Monday June 30/14
Waking up on the Queen Isabella at the dock, Cais de Gaia, was very exciting since we had new sights and adventures ahead of us. After a delicious breakfast onboard we got on the luxurious tour bus and crossed one of the most lovely bridges. It is called Ponte de Dom Luis and was finished in 1886 by a student of Gustave Eiffel. It is a double decker bridge with the top for pedestrians and a city metro line and the bottom for regular traffic. Porto has an amazing array of architectural styles old and new and is a bit of a jumble. Some buildings are looking forlorn but even those are beautiful. We learned that the city is “experiencing a renaissance of sorts as architectural buffs have turned this into a pilgrimage sight”. Some of the streets were wide and stately and others narrow medieval alleyways. The lovely tile facades were evident everywhere but the incredible motifs at the train station were stunning. Balconies were strewn with laundry which to me is now a symbol of Portugal as much as the decorative tiles and the red tiles roofs. The beautiful pedestrian shopping street with the most elegant cafe, the Avenida dos Aliados with city hall and other incredible buildings, and the ultra modern mall with a grass roof and park above are sights of Porto that stand out. Aside from adding a "boatload" of pictures I can’t think of a better way to describe this amazing city.
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| Tiles added to a church facade |
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| Looking back to Cais de Gaia from a church on the Porto side |
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| Tumbling down beauty |
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| More laundry |
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| 2 churches attached |
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| An unusual display of what must be a protest against plastic water bottles |
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| The grass and park above this shopping street keeps it cool below |
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| One of many encounters with olive trees |
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| Avenida dos Aliados |
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| The train station lobby |
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| The lobby leads to this...love the old with the new! |
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| Ornate cafe |
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| Yummy espresso |
It feels like a full day has gone by but we are heading back to the boat for lunch. We were given a choice to get off the bus and take the incline down to the dock area rather than take the bus down. Only a handful of us braved this adventure and our fares were paid by Kersten, our cruise director. We headed off to the terminal to pay and I must say I felt like I was really on an adventure not knowing what to expect at all. But it was a wonderful choice and the views were spectacular. This also gave us a chance to walk across the bridge and find all the locks put there by lovers and to enjoy spectacular views. The incline was a bit scary at first since it reminded me of the first big drop on a roller coaster. But this was a slow and controlled drop.
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| Anxiously wondering what this was all about! |
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| He's not worried. |
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| Great view of the bridge if you're not queasy about the steep angle. |
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| Looking back. |
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| Beautiful views as we crossed the bridge...much better than bussing it! |
A fabulous lunch onboard was followed by a walking tour to a nearby cellar called Ferreira. This is one of the oldest and largest wineries in the region with a colourful history. Of course we enjoyed a tasting after the tour and this was just the beginning of our education and romance with port wine. Do we look like happy campers or what? To learn more about the history of Ferreira and the Douro region in general check out this link. http://eng.sograpevinhos.com/visitas/cave/6
At 3:15 p.m. after returning to the Queen Isabella from our walking tour of Ferreira Wine Cellar we set sail. This was an exciting moment for me. Although everything we had seen and done so far was wonderful, I was thrilled to be “on the river” and moving. I loved watching the scenery from the boat and spent every possible moment up on deck. This was so different from anything we had done before. It felt like we were going the wrong way once we left the dock, and we were! It turned out we had to go to the mouth of the river to turn around. Once we were well away from Porto the scenery changed completely and became more remote and natural. It was an amazing view really as the hills became steeper. Looking closely at the landscape you soon realized that it was not entirely wild but was actually “farmed.” Farmed in the sense of wine farms, or Quintas, as they are called in the Duoro Valley. We went through our first lock and arrived at the dock called Entre-os-Rios, one of many very remote docking areas where we would spend the night on this trip. The Queen Isabella would not sail at night since the river is small and the captain needed to see where he was going. Not so long ago this river was not navigable by boats of this size but since locks and dams were installed (between 1961 and 1986) it has become possible. What a feeling to be enjoying an exquisite atmosphere and delicious meals on board the Queen Isabella while ensconced in this gorgeous and unique valley!
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