We originally planned to go to Salamanca, Spain on this day. However, because the last lock on the Douro was closed, the bus ride to Salamanca had increased to 3 1/2 hours each way. We thought we would take an alternate excursion instead. The alternate excursion was a trip to an archaeological museum. But when the time came to board the bus, we just said no and stayed on the Torgil and explored the nearby town, Foz do Sabor.
Pretty orange tree in someone’s garden on our way up to Foz do Sabor.
We passed this wine shop on our way into the village. It was not open yet so we planned to stop by later.
Roundabout in the center of Foz do Sabor. In its center is this sculpture showing a rabello (iconic Douro River boat formerly used to transport port wine down the river through the rapids to Gaia and Porto).
The Sabor River and olive groves.
Another view of the Sabor. It is a tributary of the Douro.
Olive tree.
Orange trees were on the other side of the road.
The Sabor from the bridge.
Another view of the Sabor.
More Sabor from the bridge, with the local vineyard visible in the distance on the left.
Looking back up into the village, from the bridge.
Another vista
Elaine and William clearly enjoying the beautiful day.
The opposite bank of the Sabor. That vineyard is up there across the river.
A couple boats tied to the bridge. They look like they might be old rabellos.
The sign at the top of the bluff says “Casa de Palmeira” – the same name as on the wine shop in town.
Harvesting olives.
This man was beating the olive branches after shaking the tree to get the olives to fall on the tarp he had spread below.
His wife (?) is gathering olives that fell to the ground, and throwing them on to the tarp. She smiled radiantly when Elaine greeted her in Portuguese: “Bom dia!”
There were dogs throughout the village. This one came out as Elaine and William walked by his house, and parked himself on this landing. He was a big guy.
Inside the wineshop in the village was this processing vat. We aren’t sure if it’s still in use. We tried to sample some wine in the shop, but we were refused! So, no wine purchase here. 😒
These two fellows followed us everywhere along the main drag, as if they were guarding the village. But they were friendly.
Google Lens says this is an agave plant. It was enormous and growing out of a wall.
When we got back to the Torgil, we found another cruise vessel had moored next to ours. There is no room at the dock for two vessels end to end, so the passengers from the other vessel crossed through our vessel to disembark. Many of them disembarked with luggage because they were going to Salamanca to spend the night, whereas the passengers from the Torgil would be back from their Salamanca excursion for dinner. We thought the excursion option for the other boat was more sensible.
Relaxing in the shade on the sundeck. We stayed for a while and read, but it got chilly.
Every day the menu was posted outside the dining room. Chef Andrea would come to the lounge each day and introduce the special dishes for the evening meal. Chef is from Palermo, so he said he KNOWS how to cook octopus, which was being served as an appetizer.
Chef was not bragging; he did know how to cook octopus. It was delicious. Moist and tender.
Cruising the Douro today looks like a pretty tame ride. It wasn’t always like that. Before the dams and locks were built, the Douro was a pretty wild river, and getting the barrels of port from the vineyards upstream to Gaia and Porto was a harrowing journey. Take a look at the following YouTube video showing how it was in the olden days: