Wendy and Wayne Travelogue: Heading to Porto

Friday, August 11, 2023

It was an early morning goodbye to Lisbon as we all loaded onto the buses and headed for our ship in Porto.

About 2.5 hours in, we made a stop at Coimbra. This was the original capital of Portugal, and is primarily known for its University. The university (which was founded in 1290) was moved from here to Lisbon and back a few times, but finally settled here (and became yet another UNESCO site!). Our guide told us that the Spanish set up universities in different areas in South America in their territories, and each of these regions eventually became a different country in itself. The Portuguese, on the other hand, decided that all students from “Brazil” would come to Coimbra U. for their studies--hence, they say, Brazil is one country.

The highlight of the Coimbra tour was the magnificent Biblioteca Joanina, the Old Library. The Library was the inspiration for the library in Disney's Beauty and the Beast. It did not disappoint! Photos are not allowed in there, so these are from the internet.

It is truly amazing! Ornate carvings, several floors of books in two huge rooms.

The books themselves are not labelled or numbered like we are used to. They are catalogued by room number, bookcase number, shelf number, and order (left to right) on the shelf. If a book is “misfiled”, it will be very difficult to find later. So obviously, you have to request a book and it is brought to you (in a different building) by special staff. (And, yes, the Library is more or less the equivalent of our Library of Congress.)

In addition to the Library, another (relatively well-known) feature about the University is the students' uniforms. They are straight out of Harry Potter, capes and all! Here is Joe College:

...and Jane College

While we were there during summer break, there were still a handful of young women (in full university uniform regalia) roaming the campus selling souvenir pencils. Clearly, one of us couldn't resist!

Then a visit to the University's chapel, the Chapel of São Miguel. It is notable because the interior contains elaborate tile walls, made to look like tapestries in other churches. The irony is that they used the tiles because they couldn't afford the very expensive tapestries, but with just a few exceptions, these tiles have survived longer!

The other notable feature is a large pipe organ.

But look closely. This organ doesn't really fit here! And why is it on the side wall? And how do you play it? Well....it was taken from another church, and good old Manny I wanted it put here. So they retrofitted it into the wall and actually had to build an addition on the outside to house the rest of it and the actual keyboard! So the organist is basically playing from another room.

Then we were treated to a Fado performance. Fado is the national music art form of Portugal (think Flamenco in Spain). These are mostly sad songs, oftentimes only sung by men, and always accompanied by a traditional 6-string guitar and a special Fado 12-stringed guitar.

The musicians were great! Though we couldn’t understand the words, we could get the feeling of the music.

Then it was everyone on their own for lunch and/or shopping! The area we were in was the “old town”, so more small winding streets, but also the long wide shopping street. Oddly, there were a number of restaurants featuring Korean food! We did not find out why. But we found a place with traditional Portuguese food (and they did not speak English). We wanted to try something different, and the scampi looked good, but when we ordered they said they were all out! So we went to our new favorite: fried cod cakes!...this time with rice AND French fries! Really delicious.

Then, a stop at Doppo for amazing ice cream....

... then back on the bus for the ride to Porto.

We got to the marina at about 4 pm. There we were met on the ship by about 25 staff members. Very impressive! And our room is magnificent...bigger than ones we've had on other river cruises. After a short rest and time to unpack, we headed for the mandatory safety meeting and official welcome by the Captain. He told us that he had a special treat for us (awwww....I bet he says that to all the groups!), and that we would take a quick trip around the harbor before dinner was served.

The weather continued to be perfect as we all headed to the sundeck. What a fantastic sight! There are 6 bridges just in this part of the river (which is actually where it meets the Atlantic). Some are more ornate and artistic; others are pretty utilitarian. Some carry people and trains, other just cars.

On one side of the river is Porto. On the other is Gaia. They feature a mix of buildings both colorful and ho-hum, very old and very new. Here is an example:

After 15 minutes or so, we made a u-turn and headed back to the dock.

We then had a lovely and delicious dinner in the Panorama Room. Next to each dish on the menu was a series of numbers. These referred to the list of "allergy items" at the bottom....and there were 18 different ones! Wow....pretty thorough.