A Little More of Porto to Ponder

by | Oct 26, 2024 | Uncategorized

The following day, we were up and ready to tour Porto. When we first arrived (six days ago), there was no time to tour the city. It was pretty much getting on the boat, having dinner, going to bed after a long day of touring to get to the boat. So today was our day to tour Porto.

We had a choice of two tours. One was a walking tour of Porto (which we skipped to make Kathleen’s knee happy) and an overview tour on the “luxury motor coach.” We opted for that one. It included more geography but fewer stops and time on the ground. Which for us worked well. Our two scheduled stops were at the Cathedral of Porto (what else?) and at the spot where the Douro River meets the Atlantic Ocean. Both were very scenic. And, of course, I got a lot of photos. It wasn’t a long tour, about three hours total, but we felt we got what we paid for (it was included ?). Here are the photos I took while out and about on the tour. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping. And PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…

After our tour, we returned to the Torgil, where we had a very delicious last lunch. I realize I have not had much to say about the food, the crew, or the boat, but I will get to it in my summary, which I will try to write on our flight or after we get home. So, if that is what you are waiting for, you must hold on a little longer.

After lunch, Kathleen started packing as we would be getting off the boat early the following day. I decided to walk back across the river (on a bridge—I haven’t mastered the whole walking on water thing ?) and hike around Porto before it started raining. This is where I was totally disappointed by both Google Maps and Apple Maps. For me to walk across the river on a bridge, both of them had me crossing from one side to the other on the small foot ferry. I didn’t want to cross the Douro on a boat. I had already been up and down the river so many times on a boat I wanted to walk and get the view from a bridge. But they would NOT give me directions to Porto (while walking) to cross on a bridge. I tried putting in driving, but there are so many one-way streets that it would have taken me an hour to get to the bridge. So I went down to reception on the boat and asked Marianna (our guide for the entire week) if she knew the easiest way to get to the bridge so I could walk across. She has lived in Porto for years and said, “Of course. Just get off the boat, turn left, walk straight down the wharf to the bridge and cross it. OMG, Apple and Google—you couldn’t figure that out???

I had no problems once I got across the bridge and walked up to the top of the stairs leading into the city. I took a bunch of photos, and here they are.  (HEY! I saw you looking at those on your phone—cut that out! ?)

That about covered our day. I went back on board the boat and packed up everything I could. Then, it was time for the goodbye from the crew cocktail party and our last dinner on board. After that, it was bedtime with an early wake-up as we had to get off the ship to meet our driver/guide, who would take us to Lisbon by 8:30 am the next day.

PS: Sorry for two posts today. Chalk it up to over-tourism. We are in Lisbon today, and I went out to take a walk and scout for things to do. The city is packed like the cans of sardines that Portugal is famous for. I walked up to get a shot of views from the castle, and there was a one-hour and forty-five-minute wait to get tickets—so many people. When I walked down to another viewpoint I had shot from in December, I found hundreds of people and the reason why the place was so crowded. Out in the harbor are two huge cruise ships, each with 4,000+ passengers.  More about that in a couple of days. And yes, I realize I am a kind of a hypocrite for complaining about tourism when I am a tourist  ??.

Touring is hard on the body.  —Eminem

Last Days on the Douro

by | Oct 25, 2024 | Uncategorized

After visiting Favios for bread and muscatel, we decided that was it for us with excursions. The only one left before our return to Porto was to see another church with a long bus ride involved, so we decided to relax with a day on the river when I could work on photos. Instead of a sea day, call it a river day.

As a side note about river days, Kathleen and I have decided that this river cruise is one we could do again (with the same ship, stateroom, and crew). But the next time, we would just sail up and down the river—no excursions. There is so much to see from the deck of the ship. It would be seven glorious days of rest.

