The End of the Douro (at least for us)

Thursday, August 17, 2023

We started today with the second half of the two-group-concurrent activities. Some of the Group 1 people went to the Coa Museum (see previous post); some of the Group 2 people went to do the vineyard tour. A fair number of people, including Wayne, opted to stay on the boat and relax.

The more adventurous between us decided to take the (advertised as) bumpy, high-altitude ride to Quinta da Ervamoira—yet another vineyard estate, but this one in a very remote area accessible via a 30 minute bus ride on an extraordinarily scenic road...

… followed by another 20 minute bumpy drive out of town on an unpaved, winding, narrow roadway up to the vineyard in an open air vehicle (we were forewarned to expect a Jeep— but a comfortable—relatively speaking—open air van was delivered instead). Needless to say, the transportation adventure paid off. The scenery was spectacular. How does it keep getting better? Jaw dropping!

Upon arriving, we learned that the estate is a massive 254 square kilometers in total— with 150 of those dedicated to vineyards. They produce Port and some table wines and are not independent, having been bought by Louis Roederer Champagne (France) several years back. They grow 100 different kinds of grapes as well as figs and almonds.

Wine bottles from over the centuries

 If only we could get this quality of figs at home!

The brand is well known, apparently, and has a very creative and aggressive ongoing ad campaign. In fact, one of their posters was prominently displayed in Monica’s apartment on "Friends"!

Some of their ads are so blatantly targeted to a male audience that it is almost silly.

Mid tour, our docent explained that the estate is the site of multiple active archaeological digs. We saw many of the relics that have been discovered on the estate and its environs. In addition to the Paleolithic carvings we learned about at the Coa Museum yesterday, they’ve found Medieval pottery from the Paleo-Christian time, as well as traces of Roman and Visigoth settlements on the estate. 

Then, as usual, it was time for the tasting—the pièce de résistance. On the menu today were two types of Port—light and tawny (the brand is Ramos Pinto) —both accompanied by sun-kissed figs, stuffed with almonds. Delectable! Wendy could get used to this!

After the tasting, it was time for the trek back to the boat— the same bumpy ride in the open air van, followed by a 20 minute descent on the winding street on the bus. All that said, despite the very interesting transport, the trip was well worth the effort.

Once everyone from the two activities was back on the boat, we set off on our last leg of the river part of our tour. After two hours of smooth cruising we arrived at Vega de Terron. It is not a port, not in a city.....it looks to be just a slab of concrete in the middle of nowhere. And yet....we are now tied up on Spanish side! This is a far as the boat goes with us on it.

We all got on the buses, drove about 200 meters, went over a bridge that crossed the river, and were back in Portugal!

Our destination for this excursion was Castelo Rodrigo (say "Cashtellllllllo hRrrrrrrrodrigo"). This has been a castle / palace (remember the difference?) since Alfonso IX, King of Leao (in Spain) captured the area from the Moors in 1209. The Castilians then built the original castle on the top of the mountain (as always, so they could see "the enemy" - the Portuguese -  coming from far away). And believe us, it is really high up! Here are some photos; not sure if you can really tell the height from these.

 

The Treaty of Alcanizes in 1287, between King Denis I of Portugal and King Fernando IV of Castile set the border that still exists today! For some reason, Denis insisted that Castelo Rodgrigo (and surrounding region) be included on the Portuguese side. Fernando agreed. So at that point the castle was used to keep out a possible invasion by the enemy - the Spanish!

Over time there were many marriages between Portuguese and Spanish royals. These did not always work out well for one side or the other. So our guide said they have an expression: "From Spain we get not good winds and not good weddings". 

In 1640 there was some political unrest, and the palace (which had by then been built inside the castle) was torched by the local citizenry. The fire nearly destroyed the entire structure; the ruins are what we see today.

 

Next we saw the parish church, Igreja Matriz de Casteo Rodrigo. It was built in the 13th century. It is a small church, as one might expect from this very small enclave, but the inside is full of icons and the altar is very detailed and complex (especially when you consider it is all made from wood). The building itself is done in the Romanesque style. Our guide said Romanesque is designed so that God looks down on man, while the later Gothic style is designed so that man looks up to God.

The Romanesque arches

We then walked on to the Jewish quarter. As noted before, when the Jews were sent out of Spain, many settled in Portugal. And a fair number ended up here because of its proximity to Spain. Today, there are none, and only a few remnants are still extant. Our guide pointed out some doorpost carvings that indicated Jews had lived there. The one big remnant is an old synagogue The cistern in front may have been used as the mikvah.

This region is known for grapes and olives, but almonds are also a major crop. They were prominently featured in the gift shops, and come in plain, sugared, garlic and curry flavors! We bought some sweet ones and our guide gave everyone on the bus a bag as well. 

Then back to the ship for the final dinner. Wendy had some dal, then the seared tuna. Wayne had creamy chicken soup, then mushroom risotto with chorizo discs. Tasty, but not really blog-worthy. There was a special dessert of crepes Suzette accompanied by the same ice cream bar they served at the sundeck BBQ; we just opted for the ice cream.

Tomorrow we get an early start and resume the land portion of our tour - a long bus ride to Salamanca and then a longer ride on to Madrid.

This map may help you picture where we have been for the past several days on our cruise on the Douro. (Apologies for the quality; it was from a TV screen.) You can see how much farther the Douro flows.

love,

w&w.....................