and tomorrow we board!

Sunday in Lisbon

Palm Sunday in Lisbon!  The day began slowly, daylight savings began last night, so when we awoke at our normal time it was already 7:30. (we will have to set an alarm tomorrow or we may miss our ride to Porto) Lynn and Ron went in search of a Sunday service while Nor and I prayed to the coffee pot and internet.  Hopefully they were able to say a little prayer for our souls.

After failing to find a chuch that would let them in, Lynn and Ron returned and we all headed to the Mercado that was recommended by our dinner partners from the night before!  The mercado do Riberia (I am quessing market at the river)  was just down the hill -- our faithful guide (OFG) Nor, led us right to the door and oh I am glad he did.  In the old warehouse are something like 30 restaurant stalls, and there are no mall stalls these were fine dining at a great price,  Asian, steak, fish, pizza, Portuguese, chef's tasting menus, wines, gelato and much more. There are tables down the center where you bring your food.  There were families and couples and a few tourists enjoying the food and the day.  We each got the foods we wanted and then shared tastes.  We may return to this location when we are nearing the end of our adventures.  What fun!

We walked on to the cathedral.  (Thanks again OFG)Again a busy plaza in front of the church.  We all agreed that we disagree with Rick Steves-it was lovely inside. much simpler than some of the other churches we have visited but still wonderful soaring ceilings and beautiful Rose windows.

Now we were in stroll mode, we strolled back to the Sta Domingo had a small Gingha -- a local cherry/ginger liqueur drink).  Then we strolled back to the apartment to drop of cameras and then to the store to buy some tiles to take home.  Finally we strolled to a cafe and one final time to Trinidade for beer and seafood.

Our stay in Lisbon has been wonderful.  The city is comfortable with easy walking even on the hills, the people are charming and most speak English, at least enough to get by with tourists.  As Nor pointed out the buildings seem not to be over  seven stories which gives the streets a much more open feel.  The tiles on the sides of the buildings and the multitude of plazas and parks makes this a great place to visit.

So on the Fatima and Porto and beyond!

Lisbon and the Belem Area

Back in Lisbon today for more walking and eating!  Because we are on our own schedule we got up and moving at our own pace.  We left the flat about 9:30 and headed to the tram stop to head to the Belem area of town about 5 kilometers away.
We found the tram stop right away and then remembered that we had to purchase our tickets in advance--Thus began our walks across the Plaza Commercio  First one direction to what we thought was a TI--then over to the TI--then across the Square to another TI and finally down into the Metro station to buy the tickets--then back up out of the metro and back across the square to wait for the tram.  The ride was an experience--because it was a Saturday and because it was a beautiful day--and because Belem is a tourist desination, we were in the tram like sardines.  Nor says that Portugal is famous for its sardines and as Ron pointed out so far these are the only ones we have found.
The tram let us off right in from of the Monastary of Sa. Jeronimos.

The Monastary is a huge building running 300 yards.  It was built by King Manuel to celebrate and pray for the explorers. Vasco De Gama who is buried there is said to have prayed for his safe return before leaving on his voyages.  The cloisters of the monastary are a large square in the style called Manueline--it is very ornate all for decoration not for structure, there are curliques and other designs in the cut stone as well as gargoyles and family crests.  The two stories of the cloisters are beautiful to walk around.  The church too is lovely, in this same style.  At the altar are the tombs of two kings and two queens all on the back of elephants which replaced lions as symbols of power.

After visiting the monastary we crossed the main roads and went to the statue remembering all the explorers, led by Henry the Navigator.  We walked to the Tower of Belem, which is at the mouth of the river to protect Lisbon from invaders.  The park was crowded with families, couples and singles enjoying the gorgeous day

Next we walked to the Pastels de Belem shop for a traditional tart like sweet and a coffee (beer for Nor and Ron).  Then back on the bus and to the flat.  We stopped just long enough to drop off cameras and change shoes, then to Trindad for a beer and appetizers.

Across the street from Trindade we found (thank you Ron) a restaurant called Faz Gostos-- WOW!
Another amazing meal of seafoods. and two incredible desserts Lynn and I are going back there for desserts while the guys go across the street to Trinidade for beers--hey calories are calories!!!
While dining a charming french couple sat down and as they prepared to order they asked Ron what he was having and that started a nice conversation.  We learned that their son is in univeristy south of Charlotte where he plays tennis for the school.  They recommended a market to go to and this will be out Sunday, after Lynn and Ron return from church!

