The Best of Portugal Day 7
The Best of Portugal
Day 7 - September 9, 2002 - Viseu to Oporto
We slept with the window open and it was nice and cool. We got up this morning with our usual wake-up call. It came at 7:05 AM and we were dead asleep. We had 45 minutes to get the luggage out so we had to hurry a bit. We then went to breakfast, the usual and then got on the bus. The city was covered in fog and it was cool.
We drove north and east toward the coast. The landscape here is similar to Brasil's interior and I would think Parana and Santa Catarina. Similar to Atlanta with lots of evergreen trees and beautiful gardens. People up here have more money. Portugal only has 4.9% unemployment so they are OK.
As we drove we saw beautiful houses and we have not seen much poverty at all. We traveled to the Douro Valley, where the world-famous port wines are produced. Our first stop was to visit the gardens of the Palacio de Mateus, depicted on the label of Mateus wine bottles. It is a fabulous Baroque home, with chapel on the side and beautiful gardens in the back. We had a 45 minute stop there to see the sights and take a lot of photos.
We then moved on through the province of Tras-os-Montes, with its communal bread ovens, mills and wine presses. We went to Vila Real where we saw a lot of grapes on the hillsides and had a little bit of history.
Next, Cidade de Amarante where we had a short walk and then lunch. We stopped at a pastry store when I saw suspiros in the window. I wanted to buy at least 50 to give to every one on the bus. So I got a half kilo and everyone on the bus was thrilled. While there at the shop we had a little lunch of bread, cheese, and ham (Mista) and then walked around the town and took a lot of pictures. The area is very mountainous and they grow the grapes all on the terraced hillsides.
We went to on to Guimarães to see the square towers of Guimarães' Castle and we climbed all the way to the top and had a panoramic view of the city and the valley below. This is the castle that appears in the coat of arms of Portugal because in 1139, Afonso Enrique proclaimed himself king of Portugal. There is a big sign that says Portugal Was Born Here.
Then on to downtown where we had a little more history and saw some young kids drawing so I took their picture and they wanted to see themselves. I have been doing this with adults and children, asking to take their picture and then showing the digital camera to them. It is well received.
We got on the bus and took the HIGHWAY route to Oporto. All the other roads we were on today were very winding and I would only drive them with my sport car. VERY NARROW and TIGHT CURVES. The bus driver did a great job. We are staying at the Ipanema Porto Hotel. Nice but very 1960ish. Not much charm. Gennie did some laundry for the last four days of the trip. We will be here for two nights.
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