River Cruise on the Douro River

It was nice to be back in Madrid again! We met 40 of the 80 passengers that would be on our River Cruise the first evening in Madrid. We were split up into two groups and in two hotels; we eventually met more when we merged later on the ship.

The bus tour started with a nice drive through the city and we saw more of Madrid than we saw on foot during past visits, so that was great. The view of the magnificent Royal Palace was amazing and we walked back to that area later.

Our group visited the world-renowned Prado Museum, considered one of the finest art museums in the world. The works of Spanish greats Velazquez, Goya, El Greco and others were featured. (Taking photos was not allowed).

Joe remembered us seeing The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch when we were here in 2015, so we saw it again with a massive crowd around it.

We had the rest of the day on our own and explored the neighbourhood. Another lost in translation was when I ordered pork belly; pretty disgusting.

As we departed Madrid for Salamanca in the morning, we passed the tallest free-standing cross in the world. At 152.4 meters, this colossal stone monument is Certified by Guinness World Records. Apparently there is an elevator and a stairway leading to a hatch at the top.

Rolling On the River

We arrived at the port of La Fregeneda, a municipality of Spain, for embarkation on to our ship. We were so happy to actually unpack for 7 days and creatively found room for everything in our tiny stateroom; with a veranda! Our first dinner was wonderful and we enjoyed many a great meal in that dining room. The staff were all kind, helpful and pretty funny. They definitely made the cruise more enjoyable.

We had entertainment most evenings as well, including Flaminco dancers and a Portuguese folk band.

Salamanca

We bused to Salamanca, a university city that dates back to the Celtic era. In this medieval town, our walking tour took us through the streets of its historic centre. We saw the 12th century old cathedral, the Salina, and Monterrey Palace.

We are spoiled coming from BC’s beautiful Okanagan Valley and the views of vineyards and wineries along the shore. But then we saw the dramatic beauty of The Douro Valley. Wow! The Portuguese section of the Douro Valley spans approximately 200kms! There’s a photo op every minute. The Douro Valley is the world’s oldest defined wine region, world-renowned for these terraced vineyards and port wine production. Terrace after terrace!

Torre de Moncorvo

A visit to the medieval town of Torre de Moncorvo was next. It’s known for its historic architecture. We strolled through the town’s narrow streets and visited some of the sites. Pretty sad history here; the blue step is where people would leave their babies. Also if you wanted to leave the town, you had to leave your youngest child! But all ancient history!

Anything made from cork you could image! And we had a demo on how almonds are produced.

People have lived in the valley along the Douro river for at least 25,000 years! In the early 1990s, rock engravings were discovered during the construction of a dam in the Côa River valley. Among them were thousands of engraved rock drawings of horses, goats and other animals, plus human and abstract figures, dating from 22,000 to 10,000 years B.C.!

The visit to Côa Paleolithic Archaeological Museum was fascinating! They take you back thousands of years, by using multimedia resources, photography, drawings and the use of life sized images of the engravings and the places. 

Pinhão

Pinhão is known as the most beautiful and quintessential Douro Valley town. Nestled at a dramatic river bend, surrounded by terraced vineyards and lush valley’s, it is considered to be the vibrant heart of the wine region.

Our group headed out for a Wine Tour and Tasting, followed by a traditional Portuguese dinner at the winery Quinta da Avessada. The owner reminded us of Mr. Bean, and he and his crew had a polished tour and entertaining dinner atmosphere. Great fun!

We learnt that all “Port Wine”in the world, must be a Portuguese fortified wine produced in the Douro Valley. ‘Port’ is like ‘Champagne’ – the use of the name is limited to these regions and no one else can use them. Typically a sweet red wine, port also comes in dry, semi-dry, and white varieties. We come across another wine made in only Portugal that we drank way, way back in our youth, Matuse!

Sailing down the Douro was very scenic from the upper deck and our cabin. But the river is busy and there were a few days and nights that another ship had to stack beside us, or us them. One time we looked out our window and into a stateroom of another ship! Then both ships would have to open their doors leading to the gangway, to get to the shore. Apparently it’s pretty common but we were not thrilled to lose the use of not only our window, but our little veranda.

Regua

The historic town of Regua is in another famous wine region, and has been the center of port wine industry for centuries. Here we visited the Douro Museum, housed in a restored former wine warehouse. Lots more info about the winemaking industry  including the geography, climate and people.

A tour of Mateus Palace was interesting and we explored the Baroque palace with its elaborate carved ceilings and strolled through the manicured gardens.

Lamego

The town of Lamego is cozily settled amidst the lush vineyard-covered hills of the Alto Douro region. Lamego has a stunning Baroque staircase leading to the iconic Sanctuary of Our Lady of Remedies.

We strolled the town’s historic centre and visited the Gothic Lamego Cathedral.

Porto

Porto has beautiful scenery, everywhere you look. We sat on the upper deck as the ship entered the city and our Cruise Director discussed the 6 bridges of Porto.

We also enjoyed a city tour of Porto and drove  through the city centre to Luis I Bridge. Our waking tour included Porto Cathedral, São Bento Train Station, (famous for its handpainted azulejos tiles), the Stock Exchange, and the medieval São Francisco Church.

Amarante

Our last day on the cruise was jam packed. We started with a scenic drive to the medieval town of Amarante. Joe and I had visited here in April but saw another side of the town. The historic town center. and the stunning high arched São Goncalo Bridge spanning the Tamega River were picturesque as was the Baroque São Goncalo Church.

The afternoon tour was to the Medieval city of Guimarães. The Guimarães Castle where Alfonso Henriques, the first king of Portugal was born, was impressive. The cathedral here provided our group with a concert featuring the organ. He was very talented! We saw the Palace of the Dukes of Braganza and the historical main square Oliveira.

The last Night in Porto 

The crew took us our for a night cruise! We slowly sailed under several bridges and into the main part of Porto. It was a magical night, a little chilly but we and our new friends from Colorado Springs scored the best seats in the house. Music was playing, our Entertainment Director was singing and we were all in awe. We are so fortunate to have had these travel experiences.

The Locks

A lock works by raising and lowering boats in a device between the stretches of water of different levels. The Douro waterway runs 210km in Portugal with 125m of ‘irregularities’ which are worked around, by 5 navigational locks. The locks are open to all recreational boats except oversized sailboats. Max dims of boats allowed in the locks are length of 83m, beam 11.4, draft 3.8. 

We went through all the locks but these two were the biggest and it was so cool to experience them! It never gets old and the photos don’t do them justice.

Valeira Dam – the difference in the water level of this lock is about 32m!

Carraoatelo Dam – the difference in the water level of this lock is about 35m, making it one of the highest dams in the world! The downstream guillotine gate weighs 150 tons!

Here’s some random delicious food we were served.