Update from Porto Portugal

            Sunday, February 19, 2012 – Manuela picked us up at 9:30 to take us out to the suburb of Lisbon where they live and our car is parked.  Nearby is an open grocery store (something we have not found on a Sunday in Spain) so we pick up some water for this week (we had avoided getting much water to not have to carry it up and down those 92 steps). We are on the road to northern Portugal by 10:30.  Our trip north to Porto took us about 3 hours.  We drove along the main toll road that had all kinds of settlements and cities along the way.  It is very picturesque with rolling hills and lots of greenery.  We saw farmland, vineyards, orchards, and both coniferous and deciduous forests.  There were lots of areas that were reforested often with eucalyptus trees.  It was a beautiful drive through some very pretty landscape. We also see some beautiful trees along the way that appear to be in bloom.

            We arrive at our apt for the week by 2:00.  We find it is across from the beach on the Atlantic Ocean.  The apt is spacious and well equipped, this will work out well.  We noticed that a grocery store is open, so we decide to go stock up for the next few days.  We can’t travel up the street we came down so, we end up meandering through roads and actually come across another store.  All loaded up, we reversed our way, and encountered all kinds of traffic along the main road along the beach.  There are all kinds of locals out enjoying the beautiful day and walking along the beach, or visiting one of the many bars/coffee shops.

            We read that last week there was a protest in the Lisbon in Praca Comercial with 100 000 people the day before we arrived. We all notice that there was no evidence to us that this large demonstration had occurred when we arrived only one day later, had we not read about it we would not even had known it happened. Then we read of a huge protest in Valencia this week. Traveling in this part of the world has certainly made us much more aware of the recession here in Europe, and the challenges in northern Africa and the Middle East. 

            Monday, February 20, 2012 – It’s a beautiful day today as we look out to the Atlantic Ocean.  We see a number of large ships passing and J wonders where their final destination may be.  There is a coffee shop literally a minute from the apt, so that’ll likely be our morning haunt for the week.  There’s one across the street on the beach, but why venture that far when we don’t have to.  Besides, this place has a wide variety of treats to try if we feel so inclined, and we can see by the crowd of locals it’s the place to go.  As per our standard morning routine, we workout and have a good breakfast, then J does homework until lunchtime.

            Today we decide to venture along the waterfront promenade that is designed for pedestrians as well as for cyclists. We don’t know how long the promenade is but we walk on it for several kms just enjoying the sun and the views.  The beach is beautiful with soft sand with the occasional large granite boulder formations as well as some sand dunes. It kind of reminds T of some of the beaches in Eastern Canada.  We enjoy walking in the sun, the wind blowing gently.  J and M have a football with them, so they are busy with the occasional toss along the way. 

            We are located near Vila de Nova Gaia facing the Atlantic Ocean and just south of where the Duoro River enters into the Atlantic where Porto and Vila de Nova Gaia face each other across this river.   Today seems to be a holiday and a number of children in costume, walking along the walkway with their parents.  It must be related to Carnaval.

            We make our way back later and stop by Bar Azul along the beach across from our apt for some cool refreshment.  We enjoy sitting in the sun and soaking up the rays while enjoying the scenery.  This evening T makes another great dinner, and as we have satellite TV this week we watch some National Geographic and then some Discovery Channel shows. T finds a book by an author she likes and becomes engrossed in it while the boys watch TV.

            Tuesday, February 21, 2012 – After coffee, working out and J completed his homework, we drive into Vila Nova de Gaia.  It is along the waterfront across from Porto and the home of the world-renowned Port cellars and lodges (headquarters) are located.  Along the promenade are flags representing the different port producers and there are about 20 lodges here.  Most are no longer family owned.  Most have been around for a couple of centuries producing and selling port like Sandeman, Ferreira and Taylor (M’s favorite).  We found a spot to park and walked down to the waterfront where most of the port producers have their shops for the public.  As we walk down the hill we can see stretched out the lengthy clay tiled buildings/cellars.

            The view down by the water is great, there are the traditional boats, rabelos, that were once used to transport the barrels of wine from the upper Duoro down to the cellars, moored along the quay.

There are a number of cafés along the way to enjoy the view and atmosphere. Actually we were offered a chance to go on a boat ride up the river, but declined.  We enjoyed the view of Porto across the way as well as the old bridges that were designed and or built by Gustav Eiffel.

