Blogs from Porto, Northern, Portugal, Europe - page 7

We fulfilled one of our major aims of travelling the Iberian Peninsula by exploring the Douro River Valley. We came away tired but exhilarated by its ruggedness and extreme beauty. Our guide, Diego, picked us up in his very comfortable and smooth travelling minivan at 8.10am and we headed out of Porto full of excitement to view this wild and beautiful landscape that I had read so much about. The Douro is one of the major rivers of the Iberian Peninsula flowing across northern-central Spain and Portugal to reach the sea at Porto. The Douro (vinhateiro=winegrowing) is an area of the Valley devoted to vineyards and is primarily known for Port, a sweet wine that has been produced here for 2 000 years, along with red and white wines. The “microclimate” allows for the cultivation of ... read more

First thing in the morning, 6.30, I'm up on the sun deck admiring the view of Porto across the river from Gaia where the cruise ships dock. There's a heavy mist rising from the water with the heat of the sun, and beyond the famous Dom Luis 1 bridge the view has a mysterious air. We start our river cruise with a ‘sumptuous breakfast’, one of 3 available - Early riser (6-7.30), sumptuous (7.30-9), and late risers (9-10.30). Very civilized if you like breakfast! If you want to take the tours, every day bar one means getting up to go out between 8 & 9. Although lunch is provided on return most people ate at least something from the buffet. Each day there was a choice of 2 trips, usually one walking and the other on ... read more

Wednesday, Day 2: Great day to be alive. Sunny, warm and not throwing up...what more could a body ask for? I know, let’s get out and try to see everything in the universe! Today, April 25, Freedom Day, is a Portugese national holiday. Also known as the Carnation Revolution, this was the day that, in 1974, the regime of Estado Novo was overthrown and lead to the eventual withdrawal of Portugal from its African colonies. Almost no shots were fired as the revolting citizens put red carnations in the muzzles of the soldiers rifles. More or less. For us, this celebration meant huge crowds, street music, speeches, concerts and late buses. Some stores were closed but not so’s you’d notice. The plan was to explore in the morning on our own, meet for lunch, then go ... read more

Porto. Wow! What to say? Porto, or is it Oporto? Well it would appear that the latter pronunciation is both English and Spanish, but the former is Portuguese. The success of the local football team, FC Porto, has led to much greater usage of the shorter name, so that's what we will use! This was such a cool city that we actually abandoned the plans to visit another friend on this trip and extended our stay for an extra day. The bus down from Viseu was plain sailing and it wasn't too bad a walk from the bus station to our hotel. Our initial thoughts on the Vera Cruz Hotel were very positive. So much so in fact that we thought immediately about staying an extra night. We asked at reception and were given a pretty ... read more

November 9, Porto, Portugal Today was our long drive day. Barry and I look a taxi to the Hertz rental location, and drove back to pick up the girls and say goodbye to our wonderful host, Jose. Lucky for us it was a city holiday in Madrid and traffic was minimal unlike the hustle and bustle that it usually is. We left the city about 9:30 and were immediately impressed by Portugal's...like Spain's....fantastic highway system, mostly toll roads. At 120km/hr, it doesn't take too long. I set the cruise for 130 but still got passed a lot....by Mercedes, BMWs and the like. We stopped for coffee and pastry...a recurring theme...in the quaint walled town of Ciudad Rodrigo, near the Portugal border then it was off on the last stretch, to our accommodation called Belomonte Guesthouse, right ... read more