Portugal was a three part adventure with my
friend, Paula, a Macalester College friend for almost 60 years. We were in
Lisbon for about a week, then a cruise on the Douro River, and finally a few
days of biking and hiking in the Beiras, southeast of Porto.
We
started out in Lisbon at an Airbnb in the old part of town, Alfama, where
cobblestone streets wind up hillsides. Here we listened to passionate fado
music (emotional melancholic songs often about love) and
visited the Fado Museum with an endless number of recordings of famous fado
singers. Besides exploring Lisbon and getting spectacular views of the hilly
city, we went to the medieval town of Evora with 14th century walls. We rode
the bus there and saw endless rows of olive trees and grape vines. We wandered
around the town, the best part being going up on the roof of the cathedral with
views of the city and the interesting roof itself with spires and towers.
Later, after some searching, we found the Roman Bath inside the Town Hall. It
had been discovered in 1987, a nine meter pool had heated rooms for steam
baths. We went to the Chapel of Bones where skulls and bones are arranged
artistically. The bones are from over 5000 people. The quotation in the chapel
is, “We bones that are here await yours.” The church also had a large display
of nativity scenes, from traditional to modern, made of various materials,
fabric, straw, ceramic, glass, and from various places, mostly Portugal and its
former colonies.
Another excursion was to the town of Sintra, a
very different experience since it was heavily forested and spread out
with palaces on the hillsides, and a Moorish castle. A young woman was our
guide, a recent university graduate who couldn’t find work like the majority of
university graduates, so she, like others we met, was taking advantage of the
booming tourist industry. We decided to tour the Pena Palace, an example of
19th century Romanticism, inspired by Bavarian Palaces. Built in 1839, it has
colorful domes, towers and spires, and a beautiful blue tiled courtyard. It was
built in the Manueline style, highly decorative with nautical themes, twisted
ropes across the ceilings and domes with coral and anchors; the armillary
sphere used for navigation is also present.
In
Lisbon, we went on several free walking tours with “Take Lisboa.” One was
an alternative tour with a very enthusiastic young man, and an aspiring street
artist. We looked at street art and graffiti, amazing murals in former working
class neighborhoods. Some were political, others feminist, and some just
artistic by different artists who had their own distinct styles. Another day we
took the Belem tour into the historical part of Lisbon. We were by the Tejo
River and saw the Statue of Discoveries that is a tribute to the explorers when
Portugal was a mighty sea power in the 15th century.
In 1755 there was a huge earthquake on All
Saints’ Day when thousands of people were killed because they were attending
church and many of the churches collapsed. Fires and a tsunami followed the
earthquake. After this, Marques de Pombal took change and the city was rebuilt
as a modern city with wide avenues. We visited one cathedral in which the
earthquake damage has never been repaired.
The second part of our trip was the main reason
why Paula and I were in Portugal. We joined other Macalester alumni from our
class on a Viking River Cruise on the Douro River (river of gold). Our group
consisted of 18 out of a total of more than a hundred passengers, most of whom
were Americans. We started out in Porto and we cruised up river to Spain and then
returned. The hilly scenery was breathtaking, neatly laid out rows and rows of
grape vines, some on very steep hillsides with terraced slopes. There were also
olive and other trees, often trees delineated cultivated fields and properties.
Quintas, estates where grapes are grown, had beautiful country homes and
bodegas. Other properties had homes in ruins, while some areas were undeveloped
and were rocky and uncultivated. There were several small towns and villages
along the river, white buildings with red tile roofs, there were also some
interesting bridges. Port wine is produced on the lower part of the river, the
soil and climate being conducive to port. Further up river muscatel is the main
wine. Previously, the riverboats brought the wine to Gaia, the port across from
Porto, now trucks deliver the wine to the bodegas where the wine is stored in
large oak barrels to age. We went to several bodegas to learn about the process
and for tastings. I never knew there were so many different kinds of ports.
We had started out in Lisbon with the cruise
people and visited the Mosteiro dos Jeronimos, the huge church and the
cloisters, also in the Manueline style (nautical). Later we visited the Tile
Museum with a vast array of impressive tiles. The following day a bus took us
to the university town of Coimbra on the way to Porto, Portugal’s first
university, founded in Lisbon in 1290 and relocated to Coimbra in 1537. It’s
very prestigious and traditional and students wear black robes and capes. The
most amazing place was the library which is a highly decorated Baroque wonder,
with beautiful woods, frescos on the ceiling, and gilded shelves from floor to
ceiling with many valuable ancient books. At night bats come out to eat the
bugs that emerge from the books. Care is taken every evening to cover the
tables to protect them from the bats, and of course everything must be cleaned
up in the morning.