Our day on the river would give me lots of chances for more photography of houses,  abandoned villas, other boats passing by, churches and castles at the top of hills and the amazing locks. See what I mean by perusing these photos from that day. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping. And PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…

The following two hours or so would be spent sailing up and down on the Douro between Porto and Gaia, where we dock. The problem was that there were five other boats tied up at the wharf, but they needed to be in the right order. For us to be able to raft with them (tie up and have to walk through them to get on and off the ship), every boat needed to be in order, with the boat leaving first on the outside and then each one inside of it leaving later than the one moored to the dock. Since our boat would be there for two nights, we needed to be up against the pier with two boats rafted out from us, one leaving the following day. One would be leaving the morning after, while Torgil (our boat) would not sail again until we were off, and another group of passengers was on board and ready to sail in three days. It’s very complicated. But it meant we had to kill time waiting for the other two boats to get ready to move. In the meantime, we sailed almost out to the Atlantic Ocean and back again. This meant I could get a ton of photos of both cities in a really great light that I could share with you. And here they are…you know the rules.

That was it for our river day. We finally got docked, did cocktail hour, listened to the port talk for the next day and had dinner. I will be back tomorrow with our final day in Porto…or maybe this afternoon. We are back in Lisbon today and don’t have much planned until tonight.

You can’t be unhappy in the middle of a big, beautiful river.   —Jim Harrison

Lisbon on Steroids

by | Oct 18, 2024 | Uncategorized

Allow me to explain the headline. The photos you see above are pictures of our tour guide both yesterday and, sadly, today. This is Fatima. She is living proof that the Viking guides with talking problems are not limited to the Mediterranean. Long-time readers of this blog know that back in 2022, we did a 21-night cruise with Viking Ocean from Athens to Barcelona. During that cruise, I often complained that it seemed like our guides were being paid by the number of words they spoke. 

But last Christmas, we did our first Viking River cruise and did not experience the same problem. All our guides were excellent, and they knew they didn’t have to keep up a constant monologue throughout our entire tour. Our guides on that cruise were some of our best ever. The same was true about our Viking guides on our Norway cruise in June. They were awesome. 

Fatima, on this tour, never stopped talking. Those of you who know me personally know that I can be quite a talker. In comparison to Fatima, I am a lousy amateur. And her voice is shrill. Imagine having your tour led by Minnie Mouse with a slightly deeper voice and much more volume than Minnie would ever use. And that person was in your earbud talking to you. No matter how much you turned down the volume…it was shrill.

Right now, I am writing this on a bus that is taking us from Lisbon north to Porto, where we will meet our river boat. Fatima is on board and has not stopped talking since the bus started moving. She is on a microphone, so you can’t avoid her even with headphones in your ears. Not only has she not stopped talking, but she hasn’t even taken a breath, and we have been driving for 20 minutes. If this is my last post of the trip, it’s because I have been talked to death. 

But back to yesterday (Thursday—on this trip, it’s hard to remember what day it is). We awoke to some rain, but by the time we had breakfast and boarded our “luxury motor coach” for our tour, the sun was out, and it was a beautiful day for the rest of the day (except for in my ears). 

I do need to say something about the “luxury motor coach.” I often make fun of the buses we ride on because they never call them buses; they are always “luxury motor coaches.” But this one really is a LUXURY MOTOR COACH. It is built to hold 51 seats but has only 38. I can actually sit in a regular seat on this bus and cross my legs. It’s amazing. There is WiFi, power, and so much more. The seats are very comfortable, and they recline without killing the person behind you. And because there are only 120 people on a Duoro River cruise (small locks make for small boats), we have four buses taking us north with only 120 people between them. That’s why I can write this while we are moving. I have half a row to myself. And there is room for me to hold a laptop and type comfortably. Amazing!

Another great thing is that these are actual Viking buses, not charters, and they will be with us all week. As we float up and back down the river, they will drive the roads along the river to meet us at our next stop and take us on shore tours. That’s impressive. 

Our day yesterday started in the village of Belém. It is the home of the pasteis de Belém (the amazing Portuguese custard tart) and our destination, the Jerónimos Monastery. We arrived at the monastery before it opened and got into a long line of groups who would tour ahead of us. We waited about 45 minutes until the monastery opened, and our group was the fifth one in the group, so that wasn’t too bad. What was kind of a disappointment was the monastery itself. When you go in, you can really only see a big courtyard. Yes, this courtyard has two levels, and you can go up to the second level. As we walked around the courtyard, Fatima kept up a running patter about everything we saw, from the walls to the ceiling to the doors. She did her best to ensure we knew everything we were viewing. I know she did her best because she repeated most of what she told us two or three times. 

