We then went to the Sao Bento train station, but not to ride a train. More people go there to view the historic wall tile displays.

Leaving the station some of us walked to the Dom Luis Bridge and took the funicular down to a wine tasting at the Calem Wine Cellar, a local winery for Port Wine. Others took the bus down to the wine tasting and skipped the bridge walk.

We then took a bus ride to get dinner at Quinta da Aveleda for typical Portuguese dinner and regional wine tasting. I didn't bring my camera and it was already getting dark when we arrived there. The decor of the restaurant/gardens was nice. From there we met the AmaVida at Entre-os-Rios.

Thursday, Nov 10^th:

This morning the AmaVida left port in route to Regua so I got plenty of pictures of the grape vines, olive trees and almond trees on the way. At 10:00 am we got a class in the aroma, bouquet and flavor characteristics of the wines in the Douro region. We got to taste four different Douro region wines in the class. Then at 12:00 we got lunch and more wine.

After lunch we did the Lamego Tour and Bolas de Lamego Tasting. I did the hikers version: we climbed 686 steps to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Remedies. The outside of the church has a statue they call Our Lady of Rememdies, I'd call it Our Lady of Succor. There are also numerous statues of Kings etc. in front of the church.

As I entered the church a Mass was just completing, then I got pictures of the numerous blue tile images on the walls.

From there we boarded the bus to Quinta da Roeda, where we got a hands-on tour of the vineyard and a better demonstration of their process for making port wine. We were shown the area where they place the graces for stomping, and were assured they wash their feet first. He thought the temperature of the feet helped in starting the fermentation process.

As we headed outside, we were shown some big vats that I think he said they stored the sherry they used to make the port. Then we entered the vineyard where we saw the grapes with the multi-colors for the various varieties growing there.

We then went inside for the tasting of their produce. Someone volunteered to take a picture of Marilou and me. You can see she wasn't enthused about the photo opt.

Leaving there, the bus took us to meet the ship at Pinhao.

We entered the Pocinho Locks with an elevation change of 72 feet. Not the highest we went through, but I paid closer attention to how it operates. I include a picture of the the process of closing the upstream gate, tying off the boat, etc. To help figure out what is going on, Ama provided a description. I included that here.

Continuing the cruise we encountered numerous views of the grapes, almond and olive trees.

After having lunch and wine on the ship, we landed at Barca D'Alva. From there we took a 45-minute bus trip to Castelo Rodrigo. I did the Hiker option, which dropped us off outside the city so that we hiked along the vineyard and past numerous blue tile billboard type signs on the way to the historical village. At the end we got to taste some regional fare. I found out I really like almond tart desserts.

On the way back to the ship we made a short stop at an overlook area to see if we could see any birds that appear to be some kind of raptor in the cliffs. At first all we spotted was poop markings on the rocks. One did take off and quickly disappeared. I don't think anyone was able to identify it.

After lunch we were given some free time to explore the city. I left Marilou to shop while I did a longer walk to the Roman Bridge and other sites. We met near the bus pickup point about a half hour early. I looked for the Coronado image that the local guide had pointed out as an early explorer of the Americas. We then looked for ice cream for Marilou, but the first place we checked out didn't serve it, so we went to another cafe, Las Torres Pasteleria, where she had Bola de Helado while I had cafe solo and Hojaldre Manzana. I'm not usually an apple fan, but this was very good. It was one of the first desserts I made when we got back, but I used very ripe pears and it was to die for.

Sunday, Nov 13^th:

Today we started heading back towards Pourto with a stop at Pinhao. So, we got another chance to see the colorful rocks and vineyard views. One of the bridges we passed under was very close to the top of the ship.

We did a short bus ride through several vineyards in order get to and then do a tour with lunch at Quinta da Avessada. They are known for their Moscat wines. I got a picture of an old-style wine press similar to the one I got from dad and still need to restore. They had some manikins set up to simulate stepping(pressing) on the grapes. It was a bit dark there so my pictures didn't come out too clear.
Our tour guide also became a waiter when we sat to eat. As they brought each course, he had a funny story to go with it. After lunch we headed back to the bus. The yard had some interesting wine pieces and some very uninterested dogs.

From there we went to the Mateus Palace and Gardens, about an hour drive by bus. The entrance was pretty interesting with a big "fish" pond on the way in. The entrance facade was very interesting. We got a guided tour inside. The castle was added on to by various owners so that the style varied from room to room. The lighting made it difficult on the camera and the older tapestries were quite faded. The woodwork was nice, but my camera had difficulty with the way the spot lighting was designed.

After the castle tour we were turned loose in the gardens. It was nice and there were still some roses blooming this late in the season.

Monday, Nov 14^th:

This morning the AmaVida sailed to Vila Nova de Gaia. Tom Eddy did a talk and answered questions about wine making. What was interesting is that a lot of the cost of the wine is from the barrel cost. He said he pays $1200 for a French oak barrel for a first-time use, a second use barrel is valued at $500, and after that they are worth about $30. When I asked about using wood chips, I got a thumbs down response from a lot of his club members that were on the cruise. Later his barrel salesman who was on the cruise gave me his card and told me he sales chips, sawdust and other forms as well as barrels.
Tom passed out forms for joining his wine club. Members get discount and notification of when they are doing tasting and presentations in their area as well as other benefits. I didn't join because you couldn't pick only white wines and needed to get the ones they choose. We also were offered a discount to purchase any of the wines presented there. I did purchase two bottles each of the chardonnay, cabernet, and rose.

Tom's presentation was followed by an AmaVida demonstration on making Pastel de Nata. They also gave out the recipe, but you had to take notes. The Puff pastry is rolled and cut to one inch slices and the cinnamon is added to the end is not mentioned in the recipe. They then passed out some samples that were a very good custard. Marilou tried the recipe when we got back and the result, although good didn't match the sample we tasted. The dough to filling ratio is on the too much dough side and the filling is a little denser than other custards I've made and the sample we tasted.

After lunch we took about an hour bus ride to the city of Guimaraes with a stop at the Casa de Sezim where we toured a family-owned winery that specializes in Vinho Verde. The family house is different in that each generation tended to add a new section to the house so that various sections reflect their own tastes in art and furnishings. One section has art depicting the Don Quixote story, another biblical scenes, whereas another various worldwide areas such as India, the Niagara Falls, etc. The tour concluded with a wine and cheese tasting.

This was followed with a walking tour of Guimaraes. Our guide pointed out the points of interests and we met the bus by the cathedral. I was able to enter and get a picture of the altar.

Links: