Finally arrived in Porto. After 2 weeks, first in Switzerland, second inPiemonte, Sibeal and I have arrived in the lovely city of Porto for the last leg of our vacation.
Porto is just an extraordinary city along the Douro.
Located along the Douro river estuary in Northern Portugal, Porto is one of the oldest European centres, and its historical core was proclaimed a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1996. The western part of its urban area extends to the coastline of the Atlantic Ocean. Its settlement dates back many centuries, when it was an outpost of the Roman Empire. Its combined Celtic-Latin name, Portus Cale has been referred to as the origin of the name “Portugal”, based on transliteration and oral evolution from Latin. In Portuguese, the name of the city is spelled with a definite article o Porto; Consequently, its English name evolved from a misinterpretation of the oral pronunciation and referred to as Oporto in modern literature and by many speakers.
One of Portugal’s internationally famous exports, port wine, is named after Porto, since the metropolitan area, and in particular the cellars of Vila Nova de Gaia, were responsible for the packaging, transport and export of the fortified wine.
Sibeal and I, with our good friends Roy, Jhansy and Joe, arrived on Friday, October 19, ready to discover the beauty of this wonderful city. Knowing that Sibeal and I were only staying two nights before boarding the Queen Isabel for our 7 day river cruise (Roy, Jhansy and Joe were off on their own to visit Evora, Lisbon) we chose a very nice and elegant Airbnb called Camilo Guesthouse, super hosted by Nuno Santos (highly recommended).
After unpacking the essentials, we rested for a bit before descending from our nap to walk to our restaurant “Tapabento” a delicious seafood place. However to find the place was in itself an adventure. Our Google map would send us one place, then another so it took us much more than our 20 minute walk to find the place. But certainly worth the walk.
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Our next day, Saturday, we would spend across the river in Vila Nova de Gaia, with a morning visit to Churchill, a rather new (1981) Port Lodge with our hostess and guide, Carmen Monteiro.
One thing one has to learn about traveling across the river. While it seems so close, cars, taxis have to take the long way around so it did take around 20 minutes to arrive at our destination. But cab fares are not expensive. We used the Taxify (another Uber style service) and it cost only about €10 for our cab fare.
Churchill is a young Port Lodge owned by John Graham (yes, same family) who decided to branch out on his own and create his own style. One main criteria of the house style is that they ferment their wine a little longer before fortifying it at a lesser degree but reaching the same resulting 19% alcohol. Their taste is a bit more fruitier and can be enjoyed a bit younger. While everyone recognizes and love Tawny, Ruby, LBV and Vintage, Churchill White Port is just superb and so unique!
After our fantastic visit (thank you Carmen), we descended to the riverfront and enjoyed a Franceshina lunch at Tappas Regional Cafe and some Port cocktails at the impressive Porto Cruz, with perhaps the best view of Gaia.
The day passed so quickly and before we knew it, it was time to go back to our place, have a light dinner (or so we thought), a nice sleep before parting company on Sunday. I said light dinner which turned out to be so so wrong! When our server suggested “small portions” we obliged thinking that small portions meant SMALL! No way! What we received were just less than gargantuan portions. Jhansy and Joe ordered a small “misto” plate consisting of chicken, pork and beef. When the plates arrived (extra large platter of meat, rice, vegetables and beans) they looked at us with a sense of shock! Just their dish could have fed all 5 of us. I was so amazed that I forgot to take a picture! Then our plates arrived! OMG! You could just imagine our “doggie bags”!!
We bid everyone farewell that evening over a glass of wine back at our guesthouse as Roy, Joe and Jhansi would leave very early Sunday morning and we would board the Queen Isabel about 1 pm.
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Our ride dropped off us on time the next afternoon and while waiting for our room to be ready (by 3 pm) we had a quiet and quick lunch and visited the sun deck and to acquaint ourselves with the entire ship.