Once we had circled the courtyard and been in both small rooms on either side, that was it. We were back out on the sidewalk. As a public service, I wanted to walk up the line of the people who were waiting up to two hours to get in and paying almost 20 euros, saying, “IT ISN’T WORTH IT!” but Kathleen wouldn’t let me.

So we were back on the bus and headed to our next stop, the Belém Tower. I had been to see the Tower (which is truly impressive—see the photos) during our December visit. The Tower itself had not changed—it’s been the same since 1515. What had changed was the number of people swarming around it. Fatima told us that October is still the high season in Portugal, which accounts for the massive number of travelers everywhere we look. When I came to take photos in December, I was almost by myself. Yesterday, there were hundreds, if not more. Days like this make me understand why there is such an anti-tourism movement in so many parts of Europe. We totally get it, and this is our last planned trip to Europe for now. 

I did get some great photos of the Tower, but I had to work hard (at least Adobe’s AI engine did) to remove most of them from my photos ?. Let’s take a break and take a look. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping. And PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…

By the way, it is now 20 minutes later, and she is still talking. She did take a rest for a few minutes, but that was it. Another thing that she needs to consider is that she says some things that people might find offensive. I don’t care what anyone says, but she has used the word “Christ” a few times as an expletive. That’s offensive to some people. And she spent much time yesterday complaining about people who have driven the prices of housing up in Lisbon, going on and on about “rich people,” not thinking about the fact that, in all likelihood, if a person is on a Viking cruise, they would easily fit into her definition of “rich people.” She spent time decrying people who could afford to live in “million-dollar homes” when most of us already do. 

Getting back to yesterday, after we visited the Tower, we drove around the city for about half an hour before heading back to the hotel, where we got lunch in one of their three restaurants. This time, we tried Soul Garden. According to their website, it is the home of “Asian-Mexican” cuisine. I’m not sure I have ever heard that combo before, but we loved the outdoor seating area and thought the menu looked interesting. it worked out well as lunch was so good, so we came back and had a bunch of appetizers for dinner. 

Most of our party took naps during the afternoon, but I decided I owed it to my loyal followers to go out and walk to take pictures. And here’s what I got. Enjoy! Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping. And you know how I feel about people that look at my photography on a phone.

Fatima update: We stopped for a “comfort break,” Now she is talking about Spain and Belgium. WTH does that have to do with Portugal? I am sitting on the aisle at the very back of the bus, and she is facing forward, talking to the windshield with her arms going a mile a minute as she speaks. Did I say speaks? I meant as she yells. We are now getting a lesson in romance languages. We are now getting a lesson on the sounds you only hear in Portugal. It sounds exactly like I do when trying to clear my throat…when I have a nasty cold. Half an hour later, she is still talking. OMG. Everything is how the people in Portugal are the best people in the world, and everything in Portugal is the best in the world. I guess the rest of us are chopped liver.

Right now, she is explaining why parents in Portugal are better than their counterparts around the rest of the world because they don’t put crisps in their schoolchildren’s lunches. Seriously. She is having a conversation with the people directly behind her in full voice on an open microphone, so we all have to listen to her. This is literally torture. It’s sad that the one thing most of us will remember the most from our bus ride to Porto is this woman yelling at us.

I thought I was done with my Victor Mildrew act (hello to my Brit friends), but we just had another patented Viking “fun time.” This is where, in the pouring rain, Viking stops in the middle of a town, tells you that you HAVE to exit the bus, drops you there for an hour or so, and tells you this is “free time.” So there we are, walking around in the rain, getting soaked, all so we don’t get to the University (where we will see a special library) at the same time as any of our other buses. I understand, but why did we have to get out of the bus and walk around in the pouring rain? When I asked Fatima what we were supposed to do for 75 minutes in the pouring rain when Kathleen needed to sit down sometime during that time, she said, “I don’t know. That’s not my problem.”

After our 75-minute walk in the rain (we bought a coffee to have a place to sit), we returned and headed to the Biblioteca Joanina at the University of Coimbra. This is truly a beautiful library, but for me, it was spoiled when our excellent (sarcasm-intended) guide insulted me by calling me out for taking photos in an area designated “no photography.” The problem was that I wasn’t taking pictures, and she called me out on it while speaking to the entire group on our audio devices. So I looked like one of those asshat Americans you hear about. I had my BIG camera at my waist (not holding it up to my face); she looked at me and said, in a very loud voice and on the audio system, “No pictures! You can’t do that!” I turned to her and asked her how dare she speak to me that way. I was in no way taking photos. My camera was pointed down. From that point on, I was the bad guy.