These bridges are iron and picturesque and appreciated by the locals.  Actually they do not appreciate the more modern designed bridges as they don’t quite add to the character of the place like the iron ones. 

            We walked into the Sandeman shop that has the towering Dom figure overlooking the entrance.  We had a chance to look at their museum with copies of the old labels and bottles used at one time.  The labels are posters that we’ve seen in bars and décor in other places – now we know the origin.  We couldn’t get into their English tour and tasting for a while, so we decided to walk down the road to the Calem cellars.  Here we signed up for a port and chocolate tasting as well as a tour of the facility.  We learned a few things about port today.  First, there are white as well as ruby and tawny ports.  Port is made when grapes are fermenting and brandy is added about 3 days later that stops the fermentation process, making it a sweet wine.  Then the wine is put into oak casks.  White port is used as an apperatif while the others are for desert or after dinner with cheese.   The ruby is put into casks for up to 3 years, tawny is kept in smaller oak casks for up to 7 years before bottling.  There are also vintage ports that represent the year of optimal growing and harvesting conditions producing a crop that is top notch according to the regional tasting board (who really control the quality of the product from the region).

After our tour of the cellars, we taste a white, ruby and a 10 year tawny along with some chocolates.  We enjoy the three, and have a chat with a couple from the UK.

          After we have finished, we find out that they do not ship to Canada, so we are out of luck here.  After a short walk around, we head back to our vehicle and then the apt.  On the way we find a mall with another grocery store and get a couple of things for breakfast. Then back to the apartment for another evening of reading, Internet surfing, and satellite TV.

            Wednesday, February 22, 2012 – After our usual daily routine, we are off to drive into the interior along the Duoro River valley to see the vineyards and Quintas (wineries).  The Duoro valley has been a protected wine growing area since the late 1700’s with the Marquis from Pombal recognizing the need for this.  Our drive will be about 250 km altogether.  The first part of our drive takes us along a motorway that has concentrated settlements close to Porto, but about 20 km out, we begin to see farming and some smaller vineyards.  As we move inland, the landscape becomes mountainous and more treed.  Once we leave the motorway, we are on a windy road that leads us up into the hills where people have carved out, terraced and toiled for years to set up vineyards.  There are many places where the slope is so steep that machines are not used here (even steeper than we found in Italy), everything is done by hand.  There’s a saying in this valley “God created the earth, but man created the Duoro Valley.”  Looking around we are amazed at the amount of effort that has gone into the area over the centuries to make this a premier grape growing region.  Once the wine is ready, it is shipped down to Gaia in the spring to begin the aging process in the cellars. We find a place for lunch and enjoy the view of the Duoro valley. Lunch is a truly classic price event, we each get a 3 course lunch with wine (water for J) for 6.5 euro (about 9$ each).

            We drive back to the apt, T and M go for a walk along the beach while J checks out Discovery Channel. The wind is really blowing today so our walk is not as long as we would have liked, still we enjoy walking along this wonderful beach. As we get back to the apartment M catches a few shots of the sunset where the next thing to the west is North America.

            Thursday, February 23, 2012 – Today we are headed for old Porto, yet we returned to Gaia first to find Taylor’s the port producer that we are familiar with at home.  Taylor’s is not located on the waterfront, but up the hill.  As there is a wine producer in the US with the name Taylor, they have to use one of the old family names in NA, so we know it as Taylor Fladgate. Since the products we could buy here have the name Taylor (their world-wide name outside NA) they cannot ship their ”Taylor” port to Canada for us. Oh well, we buy a couple of nice bottles so T can get her fix of port now that she has experienced it.

            We walked back to the vehicle and then drove across the low level of the Don Luis Bridge to find a parking spot along the other side of the river in Porto.  We spend some time wandering the streets, passing a tramcar, it’s here where they were first used in Portugal.  Our first stop is Igreja de Sao Francisco, started in the early 1200’s and finished by the Franciscan friars in the early 1400’s for their monastery.  It is a beautiful ornate church that has wonderful gilded baroque-style woodcarvings.  Like many of the other churches in Europe, it has a number of altars.  The one that held our attention the longest was the Tree of Jesse, carved and gilded wood and exquisite work of art.  Unfortunately we were not allowed to use our camera inside, so we bought a few postcards of the interior as a remembrance. 