FYI:
Queen Isabel launched in spring 2013 as the newest and one of the most luxurious ships on Portugal’s Douro River. The ship is owned by DouroAzul, one of Portugal’s leading river cruise companies, with an impressive portfolio of riverboats and ships (including the Spirit of Chartwell), as well as extremely smart new coaches, which coordinate with the ships for shore excursions. Queen Isabel is currently chartered by boutique cruise line Uniworld Cruises for all its cruises along the Douro.
While we waited for the rest of our party, we descended to the lounge to enjoy a few glasses of “espumante” which I had promised for Sibeal (at least 1 glass/day).
By 5pm, everyone had arrived and we were ready to enjoy our first dinner together.
A night cap or 2 later, we were ready for bed with a full day for Monday.
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After a really enjoyable sleep (beds are really comfortable) and a good morning breakfast, we had our first special presentation/tasting that I had organized with the assistance of IVDP. Paulo Russell-Pinto came on board to lecture us on the beauty and diversity off the Douro region and its wonderful wines(still and fortified). We all sat listening attentively to the amount of information that Paulo offered on history, geography, the biodiversity of this wonderful region of the world. All this education quickly made us thirsty, so Paulo concluded his presentation with some practical tips- the tasting!
As you can see we tasted a white and red still wine along with 4 different Port wines (white, reserve tawny, 20 year old tawny and a LBV). Paulo explained the differences between all styles of Port from white to the top Vintage.
His explanations and presentation were greatly appreciated by all as we had organized all this at the very beginning of the cruise, which allowed the wine group to be totally prepped when other presentations were offered during the 7 days. Our wine group sounded so knowledgeable when the other guests gravitated towards us asking all sorts of questions.
Obrigado Paulo!
Spending time on a river cruise is much like gliding along the river itself. It “flows” at its own very gentle pace. While there are activities on board and certainly organized excursions, you feel no pressure to do anything you don’t want to do.
Monday afternoon was spent leisurely with tea-time, cocktail hour, management staff presentation, before dinner get together(which actually meant some sort of cocktail or cocktails), dinner , the nightly entertainment with the famous “Tunas” , an all-male university singers who travel the world singing the nostalgic serenades of Portugal, and then lounging with “piano man” Miguel. And all this sipping Port Tonic, espumante, wine or anything else the hearts desire. What a life!
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Tuesday morning was spent in Régua visiting the Douro Museum for a presentation on the Douro. This also included a video on how rough the Douro was in the 60’s when transporting the barrels from the quintas in the rabelo boats all the way to Vila Nova de Gaia. While our small wine group had Paulo on Monday, this tour was organized by Uniworld for all their passengers, which most attended. You should have seen our group nod and say “I know that”.
After a small taste of still red red and white, everyone descended to the gift shop. You can imagine the amount of business they did!
The afternoon was spent on the upper deck watching the beautiful terraced vineyards flow by. What was interesting was the number of abandoned vineyards, mainly due to the phylloxera crisis. When phylloxera hit dramatically across Europe, many small landowners in the Douro (like elsewhere) became destitute very quickly due to the fact they could not afford replanting with the “savior” American rootstock. They just walked away, many leaving Portugal for South America. But what’s amazing it that their land and property, while abandoned, still remain in the family because they do not want to sell. You still see these terraced vineyards not with vines but with trees (olive/hazelnut or elder).
By dinner time we had passed several locks, Pinhao and the rest of the Portuguese Douro and entering the Spanish Duero where we docked in Vega del Terron for the night and Wednesday we will spend the day traveling to Salamanca and visiting one of the most beautiful cities in Spain
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Sibeal unfortunately has some severe lung issues in the night so we both decided to forgo visiting the city of Salamanca (2 hours bus ride both ways as well as a 3 hour walking tour), so we stayed on board relaxing on the sun deck and actually updating the Douro blog (had no time these past few days), which took me a few hours writing and organizing the photos.
