We continued our trip through the Douro Valley stopping at towns and villages most of us never heard of. We stopped in Lemego,
to visit the pilgrimage church of Santuario Nossa Senhora dos Remedios. Within the town, there is a magnificent baroque staircase with 14 Stations of the Cross that leads up to the 18th century church.
Every year, at the beginning of September, thousands of pilgrims gather to seek healing and consolation. The church was beautiful and the altar really interesting, like stairs up to heaven.
It must be a Portuguese custom since I have never seen that in churches in other parts of Europe--and I have been in lots of churches in Europe!The small town of Pinhão is the epicenter of the Port wine making area, and a place where the soil and climatic conditions are considered to be at their very best. Located at the confluence of the Douro and Pinhão rivers, Pinhao is a mecca for wine lovers. We docked early in the morning and were off the ship by 9:00 am for a visit to the Wine Academy at the Vintage House Hotel. It was a great seminar and I’m becoming a real expert on port wines!!!Really off the beaten path was Castelo Rodrigo,
a small village located on the top of Serra de Marofa that provided protection for the surrounding towns after the Romans arrived in the early part of the 13th century.We walked around the fortress,
and stopped at the church in the center of town before heading back to the ship for an afternoon of cruising.
We docked in Vega de Terron and boarded a bus to cross the border into Spain for a visit to the university town of Salamanca. Since the European Union was created, there are no longer actual border crossings--you just drive from one country to another. Over the years I had been to Spain several times, since both my daughters, Heather and Erin, went to school in Spain. Salamanca is considered to have the purest form of Spanish spoken today and you can actually hear the slight difference in accent between Heather, who went to school in Sevilla, and Erin, who studied in Salamanca.
Erin truly loved Salamanca and I can understand why. Salamanca, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, offers a walk through Europe’s history of architecture. It has it all, Romanesque, Plateresque style, Renaissance, Gothic and baroque. The University of Salamanca is Spain’s oldest university and like many college towns, has a youthful vibrancy. We were in the middle of Plaza Mayor, when groups of students ran by in costume celebrating the beginning of the new semester.
Like many European cities, the best way to see it is to walk around. We started our tour at the Plaza Mayor, the main square in town, and a great place to sit to people watch. The plaza is famous for its beautiful sandstone buildings and baroque-style architecture from the 18th century.Next we headed toward the University and Casa de las Conchas, or ‘House of the Shells.” The house gets its name from the golden stone scallop shells that cover the walls.
Today, the Casa de la Conchas is a modern library, but was once a Palace of Rodrigo Maldonado, a knight of the Santiago Order. We continued on to the university where the guide pointed to a very ornate facade that is a premier example of Plateresque architecture from the 15th and 16th centuries.Our last stop on the tour was the New Cathedral, started in 1512 to help stabilize the deteriorating Old Cathedral.
If you’re into architecture this is a must. It has a little of everything: Gothic, baroque and Renaissance touches can all be seen. Today, the New Cathedral is the only entrance to access the old Romanesque Cathedral Vieja, built in the 12th century.
It was a fun afternoon and we all thoroughly enjoyed our tour of Salamanca.Our trip was coming to an end. I was surprised that northern Portugal was not at all touristy. In fact, I didn’t do any souvenir shopping in Lisbon because I wanted to see the crafts offered in the towns along the Douro River. I never found any shops selling local crafts--and believe me we looked. The big draw in northern Portugal is Port wine.
We cruised leisurely back to Porto enjoying the beautiful scenery along the river. In recent years several dams were built to prevent the valley from flooding and ruining the precious vineyards that terrace the entire Douro Valley.
Portugal is a great tourist destination. Even though they use Euros, prices seem to be lower for meals and hotels than in other European countries. They have beautiful beaches, interesting cities, good food and great wine--all the essentials for a fun vacation.Care to comment? Click "comments" at the end of the column.
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