Tuesday May 3 Salamanca

After breakfast we boarded our coaches and headed for Salamanca, Spain, for the day. Its about a two hour drive through a changing environment. The first half of the journey takes us on windy roads through the “Parque Natural do Douro Internacional”, which borders both Spain and Portugal. Quite mountainous to our west. As the land flattens out we see many acres of ranch land with cows and sheep. The land is very rocky so we see no “agriculture” going on. There are very few outbuildings and, as compared to Idaho anyway, you won't see any abandoned farm equipment out in the fields. As we get closer to Salamanca we start to see fields of grain crops. We are told that later in the summer we'd see fields of sunflowers. It seems we are very early in the spring; not much growing yet. We were told about the Holm Oak, which are pruned to provide shade for the cattle in the summer. We also learned about the Black Pigs, which eat acorns and provide the ham delicacies you see in the markets. 

Our most interesting wildlife sighting today was Storks! They make huge nests and we're told that they'll migrate to Africa in the fall and return here, to the same nests, in March. Once we get to the city you'll see the nests on top of some of the church buildings. I managed to get a good photo of them! 

Upon our arrival in Salamanca we were met by a local guide, who spoke very good English, fired up our “quiet devices” and walked all around the city center, including “Mercado” featuring all manner of meats and cheese.” We visited both of the Cathedrals. (The two cathedrals are attached. Originally, the plan was to demolish one and use the stone to build a new one. But they decided that would take too long!) The architecture and detail of the facades is incredible. The interiors are dark and high, with stained glass windows; most of the “Chapels” are protected by steel cages. One of them is used for services every day. The main feature of the city is the University, which has 20,000 students from all over the world. We were told about the legend of the frogs and saw the statue of the priest who was imprisoned for translating the bible to Spanish. 

During our trip we have heard references several times to the Great Lisbon Earthquake of 1755, which destroyed Lisbon but also affected Spain and north Africa. We were directed to a crack in a cathedral wall which can still be seen. 

After our tour we were set loose to find lunch on our own. The weather is cloudy and quite cool. No shortage of options! Most of the restaurants have outdoor seating, but its too cold!  We went to a little cafe and enjoyed Three Cheese Pizza and “Pork on Fries”. The prices seem quite reasonable. 

After lunch we explored the square some more until our meeting time to hear the traditional student music group called “la Tuna”. What a hoot! They entertained us with traditional Spanish music and dancing. See more here: La Tuna on YouTube

Returning to the coaches, we arrived back at the ship around 6:00. For some reason, they have moved the boat downriver a little ways to a place called Barca d'Alva. We enjoyed a wonderful meal of roast shank of lamb, at our table of six, including Valerie and Eddie, our tour directors from Twin Falls. Its amazing how many tours they have done around the world!

The "Tuna" music group

Frog legend - if a student finds it, they'll pass their courses.

Can you find the frog?

Main Square

Mercado

This is their idea of coffee

Stork

Stork nest on top of a dome (they are protected)

"Tuna" member

One of our 'enrichment" lectures was about cork

Wednesday May 4 Cao River

Another busy day! The weather is spectacular all day; cloudless sky, 80 degrees by afternoon, little wind. 

Right after breakfast our coaches took us up to the Coa Valley Museum. Interesting story here. The Coa River drains into the Douro just above Pochino. Back in the 1970s the government began building a dam across the Coa, to provide electricity. In the process of their environmental impact studies, archaeologists discovered rock wall drawings, dating back 30,000 years! In short order, the project was stopped (you can see what was started) and by the end of the 70s it had been named a UNESCO World Heritage Site, to be protected forever. So much for the dam. We toured a remarkable museum, with very unusual architecture, on top of the hill with magnificent views of the Douro/Coa, explaining all the drawings that had been identified......four animals but no humans! The village here of Foz Coa looks delightful! 

Driving around the countryside is beautiful! Vineyards and olive trees everywhere, all in neat and tidy rows! 

We returned to the ship for a “bar-b-que” on the Sun Deck, with an  amazing assortment of salads and meat dishes, including chicken, chorizo, sardines and pork ribs. Our entire crew provided the entertainment with singing and dancing in the isles! 

After a couple of hours to relax on deck in the sunshine, we passed through two locks on our way back down river. We stopped across the river from Peso da Regua for the night. (This city has three amazing bridges crossing the river). After a cocktail-making class by the bartender, a short video about the river before the dams (amazing how they had to float wine barrels down the wild river) and our daily “Port Talk”, we boarded our coaches and drove a half hour up to the fabulous Pacheca Winery for dinner. We were greeted with a glass of white Port wine and viewed the vineyards in all directions. We were escorted into this huge old barn, where enormous casks of wine were stored, for a great meal of asparagus soup, roast beef, au gratin potatoes, string beans and endless wine! We also enjoyed music by a live violinist and piano player. (By the way, you can stay there in rooms made from wine barrels!) 

Nursing a bit of a sunburn, didn't hit the rack until nearly 11:30!!  More exploring on tap for tomorrow.

I think this one looks sinister! (AMA)

Coffee break

Souvenir olive oil

Lots of concrete in this museum!

Bar B Q on sun deck - our chef

City of Regue

Olive Oil Factory

Wall made from rocks  (Columnar basalt?)

Just pretty

Pacheca Winery

I entered this in ship photo contest - didn't win!

Pacheca Winery

Museum display of drawings

Thursday May 5 Lamego

After breakfast this morning we loaded up for a half hour ride up to the city of Lamego, home of the Sanctuary of our Lady of Remedies. Its another beautiful, sunny day! (They say it gets very hot here in the summer). The Sanctuary is an important pilgrimage site in Portugal. Built in the early 1700s, it features 686 steps from the bottom (disappointed that we couldn't do that since parts were under repair...sure). The bus took us to the top so we could visit the church and enjoy the views. We noticed lots of the famous blue “azulejos” tiles. 

After coming down from the Sanctuary we had a few minutes to visit some shops in the square. Sam bought a table cloth. There is also an impressive church adjacent. We browsed an interesting open air market that apparently happens every Thursday. A lot of the offerings were garden flowers and vegetables. More interesting were the cages of chickens, pheasants, guinea pigs, canaries and pigeons! 

Back to the ship for lunch by 12:30. A guy had set up a tent right at the ship selling all things cork! Sam got a couple of bracelets. Did you know you can buy shoes made out of cork? (We learned that sticking to a schedule is important to be sure you reach the next lock at the appointed time! By the end of today we will have gone though ten locks since we started; only on two occasions did we have to wait our turn). 

This afternoon we continued sailing down river toward Porto. Our on board entertainment was “tile painting”.  A local artist brought us blank tiles with templates; she showed us how to use the template to paint the blue ink. She'll take them home to her kiln and bring them back tomorrow. We'll see how we did. 

After our dinner of roast beef (excellent as usual) the entire staff presented itself so they could thank us for being such great guests. Likewise, it gave us the chance to give them an ovation for their outstanding service. A fun event!! 

Tomorrow is our last day. We'll do a tour of Porto and spend the afternoon getting Covid tests and packing for an early departure on Saturday.

Our Lady of Remedies

Note the tiles

Cork Shoes?