By 6 pm, everyone returned from an exhausting travel day and were ready to relax with some drinks and then dinner and for some to head off to the lounge for some rock & roll dancing.
Dinner service by so experienced servers!
Piano Man Miguel entertaining us in the lounge!
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Thursday started out with a planned trip to Castelo Rodrigo (back in Portugal). One hour both ways up steep hills with curvy roads this time filled with olive trees, almond trees, and fig trees. The olive trees are rather full waiting for the upcoming harvest which will begin in November
FYI on Castello Rodrigo
From its lofty hilltop position, the small village of Castelo Rodrigo looks down over the plateau stretching eastwards to Spain and northwards to the deep valley of the River Douro. According to tradition, it was founded by Alfonso IX of León, in order to be given to Count Rodrigo Gonzalez de Girón, who repopulated it and gave it its name. With the Treaty of Alcanices, signed in 1297 by D. Dinis, poet and king of Portugal, it came into the possession of the Portuguese crown.
Castelo Rodrigo still preserves scars left by the constant disputes over the territory. The first such episode took place less than a hundred years after its integration into the kingdom of Portugal, during the dynastic crisis of 1383-1385. D. Beatriz, the only daughter of D. Fernando of Portugal, was married to the king of Castile. With her accession to the throne on the death of her father, Portugal was set to lose its independence in favour of Castile. Castelo Rodrigo sided with D. Beatriz, but D. João, the Master of Avis, defeated the Castilians at the Battle of Aljubarrota, in 1385, and as a result was crowned king of Portugal, taking the name of D. João I. As a reprisal for the lords of Castelo Rodrigo having sided with Castile, the new king ordered that the shield and the coat of arms of Portugal should always be displayed upside down on the town´s coat of arms.
Later, in the 16th century, when Philip II of Spain annexed the Portuguese Crown, the Governor Cristóvão de Mora became the defender of the cause of Castile and suffered from the revenge of the local population, who set fire to his enormous palace on 10 December 1640, as soon as they received the news of the Restoration of Portugal (which took place on 1 December). The aftermath of this historic event was the ruins that can still be seen on the top of the hill next to the castle.
In the olden days, it also stood on the route taken by the pilgrims travelling to Santiago de Compostela. Legend has it that none other than St. Francis of Assisi spent the night here on his pilgrimage to the tomb of St. James.
Where the locals greeted us with local goodies and drinks!
Arrived back on board by noon, had a deserved afternoon rest, went through another lock(Valeria lock) this time on the way back to Pinhao
Finally arrived in Pinhao where we docked and stayed overnight. Uniworld had planned a evening with dinner at Quinta da Avessada in the very heart of the Douro.
After returning from the evening, I had a chance to roam the town of Pinhao with some of the fantastic staff as they had the evening to themselves.
But prior to leaving for the evening, was able to visit with the staff for their important “team building” session. So entertaining! Chance to see the staff with their hair down!
Teves, Alessandra, Filipe, Liliana and friends first brought me to X Tream, our first stop where I tasted their own brew Vale do Tabua. They make IPA, Brown Ale, Porter. My Brown Ale was totally delicious!
Then off to Cafe Rio, a nice hidden place off the beaten path where the locals hang out unlike the waterfront pubs filled with tourists. One local dish is what they call “hotdog ” a sausage in a bun filled with cheese, ketchup, mustard and crumbled chips with of course red wine followed by Ilidio’s own homemade Port!(Cafe owner).
While everyone continued onwards (they did invite me), I decided wisely to make it an early night. Teves told me that sometimes they can party until the wee hours in the morning. Oh, to be young again!
Friday we will be visiting Quinta de Carvalhas for a special private tour of vineyards/ tastings and lunch, then sailing down to the most beautiful town of Gaia.
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After a nice breakfast , Felipe from the front desk arranged for us to have 2 taxis ready to bring our party of 12 to the beautiful estate of Quinta Carvalhas just on the other side of the bridge in Pinhao. Our private visit, tasting and light lunch was possible due to the hard work of our local Alberta importers Lanigan & Edwards. Thanks Tara!
