Lover of Wine – Travel along on our adventures – DAVID & JANEEN

OK – it’s Wednesday, I think, and we are off to Quinta do Seixo for a tour and tasting. What a surprise, they make Port! Actually they make a number of wines not the least of which is Port. This Quinta is actually the home of Sandeman – a “most renowned wine estate”.

A large wine consortium that also owns, what a coincidence also owns Mateus where we were yesterday owns this. Sandeman was established in 1790 and has been producing port wine ever since. The logo is meant to make you think of the student robs in the University we visited a few days ago and the hat is a reference to Spain as they also have produced sherry from that part of the world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The tour was interesting – seems they make a lot of wine – but nothing out of the ordinary having been on any number of wine tours over the years.  However, the fermentation area and the crushing system was interesting.  They still crush the fruit in open tanks – in this case made of granite and highlight polished on the inside but they use a mechanical “stomper” as seen in the photo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We tasted a couple of wines both of which were enjoyable – a medium dry white Port and a Ruby Port.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After tasting we re-boarded the bus and headed to lunch at Quinta da Avessada.

 

 

 

 

 

This Quinta is part of a consortium that produces Moscatel and we had a traditional lunch to go with it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All very nice but I didn’t take pictures of the food, sorry. We headed back to the boat and where able to see lots of terraces vineyard along the road. All in all an interesting day. One side note, this trip does not want for wine and food – there is PLUNTY of both!

 

Tuesday and we off to the Mateus Palace. This is the place where the rosé wine we all drank a long time ago comes from. Remember the bottle that is squat and round? Kind of like the WWI canteens the solders use to carry? The bottles show the Palace – designed by an Italian-born architect and built in the 18^th Century.

Well, that’s the place. The baroque masterpiece is NOT where the wine is made anymore but still a beautiful spot to visit. We had been here on our first trip to Portugal so we opted to skip the guided tour of the interior and went straight to the gardens.

However, just incase you want to know what the place looks like there are a few pictures and some general facts for your reading enjoyment. Surrounding the palace is a fantasy of a garden, with tiny boxwood hedges; prim statues and a fragrant cypress tunnel that’s blissfully cool on even the hottest days. This is where we headed immediately upon arrival.

 

 

After spending quality time in the garden we joined up with the group and boarded the bus for the return trip to the Boat.

 

 

 

Porto, the city on the right bank of the Douro River and the starting point of our actual river cruise, is considered to be the second largest city in Portugal after Lisbon – but that is only if you include all the surrounding areas as many of the “locals” have moved out for better housing, leaving the interior of the city with a lot of empty buildings. Our boat, the Queen Isabel was docked on the Gaia side of the river (the left bank – the Douro separates the cities of Porto and Gaia).

Our first full day, after getting all settled in to our cabin, was a walking tour of the City. Janeen, fighting off a cold, stayed ‘home’ to rest and I took the adventure trail with the group doing the “do as locals do” which is the phrase they use for the more active walking tour.

The City is very picturesque and offers any number of beautiful sites to see.

Our trip included a walk across the steel Dom Luis I Bridge. This double deck bridge with light rail and pedestrians at the top and general traffic and pedestrians on the lower deck was designed, in part by Gustave Eiffel and built in the late 1800’s. From there it was a short climb to the Porto cathedral.

 

The Cathedral sits on the highest point and has a commanding view of the City.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From there we took a short walk to catch the local tram – not really a local’s thing to do as it is very slow and not running on schedule often.  It seems all the trams came from the United States sometime during the 1940’s.

The Train station was a treat – with wonderful tile murals on the walls depicting the history of the country.

Walking though the City was enjoyable. We visited parts of the City we (Janeen and I) had not visited in our visit 10 years ago. It is sad, however, to see all the empty buildings as many are in poor condition waiting for someone to come with lots of money to fix them up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the tour, we got back to the boat for various beverages and a discussion by the cruise director on the upcoming events for the trip.   Tomorrow, Tuesday, we start heading up river!

Sunday we packed everything up and loaded on the bus to head to Porto to board the boat for the river portion of the UniWorld adventure. However, after stopping for lunch we went to visit the Library at the University of Coimbra. This is one of the oldest universities in Europe having started in the 1290 in Lisbon and moved a coupe of times until it reached a final location in Coimbra 1537.

Our main stop was the old library. This was built between 1717 and 1728; it is one of the exponents of the Baroque Portuguese and one of the richest European libraries. It consists of three floors: it was completed in 1728 began receiving the first books after 1750, and currently its collection comprises some 40,000 volumes. Richly decorated in the Baroque style it was an interesting site.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the Library we paid a short visit to the to the Capela de Saint Miguel. The original chapel most likely dates from the 16^th Century and the decorations clearly show that influence.

 

 

 

 

 

The organ, mounted between two windows, is really way oversized for the space. The chapel is still used for worship and other ceremonies’

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the visit to the University we completed our drive to Porto and boarded the Queen Isabella.

 

Saturday was an excursion to two different places – the Palace of Queluz and the Palace of Sintar. First stop was the Palace of Queluz.

This was one of the last great Rococo buildings to be designed in Europe, the palace was conceived as a summer retreat for Dom Pedro of Bragaza,  later to become husband and then king consort  to his own niece, Queen Maria I.

Work on the palace began in 1747 and was used for a number of years but after 1826 it slowly fell from favor. In 1908 it became property of the state. Over the years it has had fires, earthquake damage and lack of maintenance. Recently there has been a series of restorations undertaken to return it to its original condition.

We entered from the “public” side of the building, the not so formal face that is presented to the City and toured a number of different rooms. Our guide, Isabel (part of the UniWorld crew) gave great information about the furniture, designs of the rooms and historical events that occurred in the spaces.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the interior tour we went through the gardens (always a highlight for Janeen) and back to the bus for our next Palace.

The Palace of Sintra is not as opulent as the Palace of Queluz and is the best preserved of the medieval royal residences in Portugal. It was occupied from the early 15^th century to the late 19^th century.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After we were finished up touring the Palace of Sintra, we headed towards the coast and to the small town called Cascais. This resort focused town had lots of new homes as well as well kept places of some substance. However, as it was getting closer to 2 in the afternoon, my particular goal was lunch.

After lunch, back to the bus and our hotel.