            From the churches we have seen in this country, the craftsmen at the time carved wonderful altars from different woods and then they were painted, often gold gilded adding opulence to buildings that often had austere exteriors.  We enjoyed wandering through the streets of this city, some of which are perched on the hillsides leading to the river.  The buildings are of different colors, sizes and many with wrought iron balconies and patterned tiles.  This is a UNESCO site and we can see where exterior facings of buildings are being retained and interiors totally removed and being replaced.  The weathered look of the buildings certainly adds character to this place. 

            We wander through some narrow walkways through some areas where life looks harder for the locals (this is clearly not the rich section of town) en route to the Sé (Cathedral). The view from here is great of the surrounding areas.  It was built on a former mosque site (like a number of churches we’ve been to and seen).

 Our walk back to the waterfront area was through one of the oldest areas of Porto and cars are non-existent here.  A combination of narrow winding alleys and descending levels make vehicle traffic challenging (impossible for us with the station wagon and desire not to scratch it). 

            We enjoy walking through the streets and seeing the sights.  We head down to a café along the waterfront for a refreshment and enjoy the sunshine and view before heading back to our parked car.

            On our way back to the apartment we stop by the mall we had been to earlier this week as we need to find a replacement for the vase that M broke during our first night here (he decided to get up from bed in the middle of the night but not turn on the light, T was awakened by the crash as the vase shattered on the floor). We find a home décor store with a vase like we needed, so back to the apt for the evening.

            Friday, February 24, 2012 – Today the beach and the Atlantic Ocean beckons. This morning we could see the waves forming at a distance away from the shore, making for wonderful curled waves, the kind that surfers love. 

With the temperature reading around 21C and calm winds, after our normal morning activities we forgo our planned road trip north of Porto to walk across the street and hang out. What a wonderful afternoon we had, J trying to outrace the waves washing ashore and playing in the sand. T and M reading their books in the sun.  J and M throwing the football even with some tackles where (mostly) J would land in the soft sand. Just chilling in the sun with the sound and sight of the fabulous waves. An evening dinner with sautéed salmon and veggies topped off with a marvelous sunset finished off a great day!

            Saturday, February 25, 2012 – Today we drove north to the town of Braga.  This city is known as a pilgrimage city and has this amazing prayer sanctuary about 5 km away up in the hills.  This is the home of the archbishop of Portugal. There are gates that lead to the entrance of the 1000 steps.  Along the series of steps and walkways there’s a series of hexagonal chapels dedicated to the Passion of Jesus.  Within each small building is a scene and burning candles.  Later on there is a series of fountains dedicated to the five body senses.   There are statues and the top three staircases are dedicated to the three virtues, faith, hope and charity.  Overseeing the zigzag staircases are evangelists.  This wonderful site was built over time from 1722 and finished with the church at the top in 1834.  The gardens surrounding the area are immaculate and beautiful.  In the summer when everything is in full bloom, the site must be spectacular.  All three of us enjoyed visiting here and spending time in this peaceful sanctuary.  Now there is also a park area above the church that families enjoy regularly for weekend outings. 

            From here, we traveled along some backcountry roads through a few small villages to the city of Guimaraes. 

This city is known as the birthplace of Portugal, in 1128 it was site of the Battle of Sao Mamede, which led to the formation of the country.  We enjoyed a walk around the castle and palace that was built around 1100 AD.  The fortress was free to tour and allowed us to walk up stone staircases with no guardrails as well ledges high above the ground with no railings, needless to say, we were careful not to get too close to the edge!  M and J went up the watchtower clambering up stairs and narrow staircase/ladder that allowed them a great view of the surroundings.  On the way down, they backed down the ladder section because it was safer that way!

            The drive home was enjoyable and takes about nearly an hour.  We decided to go out for dinner at Barazul across the street from the apt.  We get help with the menu from the owner’s son (45), who has returned from the UK after living there for 8 years, to help his mother out with the restaurant.  We chat with him and he fills us in with details of how things are not going well in Portugal at this time.  Not much is happening in terms of growth, and he says many are discouraged.  We enjoy getting out and return back to finish our packing for tomorrow’s departure, while J watches a couple more episodes of the Simpsons.