Travel Made Easy
Before embarking on our highly anticipated Iberian Peninsula cruise, we had one more item locked onto our Spanish bucket list: the ancient city of Toledo. With its storied history as a melting pot of Muslim, Christian and Jewish cultures, Toledo offered the perfect primer on Spain’s diverse heritage and architectural treasures. In this post I … Read more
Our sun-dappled journey through the Iberian peninsula continued as we boarded a sleek river cruise ship for a leisurely voyage along the legendary Douro River. After immersing ourselves in the cosmopolitan cultures of Lisbon and Porto, it was time to explore the rural heart of Portugal and the lush vineyard-blanketed Douro Valley. In this post … Read more
Day 9: Porto We arrived at Porto in the mid morning. The main city in the Douro region is Porto, the second largest city in Portugal after Lisbon, the capital. Most river cruises of the Douro do a round trip Porto. But as we wanted to go to Madrid, we did Vegas Teron to Porto. The … Read more
Day 11 : Disembarkation @ Porto & Fatima enroute to Lisbon After breakfast we disembared from our ship, and boarded buses which were going to take us to Fatima, a town famous for its shrine dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Fatima is a world renown Marian Shrine and pilgrimage site for Catholics. The Blessed … Read more
Day 10 : Porto & Guimaraes The ship had docked overnight at Porto. This morning, we went on an excursion to Guimarães, one of the most historic towns in Portugal and a UNESCO World Heritage Site and European Capital of Culture in 2012. The birthplace of Portugal’s first king, Guimarães claims to be “the cradle … Read more
Day 8 : Caldas de Aregos – Entre-Os-Rios This morning we visited an old monastery in rural Portugal. I can’t remember the name of the place now. ?? Old Monastery Later, we cruised to Entre-Os-Rios, arriving this evening. Dinner that night was at the Alpendurada Monastery. Upon arrival, we were given a tour of the 16th … Read more
Day 7 : Regua (Mateus Palace) This morning, some of the cruise members went on a picnic at Quinta do Seixo, the estate we visited the day before. DH and I joined the excursion to the palace and gardens known as the Palacio de Mateus (Mateus Palace), located in the beautiful region of Trás-os-Montes near the … Read more