I believe she had a chip on her shoulder about me because I asked her what we could do for an hour in the rain. She was condescending to Kathleen when we told her that Kathleen would not be able to walk up or down the set of stairs to enter the library. All she needed to say was that there was a handicapped entrance (where a local guide helped her in and to sit down while we climbed up and down stairs), but she knew how much I did not appreciate her and had to take it out on my bride.

OK, there were some really good things we liked on the ride north. We stopped for a nice lunch in Coimbra, which was very good for a banquet-style lunch. They included an excellent Fado (the traditional music of Portugal) performance. It’s much better than the one Kathleen and I had seen in Lisbon last December. We are now back on the bus and on our way to the ship. Thankfully, our dear Fatima will be returning to Lisbon and is not a guide we must put up with for the rest of the cruise. And here are the photos I took today. Look at ’em any way you want. Phone, computer, tablet, I don’t care. That’s how ticked off I am right now.

Help! She’s talking, and she won’t shut up.    —Me, about our Viking guide Fatima in both Lisbon and all the way to Porto

 

Back to Europe next week…

by | Oct 3, 2024 | Uncategorized

It’s been a while, but I wanted to let you know to get ready for a plethora of posts as we leave for Europe a week from today. I know—we are going to Europe again. In our defense, when we were there in June, we were just up north in Scotland, England and Norway. This time, we will be heading south to Spain and Portugal.

Last October, we sailed on Oceania’s Vista from Montreal to Miami. On that trip, we were joined by our good friends Mike and Cathy from Wellington, Florida, my brother Steve and his wonderful bride Jamie from San Juan Capistrano, California and our good buddy Jocelyn Hartwell from Chelan, Washington. Sadly, Jocelyn won’t be joining us for this adventure, but the six of us (Mike, Cathy, Steve, Jamie, Kathleen and I) will all be back together. (Just an aside, Mike and I were talking about three months ago that we should always vacation together in October, so next year, we are cruising the Columbia River, and in October 2026, we will cruise the Great Lakes.)

As I mentioned, a week from tonight, we will board British Airways flight 48 from here in Seattle, non-stop to London Heathrow, where we will have about three and a half hours to either rush or relax (depending on how late our flight from Seattle is) before we head south to Madrid, Spain. Although we have been to Spain before, all our visits have been on the Mediterranean coast, where we have visited Tarragona, Barcelona, Málaga and Valencia. But this will be our first time in Spain’s capital.

We are in Madrid from October 11 until the 16th. During our stay, besides seeing Madrid, we will go on day trips to Segovia and Toledo. Since we are traveling with the king of shore excursions and tours, Mike Preisman, we will be on some of the best tours in all of the Iberian peninsula.

After five full days in Madrid, we will catch a plane to hop over the mountains to Lisbon, Portugal. From the time we land there and for the next ten days, we will fully enter the world of Viking River Cruises. We will spend two nights in Lisbon and then board a “luxury motor coach” for a ride north to Portugal’s second city, Porto, where we will board the Viking Torgil for a six-night cruise up and then back down the Douro River. From the riverboat, we will do excursions to Salamanca, Spain, as well as Regua, Barca d’Alva, Pinhão and Lamego, Portugal. (See the map above–you can click on it to enlarge it) We are sure to have fun, food and a great time!

After we are off the cruise in Porto, we are taking a private airporter-type coach south and back to Lisbon, where we will spend another four days at one of our favorite hotels—Hotel Portugal (really original name ?). On the 29th, we will board a flight back up to London Heathrow, where we will spend the night at an airport hotel before flying home the next day. So this means we are gone from the 10th to the 30th! It will not be quite as long as last June, but it will still be long enough for us to have a great time.

This post tells you only a bit because I plan to blog as often as possible. So get ready for another bunch of posts with photos. Of course, as always, my posts will be totally dependent on Wi-Fi. That means good coverage when we are in hotels and, who knows, what we will get on the boat.

In Spain, the dead are more alive than the dead of any other country in the world.  —Federico Garcia Lorca