Salamanca, Spain

 

Today is Liberty Day in Portugal in celebration of the Carnation Revolution in 1974, when carnations were placed in the gun barrels of the soldiers as the dictator Salazar was deposed.

Plaza Mayor

Once again, we couldn’t get through a lock so the 2-hour drive to Salamanca, Spain is 3 hours. Salamanca is known as the golden city because the city center is built from sandstone. The city has 150K population and 30K students at the oldest university in Spain. We started our walking tour at the city hall in the Plaza Mayor. Around the square there are 88 arches with medallions of the kings and famous people of the area of Castille Leone. As we walked, we saw several bell towers with nesting storks. 

Storks on the Bell Tower

We walked past the Casa de las Conchas with seashells on the walls. The walls of many buildings had red graffiti to celebrate the victory of earning a PhD. The city has two cathedrals from the 12^th and 16^th centuries. We started on the façade of the 16^th century New Cathedral.  The entire central vault fell during the 1555 earthquake. 

The New Cathedral

In the Old Cathedral is the life story of Mary told right to left and bottom to top. As we left the Cathedrals we looked up to see a carving of an astronaut and a dragon eating ice cream. These carvings were done during the cathedral’s recent restoration. Our return trip was only 2 hours since our ship had made it through the final lock.

Astronaut in the restoration

Museum of Foz Coa

 

We were supposed to enter a lock at about 8:30 this morning but had to turn back.  March and April have been very rainy and so the dams are releasing water since they are full and the locks can’t work while the draining is going on.

Douro Valley

We learned about Antonia Ferreira, born in 1811. She became a widow at age 33 and took over the wine business of her husband. In 1860 the Douro Valley was affected by Phylloxera, a pest that destroys the roots of the grapes. The virus spread throughout Europe, cutting wine production by 80%. People deserted the valley because of the lack of jobs. Antonia went searching for a cure, which she found in England. The solution was to graft European vines on American roots. She invested her fortune in bringing this practice to the Douro valley saving the industry.

Actual Etching

We had a 2-hour drive to the Museum of Foz Coa. Here are original and replicas of the etching carved over the last 18000 years. There are over a thousand etchings, carved using Flintstone tools, found in 70 different locations.  They were found in 1991 during the construction of a dam. The high school students here petitioned to stop the construction of the dams, and it became a national political issue in 1996.

Etching highlighted

We went on to Castle of Castelo Rodrigo, built in the 12^th century, less than a mile from the Spanish border.

Castelo Rodrigo gate

Quinta de Seixov Winery

 

Quinta de Seixov

Today we’re visiting the Quinta de Seixov winery, part of the Sandeman brands. The symbol of the Sandeman brand is “The Don” dressed in a Spanish hat and a cape. Their most famous wine is the Mateus Rosé of which they sell 25,000,000 bottles a year to 125 countries; it’s called the Coca-Cola of wine. From the winery, we can see the old terraces where everything is done by hand as well as newer dirt terraces where machinery can be used. The new terraces have irrigation lines, used for the first time last year as the climate becomes drier. Besides grapes the winery has numerous fruit trees especially orange and lemon to flavor the Port wine. The stamping of the grapes is for the finer wines is done by foot for five hours. But a machine stomper is used for most wines in a large stone vat. The wine is placed in various sizes of barrels from about 200 liters to 5000 liters. The flavor varies both on the size of the barrel and the length of time it is fermented. Larger vats produce a fruitier taste. The Port is 18 to 20 percent alcohol. We sampled three different ports: white, red, and a 20-year-old tawny. The tawny was by far the best in my opinion.

Sandeman Brand

We docked in Pinhão for the night. We took a short walk to the train station to see the picture tiles of the Douro valley and the making of wine. 

Pinhão Train Station

That night we had entertainment from a local trio.

Guimarães

 

Cruising up the Douro River

We began cruising the Douro River this morning. Wine has been produced here since 200 AD and port since 1600. England lost their supply of French wine in the 17^th century, when war broke out. Portugal became a key supplier of wine, but the wine would spoil on the ocean voyage. Adding a grape spirit to the wine would stop the fermentation process leaving residual sugar. It was then aged in barrels creating port wine. In 1756, they began the regulation of wine and port to ensure its quality. There are grape regions along the Douro. The area around Porto gets the most rain and is called Baixo Corgo. The Cima Corgo region is upriver, has over 400 steeps hills, and has warmer summers and colder winters. The largest region is the Douro Superior region with temperatures of 20 to 95 degrees. Here they harvest the grapes at night because of the heat. This has the greatest variety of wines produced from three different grapes.

