Along the Douro River, ships only cruise in daylight hours.
That translates into lots of scenic cruising.
Several guests including ourselves would spend time in the rocking chairs, literally watching the world go by. That's luxury.
Breakfast was not served outdoors as on Viking's usual Longships, so we would head inside about 8 AM for breakfast. There was menu service by waitstaff available, but the large selection of buffet items from fresh fruit to meats and cheeses to breads to pastries, along with a station where eggs were fried to order, proved to be most efficient and delicious.
One day, I did order off the menu. After what seemed like a long wait, but really not any longer than usual menu service, I suppose, I tried Norwegian Waffles, which served with sour cream and brown cheese, like the Viking Cruises founder's mother --- "Mamsen" --- used to make.
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| Tables under awnings seemed ideal for breakfast outdoors. They instead were used as game tables or for resting beverages. |
The waffles didn't appeal to me as served. I asked for maple syrup, which made them edible, if not as good as Belgian Waffles, but I didn't order off the breakfast menu again.
After breakfast, we usually went up top to the sun deck, though many who had French Balcony or Veranda rooms presumably took in views there, because there were seldom more than twenty fellow guests up there, and often considerably fewer.
Lounge chairs in the shade of that awning were seldom used by anyone besides Julie and me.
It was a great place to watch the changing scenery in the comfort of shade on sunny days in the 80s.
Locks that fill with water and then release the water once the ships have floated to a different level allow ships to navigate between different water levels along the river. Going through a lock is a source of entertainment, in a way similar to the Panama Canal pleases guests on ocean ships.
On a river cruise ship, the spaces are tighter than on the Panama Canal, making transits even more interesting to me.
Often, a bridge by the locks requires the awning we used daily for our lounge chair shade to be lowered.
For particularly low bridges, guests were required to go downstairs until the headroom barrier had been transited.
We passed through a lot of locks on our cruise, some incredibly tall, evidence of the big gap in water levels.
Shifting his attention from the reforms instituted by the Marquis de Pombal following the devastation of Lisbon in 1755, he somehow found time the next year to turn his attention to the Douro Valley.
He was the first to classify vineyard regions of the Douro Valley, marking the region with 335 of stone bollards. Pombol's Douro Wine Company defined the Port wine region in the Douro Valley, making it what is considered to be the first appellation d'origine contrôlée (protected designation of origin) in the world.
The drive to our next destination took us through rolling vineyards. The wine that our first stop brought to mind was not Port, but Rosé. In fact, one of the most famous Rosé wines in the world: Mateus.
Stately Mateus Palace is prominent on the label of the artfully curved Mateus Rosé bottle.
However, the connection is not what it seems. Mateus Palace & Gardens is not where Mateus Rosé is produced.
Some of the grapes used in Mateus were grown in the vineyards of Mateus Palace.
Mateus co-founder Fernando van Zeller Guedes bought the rights to use an image of the Palace as a tribute to his home region. He paid a pittance for the rights.
The Count who sold what became a world famous trademark never imagined that the wine produced by this young guy and his brothers to market in Brazil would become a worldwide sensation.
When Brazil banned importation of wine altogether, it should have spelled disaster.
While that alone might have been sufficient to reach a worldwide market, Fernando made Mateus a sponsor of a horse race at England's Ascot Racecourse in 1961. Queen Elizabeth II attended and tried Mateus Rosé.
She subsequently ordered Mateus when dining at the elite Savoy Hotel in London, where many celebrities were photographed with the distinctive bottle. Average folks found the bottles could be used for decorative projects in the home. And the rest, as they say, is history.
To tour the interior, an expert joined our group, describing all of the beautiful furnishings and artwork, including family portraits, and sharing a bit of background information.
Concluding our tour, we were taken to a wine tasting area, but it was really more of a sip and run on this hot afternoon in the building without air conditioning rather than a more elaborate event like we've experienced elsewhere.
This was not Mateus Rosé, but it was a product of the vineyards of Mateus Palace. I would say the consensus was to keep moving forward rather than linger.
With limited time on a warm afternoon, we were soon on our way to the lush gardens of the estate with the balance of our free time.
Back on the road again, our bus would not head directly back to the ship.
We enjoyed the panoramic views of vineyards on the winding roads.
We were in the heart of the Port country, so before returning to Viking Torgil, we would make a stop at a vineyard of acclaimed Port maker Sandeman.
From a distance, a gigantic version of the trademark image of a man in hat and cape is visible.
At first glance, I thought he looked like my childhood hero Zorro.
Designed by poster artist George Massiot Brown in 1928, The Don first appeared on Sandeman's wine label in 1935. It is now the international symbol of the company.
In any case, I was happy to find a smaller version of The Don near the entrance for a photo op. There would be more to come during the winery tour.
Sandeman's tour guide did a great job of clearly explaining the process of creating wine and highlights of Sandeman's history, which you will enjoy should you find yourself fortunate enough to take the House of Sandeman tour.
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| Old vintages gather dust while aging, between bottle turnings. |
We enjoyed sampling Sandeman's delicious Ruby, Tawny and White Ports in a large room with scenic views.
If you have not ever drank Port, it makes a delicious dessert wine. It holds its own when paired with dark chocolate, although we had cheese and crackers with this more formal tasting session than we had at Mateus Palace.
With a choice or retracing our steps inside or walking along a path overlooking the vineyards on this sunny afternoon, the choice was easy for Julie and me. Others chose to take the path indoors, concerned the path might be harder than it actually turned out to be, presumably.
The bus ride back to the ship brought more panoramic views along our way.
Photos out tinted bus windows in bright sunshine seldom do justice to the experience, but Julie snapped a few more.
Looking back at this day, we could hardly believe we did Sandeman, which was another full experience, after Mateus.
And that was after we enjoyed our morning scenic cruise on top so much that we skipped attending presentations about ports of call and a lecture about Portugal's natural cork production. Some of our fellow guests had actually taken an optional tour during the morning. I'm happy we didn't miss the relaxing cruise that we enjoyed before lunch in the dining room.
Lest I forget to mention this and not be able to find it later when I do a search to help clients know what to expect, our port stop was Régua. Its history of vineyards and making wine dates back to the Roman Empire, if not further back. There are ancient ruins there, but that was not on our agenda. We departed the ship upon arriving in the afternoon and did not return.
We re-joined the ship in Pinhão, another port named that day by Viking. We were actually docked across the river from Pinhão, purportedly a quieter berth, but there there was no compelling reason to get off the ship on that side.
Pinhão is primarily considered a gateway to wine estates --- "quintas" --- like we had visited and driven around that afternoon.
