Douro River Cruise from Regua to Porto
Entering the Carrapatelo Lock on the Douro River. Largest in Europe.
Lunch along the way.
Maria Pia Bridge designed by Gustave Eiffel. Built in 1877.
Quinta da Santa Julia - Hands on Cooking Class
Rafale, our guide, was excellent and very knowledgeable. Mike is standing in front of a magnolia tree estimated to be 300 years old. This is the private chapel for the owners. There is a story about the brother of Julia. He had traveled to Spain to do some trading or business and saw a statue of a girl named Julia. He purchased it as his young sister was very sick and could not walk. He brought it back home with him and the family prayed along with the entire village. Instead of naming the property after a sir name, it was named after Julia. She became well and lived until she was 90 years old. Our guide asked us if we could guess why this marker might be placed here. Lynn guessed that it was Julia's grave site! She was not correct. This is the #3 marker: The granite markers defining the original boundary of the Douro Valley are called Marcos de Feitoria (Feitoria markers). Installed between 1757 and 1761 by the Marquis of Pombal, these historic 3-meter-tall st...
Theo’s homeland! My MapTap game said 6-10 is National Portugal Day in honor of a soldier/poet Luis de Comoes. Did you notice any celebrations?
ReplyDeleteNo celebrations in Porto. The big party was in Lisbon. What we noticed was that local shops were CLOSED! I wanted to get a piece of filigree jewelry for my souvenir, but shops were closed. Today we head to Braga and Guimaraes where I might find some there!
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