The following day we had a tour of Porto, also a
very hilly city; all along the river there are brightly painted houses. We
visited the cathedral high on a hill and the incredible train station with the
interior walls covered with tiles depicting historic scenes. Several times
Paula and I walked across the high metal bridge from Porto to Gaia, the port
side of the river, completed in 1886 by a student of Eiffel. It’s a splendid bridge from
which one gets great views of the riverfront.
Once on the boat, there were excursions everyday
and informative lectures as we were cruising. We learned about the history of
port wine, the history of Portugal and all about cork from which everything can
be made these days besides corks, shoes, clothes, handbags, and jewelry. The
boats remain in the ports at night because traveling can only be done in
daylight. Going through five different locks was fascinating.
My favorite excursion was to Salamanca, the
oldest university in Spain from the 18th century. It’s a very majestic city
with beautiful stately buildings. We toured the city with a guide and later
wandered on our own. In the main plaza a medallion on a column with Franco’s
head had been permanently removed. We went to the Art Deco and Art Nouveau
Museum which was impressive. Again Paula and I went up onto the roof and to the
tower of the cathedral. We were in the bell room when the bells rang.
Another fascinating excursion was to Castelo
Rodrigo, a small medieval fortress town on top of a hill from 1209. In the
early 16th century there was a Jewish community here - those escaping the
Inquisition - that lived among the local Christians. On a couple of door ways,
we saw evidence of Jewish occupation. In the countryside there were round white
structures that were pigeon houses, places that Jews escaping from
Spain could stay. The pigeons were primarily kept for guano, but they were also
consumed. Delicious almonds were sold in this village since it was an area with
almond groves.
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| Pigeon House |
Another excursion was to a small town, Favaios,
where muscatel wine is produced; 150 farmers in a co-op grow the grapes. This
town was also famous for its bread, a special kind of four corners bread that
is produced in nine different bakeries and then shipped to many places. We visited
the Palace of Mateus remembering the rose wine we bought in the 60’s in the
short green bottles.
We were on the boat seven nights. In the evenings, a very special animated
piano player entertained. Unfortunately, there were only a few opportunities to
get off the boat and wander. Being with the group from Macalester was fun, and we met
others on the cruise also, of course.
After the cruise, Paula and I rented a car in
Porto. We had two destinations, one being Viseu and a 30-mile (49 kilometer)
downhill bike path, which turned out to be great fun. We rode through small
villages with white buildings and red tile roofs and saw small random garden
plots with vegetables, olive trees, and vineyards. There were abandoned farm
buildings, lumber mills, and logging roads. In the distance we could see
mountains. We also passed a large man-made lake. In the fall there had been
huge forest fires after a drought and we saw remnants of this in several areas,
including on the bike bath. All the large trees were burnt and only charcoal trunks
remained, the undergrowth was coming back, however, and luscious green ferns
were plentiful. Among huge boulders there were also plenty of
wildflowers, especially yellow, white, and purple flowers. We
passed abandoned train stations where the train had run until the mid 1980’s.
We explored the medieval town of Viseu with its large cathedral on top of a
hill and winding streets, and the sidewalks with designs, just as in Lisbon and
Porto.
From there we went on to Manteigas and the
National Park, Serra da Estrela, driving on a mountainous road with many
hairpin turns. The town with white buildings and red tile roofs is in a valley. We took several hikes in the mountains with
wonderful views. We could see the highest peak in Portugal at 6,500 feet
(1993 m), Torre that still had snow. Purple, yellow, pink, and white wildflowers were abundant. On the Beech
Hike we walked through a tall forest of beech trees, and then pine trees.
We had an interesting tour of a burel factory, a
felt-like material. The wool is prepared and woven there, but then treated in a
different factory. They made not only traditional items, jackets, hats,
blankets, but creative fun items too.
It was an exciting trip, and the Portuguese
people were wonderful, very friendly and very helpful, especially when Paula
and I continually got lost. People would go out of their way to give us directions; one man even said to follow him, which we did. It was especially
enjoyable being with the Macalester group, getting to know individuals better by chatting and laughing.