Guimarães Castle

In the afternoon, we bused to the town of Guimarães. Here was fought the battle that resulted in the nation of Portugal when King Afonso fought against his mother Theresa of Leon in 1128. He went on to defeat the Moors in Lisbon and another battle against Leon, creating the Kingdom of Portugal. The borders between Spain and Portugal are the oldest in Europe. Here we saw castle, originally built of wood in the 10^th century, then rebuilt in stone 14^th century. Portugal’s dictator, Salazar reconstructed it in the 20^th century.

Tapestry in Ducal Palace

We toured the Ducal Palace built by the Braganza Family in 1421. The family was the royal family from 1640 until 1910. In the waiting room were two large tapestries. The tapestries are modern copies of the original which were discovered in Spain cut into strips. 

Catherine of Braganza

In another room was the portrait of Catherine of Braganza who became the wife of the English King. She brought with her to England, the practice of afternoon tea, fork utensils, and marmalade. Queens, New York is named after her. We walked to the Center of town, where we saw the arch where the King of Portugal was officially acclaimed. Our bus descended to the river on an extremely curvy road, but our riverboat wasn’t there. The river current is strong from the three months of rain. Our riverboat had trouble approaching the lock below us. We admired the huge river perch that a fisherman showed us while we were waiting.

Local Fisherman's Catch

Lisbon to Porto

 

Nigerian Headstones

We headed north to Porto. Our primary stop was the Alianca Underground Museum. The cellars which used to be used to age wine are now used to house an eclectic collection of 1000 year old headstones from Niger, stone statues from Zimbabwe, minerals, fossils and petrified wood from Brazil, Portuguese ceramics, and modern frescoes. The cellars still have barrels to age wine and brandy, as well as bottles of sparkling wine. The tour ended with our sampling of sparkling wine.

Tree made from Petrified Wood

We had lunch in the town of Aveiro, known for its canals which were historically used to feed the salt flats.

Gondolas in Aveiro

 After lunch we headed for the Douro Spirit, our riverboat, for the next seven days.

Porto from our riverboat

Easter in Lisbon

 

Monument of the Discoveries

We began our tour at the Monument of the Discoveries. Portugal was famed for its navigation school. Henry the navigator is at the head of the memorial. The Portuguese sailors discovered how to get to the orient by going around the African continent. The map labels the year each territory was reached by the Portuguese. This gave them direct access to the spices of India and the Orient. Nearby is the Belem Tower which defended the port of Lisbon. Then onto the Monastery of St. Jerome where we had their local pastries, Pastéis de Bélum.

Main Entrance to St. George's Castle

In the afternoon, I decided to climb to the St. George’s Castle in the Alfama district of the city. I visited the Church of St. Anthony of Lisbon. The church was built above his birthplace. The climb begins from here through the streets and staircases to St. George’s Castle where a fortification has existed since the 8^th century B.C. I walked the Castle walls with beautiful views of the city. On the way down, I took a wrong turn, but it was hard to get lost, just head down hill and west. That night, we had dinner near where I had walked, kale soup, followed by duck with rice and vegetables. After dinner, we had a Fado concert. A classical guitar and a Portuguese guitar with three different Fado singers.

Arriving in Lisbon

 

Carmo Archeological Museum

If you would prefer a video of this trip, it is available on youtube.

We flew front Denver to Montreal, then on to Lisbon. We arrived at the Altis Grand Hotel about 12:30. Lisbon is situated on the Tgus River where it meets the ocean. The ancient town was founded by the Romans on 7 hills which could be used for defense. I walked to the Carmo Archeological Museum, housed in a former Convent destroyed by the 1555 earthquake that destroyed most of the city. There were artifacts from prehistoric, Roman, and Moor periods as well as some mummies from South America brought back by Portuguese explorers. 

Mummy from South America

Nearby are the Santa Justa Lift and Saint Peter’s Viewpoint with views of the city and the Castle of St. George on the opposite hill.  That night the tour group got together for white port and then went to a nearby restaurant for a meal.

St. George Castle and Santa Justa Lift