Trip Day 16 - Afurada and Porto City Tour

Tuesday July 7

Breakfast as always. The green group was scheduled to leave by bus at 9 am to Afurada. São Pedro da Afurada is a traditional fishing village in Vila Nova de Gaia just south of Porto, located where the Douro River meets the Atlantic Ocean. Here is a good LINK if you want to know more. I am sorry that we did not have more time there.

We went to the museum first which was quite nice. It must have been a hard and scare time for the families "way back then".

The ancient laundry house was something else. The women used to like it because it was a social meeting place. No husbands allowed or they could not gossip about them. When James and I were walking on the camino we saw those in other villages. 

Back into the bus and over the River Douro into Porto City center. 

Yes, this is the stockmarket and they call the building a palace. Being inside we really thought that it looked like one. 

No question, this seemed the place for very rich people. Nothing but the best material and craftmanship.

Two "family/president" trees, one on each opposite walls. 

The famous bridge made in pennies (well Portuguese coins).

The floors were wood mosaics, different in different rooms.

This room seemed to be the most elaborate, done in the moorish style. 

Even the staircase was elaborate.

A minute of rest waiting for our leader.

Back in the bus and off to the next stop.

We walk to the Sāo Bento (Saint Benedict) railway station which is located in the Historic Centre of Porto. It has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site and as a National Monument of Portugal.

I forgot to take a photo of the outside but here is a LINK if you would like to see more.

After that we have the choice to go back with the bus to the ship for lunch or stay in town and use either of two shuttle busses back later. We opt for that, walk a little and find a place for mainly liquid but also a bit lunch.

James orders a sausage not knowing that it actually is a Portuguese burnt sausage, known as Chouriço à Bombeiro, is a traditional flamed appetizer where a cured or smoked pork sausage (chouriço) is grilled over an open fire in a specialized clay dish until deeply charred on the outside and juicy on the inside. Google has lots of YouTube to watch. They prepared it at the table and then he had to twirl/turn it until the flames went out. James enjoyed it.

After feeling refreshed we looked for a ATM for cash to tip the crew and trip leader. After successfully having done that it was time to take the earlier bus to the ship.

Of course walking a little gave us a chance to see more of the town.

With the map on the iphone nothing is a problem. This street was steep uphill though. Look at this door!

We were told that the bus would be in front of the yellow building with the bars on the upper windows. It used to be a prison.  We were a bit early.

Back to the ship over the river again.

I can't remember why I took this photo. I think it was the time of the Farewell Cocktail with Live Music.

The three Trip Leaders had assembled something like a PowerPoint Presentation of this trip, of course with a lot of funny photos. I wished they would have given it to us but of course because of privacy etc etc that is not possible (I guess).

The Farewell Dinner was special too. The appetizer was tiger shrimp stuffed with mushrooms and spinach and crispy cromesqui.

It was followed by Port sorbet.

By now we had so much food that I didn't feel like trying the Octopus stew. It sounded great.

But every Farewell Dinner seems to end with Baked Alaska.

And then one has to "waste" precious time you could have fun to go to the cabin and finish packing. At least we don't have to get up like some at 2 am to catch a flight. We have time to even enjoy breakfast properly.

Trip Day 15 - visiting a Cork Factory and Porto Bridge walk.

Monday July 6 

Suddenly it seems very obvious that the trip is coming to an end. We are heading back to Gaia where we started. The ship started moving at 7 am. We will be going through two locks. After a leasurly breakfast James and I like to sit outside in the shade in front of the lounge. 

I can't resist a photo of a crew member who cleans the ship's bell while in the lock.

This lock opens sideways.

It 9:30 am there is a Portuguese Flavors lesson in the lounge and at 10:30 am a cooking demonstration. Of course also Portuguese. Out of an eye I saw the demonstration of the "Portuguese burnt sausage" or "Chouriço à Bombeiro". That was interesting. But we really enjoyed being outside. 

Lunch started at noon. OMG, I don't think this gives me an appetite. 

We docked at 1:30 pm and the green group was first to head for the bus to the cork factory. It was less then half an hour and when we arrived we all had to put vests on. Safety regulations.

As a lot of the companies, this one is already in several generations. A son lead us around and explained the process. He was very good. They are one of the few cork companies who actually have a little cork tree forrest on their property. We saw several with numbers on them.  

The 5 means that the cork was harvested from this one at 2025.

These were done this year recently and still need to be marked.

The 4? Of course 2024.

They buy there cork from other farmers in the south and this is how it is transported. He explained that he is just learning the process of buying and selling, the planning of all and he said that it is very difficult. It is a bit like trying to predict the future. 

I had no idea how many different projects there are involving cork. Of course there is still the cork stopper (wine bottles!) one. But there is so much more to it. Nothing, NOTHING, is wasted or thown away.

This worker has years of experience how to trim the sheets.

There were at least two versions of ground cork.

It ended in a classroom/gift shop. I should have taken photos of the gorgeous bowls and overpots for house plants. The prices were "interesting" too. Understandably.  

The bus then brought us into Porto for a quick gondola right to the tall bridge so we could walk to the middle of it for a great view. 

I think the above photos were all from the gondola and the next a selfie from the bridge. 

The dessert after dinner had edible flowers. Yes, I ate it.

The schedule for today had been adjusted to accommodate the watching of the FIFA game Portugal vs Spain. Well, you know how it ended.

Halftime entertainment was a Fado show. I was not looking forward to it because we had been taken to one in Lisbon several years ago which I didn't like. This one was so different and awesome. The two gitarre players were very, very good and the lady was incredible. Her voice and presentation was a delight. When I commented to trip leader Sara about it she told me that she is also an opera singer.  

That performance was way to short but the soccer game had to go on too.

Of course here in Europe all the games were shown at very late times because of the time differences. From Portugal to California it was 8 hours. We didn't see the rest of the game. After all, we always need to get up in the mornings at a decent time.