After breakfast, we rushed to the sun deck on top of the Torgil to get a close-up view of the fourth and last lock (a fifth lock exists, but it was closed to river traffic). After we went through the lock, Chef Andrea gave us a quick course on how to make pastéis de nata.
After rising in this fourth lock, we got a good view of the adjacent hydroelectric dam.
The vessel just narrowly passed under a concrete bridge. The bridge did not hit the tall guy’s head! In preparation for going under this “low” bridge, the wheel house in front of the tall guy was lowered, and the captain’s head is sticking out of the wheelhouse.
Elaine and Stein, the cruise program director, under the bridge.
William couldn’t resist touching the bridge.
Elaine resisted touching the bridge.
Out on open water again.
Looking back at the dam and lock.
In the lounge Chef Andrea demonstrated how to make pastéis de nata.
William recorded the event for posterity.
After a lot of stirring, Chef Andrea showed us the proper consistency for the custard: ever so slightly runny.
The custard goes in puff-pastry-lined tins, ever so carefully.
Here are the uncooked masterpieces. We missed getting a picture of the waiters walking in with trays of baked pastéis de nata for us to sample. They were delicious.
After lunch on the vessel, we piled into the buses and were off to see Castelo Rodrigo a small hilltop village with ruins of a medieval castle and lots of history.
The castle wall exterior with an iconic cross-shaped embrasure, which was used for looking outside after the introduction of artillery. Christmas was approaching, so there was a crèche and some kings.
Up the hill in the village.
On a clear day, you could have seen forever.
13th century parish church
Nuno, our guide, told us that the 10 commandments tablet in this Castelo Rodrigo Last Supper representation uses Arabic numerals. Since these tablets usually have Roman numerals, this shows the Moorish influence in the area.
One of the Caminos de Santiago passes through Castelo Rodrigo, as seen here on the wall of this local café.
Our guide told us that Portugal implemented an Inquisition a few years after Spain did (and then repealed it 27 years later). During the Inquisition houses of “converted” Jews were marked with crosses like this. It’s probable that rather than being converted, such families became crypto-Jews.
The home and shop of a miller.
Our guide showed us another house with a faint cross on the left and an indentation on the right where a mezuzah might have been.
Not such a clear day in Castelo Rodrigo
We returned to the Torgil for dinner after dark. It was docked at the village of Foz do Sabor.
