We were on our way on the buses quite early, after another sumptuous breakfast buffet at the hotel. Our first stop was Coimbra, a university town about halfway to Porto.
A building at the University of Coimbra, the oldest university in Portugal.
University students in their academic cloaks are assembling to perform fado. This academic garb is said to have inspired J. K. Rowling.
This gateway opens to a beautiful open area.
The University of Coimbra was originally established in Lisbon in 1290 and moved to Coimbra in the 1300’s, then back to Lisbon and finally settled in Coimbra in the 1500s. It’s old.
Henry the Navigator
The Mondego River flows by Coimbra.
This is the only area of the university’s library where photography was permitted. The ornate room upstairs that also supposedly inspired J. K. Rowling is decorated in gilt and has floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. The furniture, however, was covered in tarps to protect it from the guano of bats who live there for some reason.
São Sebastião Aqueduct, a much older aqueduct than the one we saw in Lisbon, is from the Roman era.
In the town of Coimbra, there are two important historical gates. This one is the Arch of the Almedina. We never found the other one. We only had 20 minutes to explore!
Our group had lunch in a banquet hall near Coimbra and were entertained by these fado musicians. During a break, Elaine spoke with the guitar player, who explained that there are two styles of fado. This one, the academic style, is not as gut-wrenching as what we heard at the tasca in Lisbon.
The bus delivered us to the Torgil in Porto (actually in Gaia across the river). We had little time to enjoy the vessel, because we needed to depart right away, via motor coach, for our excursion to Graham’s Port Lodge, a working port cellar and restaurant.
This was only one of many storage locations for barrels of Graham’s port.
Lotsa barrels. These barrels are used to age tawny and vintage ports.
These huge barrels were for ruby port, which is not aged as long as tawny port. The larger barrels preserve the ruby color because they inhibit oxidation. Oxidation is needed for tawny ports’ caramel color and flavor.
The Graham family’s private collection of vintage ports which continue to age in their bottles.
We finally got to taste some Graham’s port. They were all very yummy.
On the front right is the 40-year-old tawny port, which was amazing. It was aged in the barrel for 40 years before bottling. Other ports on this mat include vintage, ruby and single-harvest tawny ports. It is a Portuguese tradition to buy a bottle of vintage port for the year that a baby is born, and keeping it for a special occasion, such as when that child gets married, to open it.
After we visited the shop where we bought a 10-year tawny to take home, we stepped outside to enjoy this view. The city of Porto is on the left and Gaia is on the right. The Douro River is in between.
We were served a multi-course dinner, each course with a paired wine.
Our waiter decanted a red wine.
Our waiter poured the wine from a real cool squiggly decanter.
Pouring some 30-year tawny port to accompany our dessert.
Our dessert was the high point of the meal.
Full of a delicious dinner and feeling no pain after all that drinking, we posed for a group photo before heading back to the Torgil for the night.
Cruising the Douro, Mateus Palace, and Quinto do Seixo vineyard