June 25 homeward bound

We had a great time in Spain and Portugal, they are fabulous countries and we enjoyed the company of our new friends.  There is no place like home. See you soon. Hope you enjoyed our Portugal - Spain journey.

Dining at Xantares

Seafood lunch/dinner with Connie and David at Xantares. Mark and I ordered the seafood plate, the first dish was squid then came the shellfish dish. Absolutely Delicious!!

Cafe Casino

After a hard morning of sight seeing it was time for hot chocolate Galician style with Connie and David.

Cathedral

This Romanesque church with an altar of gold and silver, with carved granite symbols and pipe organ. Suspended from the ceiling is a Botafumeiro, huge incense burner (120 lbs) that is used about 13 times a year or when a pilgrim pays 350 euros. It was used long ago to counteract the stench from the pilgrims!

Tomb of St James

St James is in the little silver chest

Santiago de Compostella

St James, an apostles of Jesus spent a decade as a missionary bringing Christianity to the new world, which was northwest Spain. In 44 A.D. James returned to the Holy Land and was beheaded. Before his body was thrown to the lions, as was the custom in those days, it was rescued by two of his disciples.  They retuned his body to Spain in a small boat and entombed his body in the hills of Galicia, hiding it so it would not be found by the Roman Authorities. There it lay hidden for almost 8 centuries. On July 25th 813, a monk was directed by the stars to the tomb and a local bishop exclaimed that St. James was in Galicia. Santiago de Compostella was born. Santiago is Spanish for St James and de Compostella means field of stars. There is a year long celebration in the year that July 25th falls on a Sunday. This last occurred in 2010 and next date will be in 2021. The carvings on the door tell the story of St James and the door is only opened during the year when July 25th falls on a Sunday.

June 24 - Santiago de Compostela

Santiago de Compostela is very prosperous and signs of the county's financial problems are not evident here in Galicia (cross between Portuguese and Spanish). Santiago has a generally festive atmosphere, as travellers (pilgrims) from all over the world celebrate the end of a long journey. The pilgrims arrive on foot, horseback and bike from 8 routes all leading to Santiago de Compostella. Those arriving on horseback must be escorted into town.

Braga - St. John festival

Today, the St. John celebrations happen all over Portugal. This is the biggest celebration in Portugal and everyone will party today and especially in the evening. The streets are decorated and street performers are everywhere. Throughout the streets they sell toy hammers that squeak. It is good luck tradition to bop anyone on the head, this happens in the evening after a few drinks! The old tradition was to wear long garlic on your head and hit each other with the garlic.

Braga

June 23 Braga

In 1882, a water powered funicular was used to go up and down this steep hill. The car at the top of the hill has its tank filled and its extra weight then pulls up the other car.

June 23 Braga

We left the ship at 10:00 on our way to Santiago di Compostella, Spain, with a stop in Braga, Portugal. The church is carved granite and white stucco, baroque extravaganza was started in 1720. Ever since pilgrims have climbed the hundreds of steps, sometimes on their knees.

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June 22

Today was our final day on the ship. We sailed from 1:00pm to 8:00pm. It was a nice warm sunny day so we spent the afternoon on the deck relaxing and enjoying the scenery.

Winery & dinner at Quinta da Avessada

Next we were off to the Moscatel co-op winery.  The pic below shows the stainless steel vats, at the winery; the vats are made in Portugal. Then dInner at Quinta da Avessada, a century old winery in the heart of the Douro Wine District a UNESCO site.  The pic below, shows the quartet that serenaded us and the servers. At 9:00pm, we're on the bus, winding down the narrow, steep roads, watching the sun go down and the full moon. Back to the ship, it was another full day.

Dona Manuela

In Favaios, this is one of 8 family owned and operated bakeries. At Dona Manuela's bakery they only make bread, she works 6 days a week. Today, she started work at 6:00am and will work to midnight making 1600 loaves that will go to market tomorrow. Dona Manuela's daughter & husband work with her. Notice the bottle on her head. She can walk & dance keeping the bottle balanced on her head.

Pinhao & Favaios

At 2:30pm we docked in Pinhoa and were bused to Favaios, a village of 1500 people all growing  grapes to produce Moscatel. Each year they produce 30 million bottles and 90% are sold in Portugual. Moscatel grapes must be grown at 600 meters above the river, they require rocky soil, and hot temperatures, it gets to 51 degrees Celsius in the summer.  All the vineyards are neatly terraced along the mountainside. Again we travelled on the steep windy, single lane mountain road to reach Favaios. Thank goodness, Carlos, our bus drive is an excellent driver!!

