In the morning we drove on the coach to Salamanca in Spain, quite a long drive but through lovely countryside - Campo Charro. We saw nesting storks and bulls bred for bullfighting as well as black pigs bred for local smoked ham called 'pata negra'. We arrived at 10.30 and had coffee in the Monterrey Hotel before joining a local guide for a city walking tour. The city has been a World Heritage site since 1998 and was one of the richest Spanish cities for several centuries from the Middle Ages. The University is the oldest in the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and we toured some of its old buildings and heard some of its fascinating history.

The 'old' cathedral was built in the 12th century and there's a 'new' one dating from the 16th, having taken 200 years to build. There have been some recent renovations - take a look at the photo below, 2nd from left. The tour also included the Plaza Mayor and the House of Shells. We lunched back at the Monterrey Hotel, which was very good and then had some free time to explore on our own. We watched the city gradually come to life after the very long siesta. There are around 45,000 students living in the city so for the first time on this holiday we felt quite old! We visited the museum of Art Deco and Art Nouveau, only to find it closed for a very long lunch but went back for a quick visit later. Well worth it even if only for the gorgeous stained glass ceiling and windows. The exhibits were mostly wonderful, especially the glass, but the huge room housing a collection of porcelain dolls was rather creepy.  It rained on our way back to the river, but stopped once we re-entered Portugal.

4th June

This morning we went by coach to Castelo Rodrigo, a medieval city that has recently been restored. It has a great location on top of a hill with views all around. There are some castle ruins and lots of twisting alleys, a very picturesque setting. We bought a couple of gifts and enjoyed green tea on the terrace. It was good to have some silence because on board there's always noise, even if only the engine.

We drove through delightful scenery again. The Portuguese make use of every available strip of land with extensive terracing on the hills where it appears to be impossible to cultivate anything. The area grows grapes, almonds and olives. We went back on board for lunch and then spent all afternoon on board but it was extremely windy and impossible to stay up on deck. In the evening we were treated to a Portuguese folk show after an excellent dinner. there were 10 musicians and singers and it was great fun - and the Fado (national form of singing) was far better than I expected.

5th June

We docked at Régua in the morning and drove to Lamego, not far away. It's a nice town, a mixture of old and new. We started off at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Remédios, a beautiful church very high up - 700 steps in fact. We were the only 2 who walked back down, the rest electing to travel in the coach. It was a lovely walk, broken up by lots of terraces with fountains, shrines and tiled walls.

We then had time on our own so we walked up to the 11th century castle which was closed, disappointingly. It was a lovely walk through some very old narrow cobbled streets. Back in the town centre, we had a drink at a café and a very brief look at the cathedral, followed by a visit to the museum. The museum had a good selection of exhibits, including some superb Flemish tapestries, probably the best I have ever seen. We had lunch back on board and a relaxing afternoon but again it was too windy to spend it on deck. The evening started with the Captain's cocktail party - i.e. more free white port (delicious chilled) and then our last dinner. Some people were leaving in the early hours so it wasn't too riotous an affair.

6th June

Our last day and the last of our American friends left the boat after breakfast for their long onward journeys. We 4 VJV clients were taken into the town centre by coach for a couple of hours shopping and had coffee in the lovely Majestic Café. We then returned to the Gaia side of the river for our tour of the Ribeira Port company. It was fascinating and being in a small group meant we had more opportunity to ask questions. We had some tasting and were impressed enough to buy a bottle.

There were just the 4 of us for lunch and then we were taken to the airport in a Mercedes which was very comfortable. The airport was very quiet again but our flight was on time and we were soon home.

Conclusions

It had been a wonderful holiday and we couldn't fault it. We were very well looked-after and the tour guide on board, Sofia, was fantastic. Nothing was too much trouble for her. The boat and scenery were lovely and the excursions excellent. The weather was lovely too - and the port wasn't bad either! We met some wonderful people and became especially friendly with a couple from Texas and another from Ontario. We do hope we will meet them again. I heartily recommend this trip.