Sintra

We left at 9:30 with our guide and driver Jose'  to head out to Sintra and two royal residences.
The first the Royal Palace at Sintra had a slightly Moorish feel but was much more of a palace.  Many of the rooms and truly amazing paintings on the ceilings including one room that had a high dome covered with portraits of members of the family. The kitchen was as big as my house and had two huge beehive ceilings open to the sky at the top.  From outside they looked like huge factory chimneys, except they were covered with plaster and painted white, inside they composed the two halves of the rooms.
The second castle also a royal residence was on the top of the mountain, the last royal to add to the castle was a relative of Mad Ludwig of Neuschwanstein fame and the family proclivity for over the top mountain top castle construction was definitely in evidence here.  The castle which was described by Rick Steves as part moorish, part romanesque and part disney was all that and more.  The castle it self is painted red and yellow and dark blue gey, parts of the exterior have tiles covering them. Some of the arches are moorish in style others are more gothic with gargoyles at the top or corners of the arches.  The rooms themselves are a bit tamer but definitely ornate with more amazing tile work and plaster work ceilings.  After touring the castle we walked down through some of the gardens to meet up with Jose'.
Next he took us to a typical Portugese resturant--according to him.  The food was excellent.  Lynn and Ron had a cod and potato dish that had a great flavor but because it was based on salt cod was definitely salty.  Nor and I shared a really nice kebob of various meats that came with potatoes and rice.  Lynn Ron and Nor also had an excellent soup.  Dessert was an almond cake topped with fruit and ice cream--the cake was amazing--if I went there again I would get just the almond cake (for dessert).


On the drive back to the city we drove to the western most point of Portugal which is at exactly the same latitude as New York City.  It was lovely but incredibly windy.
We stopped into Trinidade for a beer Lynn and I left the guys to go buy food for dinner--does it sound like this trip is about eating?  They decided to have another beer and through what they claim was a mis-understanding they were served four more beers and of course, to assure that they would not be considered ugly Americans, they HAD to drink all four, they took one for the nation--what patriots!
Of course, since Lynn and I were out on our own we were able to find a great shop with just what we needed to buy for our girls back home (and a little for ourselves--lets be clear this is OUR trip)
A great dinner -- says the chef  --  another good bottle of wine  --- some cards  --- and now off to bed!

Lisbon Day One

We all slept in -- well is was 6:30 when we got up and we all thought that was sleeping in.  An important note is that the three people who did not fast--are not jetlagged and neither is the guy who fasted--so I am thinking that fasting is not the cure all for jetlag.

With the help of Rick Steve's we took three walking tours of Lisbon.  The city is definitely built on hills, it puts Rome to same in the number and steepness of the hills.  So many of the buidings are covered with their beautiful tiles in geometric patterns.  The camera mavens (Lynn and Becky) were taking snaps of buildings everywhere.

We had lunch at a charming cafe serving Portugese tapas--similar to Spanish tapas but served in Portugal.  It was really windy and then started to sprinkle so we moved inside for a much more pleasant experience.  One of the tapas plates, our waiter told us, was an award winner, it was prociutto wrapped around a very light soft cheese with a bit of jam --  I know you think your kid could make that -- but I assure you, just like art, your kid really couldn't and it was really really good.

We then walked on and ended up at the castle, it is on a very steep and high hill, so we decided that cab ride was a good idea.  The castle grounds were facinating and the views of the city were beautiful.  I would disagree with Rick Steve's--this is not to be missed--not because they are necessarily unusual ruins but because they are lovely.

A walk down the hill, during which Ron pointed out, that going down only meant we were going to have to go back up, led us back to the water side.  The walk down was mostly on streets so steep we were on stairs.  Think Colin Firth in Love Actually as he was going to propose to his girl and you will know the type of stairs we were on!

Our next task was to find a grocery--our trailblazer and guide (Norris) failed us until we got back to the room and he googled it and found two within about 400 meters.  Ron was on wine duty and the Lynn, Nor and I went to Brio to buy supplies for dinner and breakfast.

Back at the flat (see how European I am?) Lynn and I prepared sauted vegetables over pasta and sweet potatoes with olive oil and goat cheese--in my unbiased and humble opinion it was REALLY Good!  The wines were amazing--which may have helped a bit--insert cockeyed grin here--

We all tumbled into bed fairly early -- Sintra tomorrow!

We are in Portugal

Arrived in Lisbon last night.  It was a long but uneventful trip.  Nor did his jet lag fast and is still in bed.  I think he is just showing off!

Our apartment is great I am looking out the living room window at some beautiful tiles on the house across the way.  I can see that these may be hard to resist.  My poor Sherpa--having to carry a sack full of tiles!

We had dinner at a converted monastery that makes the oldest made traditional beer in Portugal.  They use the monks recipe I guess.  Anyway it was really good and the seafood we had was amazing.

Off to discover the city with Lynn, Ron and my loving fella Norris.