June 21 Lunch

I was told I had to include this story in my blog so here it is. Today we had lunch in the dining room, with 6 other people that we spend a lot of time with.  I started with the salad buffet and had a big plate of various salads, they were really delicious and I was full. I decided to order the salmon sandwich because i love fish. When the server brought the sandwich it looked like a BLT, but it had little bits of fried salmon, with tomato and lettuce. This was not at all what I imagined, I already had enough to eat, so I ate some of the salmon and the tomato, then I put the bread back together. The server took my plate, noticing that the sandwich appeared not to have been touched, and asked me if i like the sandwich. I replied, it was not what I expected and was not to my taste. Since I finished lunch I excused myself and told Mark I would be on the sun deck. No sooner had i sat down when Mark arrived, i thought he was joining me, but instead he said you have to come back to the dining room now, the chef is preparing something special for you because you didn't like the sandwich.  I immediately returned to the dining room feeling rather sheepish and everyone at the table was laughing at the situation. Executive Chef Nuno appeared with a specially prepared fruit plate and apologized. I thanked him and let him know there was no need to apologize. Boy did I feel awkward but the staff are serious about making sure the guests have a good experience! That's my story.

June 21- cruising

Notice the white circular structure. In the 1500's these were used to house pigeons for breeding and eating. During the Franco regime these pigeons coops were used to smuggle in contraband from Spain.

June 21 cruising

This morning at 7:30 am we left Vega de Terron for Pinhoa. The weather is cloudy and pleasant, cooler than normal. This afternoon it is suppose be 26 degrees, more to my liking. 

Salamanca Flamemco

Lunch entertainment, was flamenco dance. After lunch we continued our walking tour through the town then we had a 2 hour bus ride back to the ship. The ship docked in Vega de Terron, Spain, only 500 meters from Portugal. Tonight dInner is a Portuguese barbecue served outside on the deck, thank goodness the weather cooperated, it was nice and warm.  The last 2 days have been unseasonably cool.

Salamanca - Cathedrals

The old cathedral is 12th century, while the new cathedral was built from 1513 to 1733. The carvings on the church display, a tiny astronaut and dragon eating an ice cream cone. Yes this is for real!

June 20 travelling to Salamanca

On our way to Salamanca, Spain, the country is very arid and there a many cattle farms for cows, pigs & sheep. Some farmers even raise bulls for the bull fights. The Portuguese bull fights are very different than the Spanish ones. The Castilian region has the stork as their symbol and we could see the storks in the fields. 

Salamanca Universties

Salamanca is a college town, with 3 universities. The University of Salamanca was established in the early 1200's. Is a public university that is considered 4th best in Europe and the oldest in Spain. The facade of the university has a hidden frog and is fabled to give students good luck for exams, if he can find it. The other to universities are private, the Pontifical University La Clerecia owned by the Vatican and the Dominican Theological University. Notice what's on top of the bell tower!

Salamanca - Plaza Mayor

One of the largest squares in Spain. It was built from 1729 - 1755.  Today it houses the town hall,  private apartments and offices, restaurants and a hotel. Many university student hang out in the plaza; then between 10-noon seniors walk around the plaza and chat with anyone. A very elderly man approached us to chat, but unfortunately he only spoke Spanish so our conversation was brief.

David, Connie & Barry; Lynn & John

Captain's dinner

Our cruise friends from Britain, Pittsburg, and Texas. Below is Marcio Gomes, the bar manager. We all wanted to take him home and introduce him to our daughters.

Castelo Rodrigo

June 19 arrived Barca d'Alva

At 3:00 pm we were bused to Castelo Rodrigo, Portugal, a very arid climate about 20 minutes from the Spanish border. Here we were high in the mountains where we could see the Douro Valley far below. Today some Portuguese live at the castle. People in this area grow, almonds olives and cork.

June 19 cruising

June 19 cruising

June 19 cruising

June 19 Barca d'Alva

This morning at 7:30 the boat left Pinhao for Barca d'Alva. I enjoy getting up early, sitting in our room with the balcony door open and taking pictures of the scenery and I work on the blog.  Today the scenery is becoming more arid, and less green.