The staff was waiting for us and after a few minutes of wait, our bus driver with vineyard manager Alvaro arrived and we would first visit some vineyards, which unfortunately had been already harvested. If we had arrived here a week ago, we would have seen the crush and foot treading in the lagares. So sad to have missed such an occasion!
Alvaro brought us up the hills from 150 meters altitude to 550 meters high. He stopped at 2 points to showcase the changes that Carvalhas made over a period of 15 years. His passion of what he does, what he believes in, was so contagious that we all felt mesmerized about his talk on terroir, biodiversity and what makes this landscape so unique and maybe the best in the world. We were totally under his spell, which explains, as I later found out, why Alvaro is also a poet and singer! Every word had pronounced hand gestures, voice projection and total conviction!
After a good 90 minutes of continuous explanations and commentaries, we boarded our bus, emotionally exhausted but totally inspired, and drove down to the tasting room where Alvaro would regale us with more passion on these wonderful wines.
Over the next hour, he would tell us how these wines were created with inspiration from the vineyards and dedication from the winemakers: 1 white; 7 reds and 2 ports. The look of pure pleasure from our group encouraged Alvaro to break into song as we finished our visit, a visit that will remain with us for a very long time indeed!
We then bid our new friend “Tchao” but only until next time and then rode the local “yellow” train from Pinhao to Régua to meet our Queen Isabel who had to leave Pinhao earlier than us, to pass the remaining locks on time. What a ride!
“The resident wharf duck who wags his tail, thinks like a dog and comes up to people to be fed!”
Once on board, we relaxed in the lounge with some Port, feeling wondrous about our morning visit. I know that this will be remembered and felt for a long time indeed!
Before our Gala dinner, Teves and Andre demonstrated how Vintage Port is opened using the very classical Port Tong method. They used a 2001 Warre’s as a sample. Not bad choice!
We are coming to the end of our journey on the Douro with Saturday arriving back in Gaia, beginning the day with a Portuguese cooking demonstration in the morning, lunch on board, a visit to Churchill in the afternoon and then walking the Cais da Ribera visiting the shops or lodges.
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Saturday morning.
Just before breakfast went on the sun deck to take my last morning pics of the Douro. While its always breezy and chilly, everything warms up rather quickly.
And then down for breakfast with lots and lots of choices.
As mentioned earlier Liliana Pastry chef and extremely talented for such a young person) presented a cooking demonstration of perhaps Portugal most famous dessert: Pastel de Nata (egg tart pastry slightly caramelized and dusted with cinnamon). There are so man6 versions all throughout Portugal.
Here are a few pics. I will also prepare a 20 minute video when I get back in Edmonton.
When we arrived in Gaia (our final destination) Uniworld had prepared 2 city excursions but I had organized a special visit to Churchill, a Port lodge that I had visited just a week before (see beginning of blog). Our wine group divided up as some would come with me and others went on the walking tours.
We then roamed the waterfront, tasted some roasted chestnuts and returned to Queen Isabel for our last dinner together.
Our nightly entertainment consisted of soprano Olga Amaro with pianist Maria Pacheco who have travelled together preforming for the last seven years.
We then danced the night away with the talent of piano man Miguel, bid everyone goodnight and goodbye as many would leave in the early Sunday morning!
I also want to thank some special people who went the extra mile to make our cruise so much more special.
Felipe, Front Desk; Caterina, our floor housekeeper; Piano man Miguel, who played so entertainingly; Carlos, our personal server for the seven dinners, Ana our Maitre D’ and the wonderful bartenders Ricardo, Alessandra and Teves who not only anticipated our every drink need but also were so charming and helpful.
To Uniworld and their wonderful crew and staff, thank you for a wonderful seven days.
Till next time!
Obrigado!
“Any time not drinking Port…is a waste of time” Percy Croft
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