Lisbon and Porto, Portugal - August 2015

I have made three postings for my trip to Europe from July 12 - August 24, 2015  Please read all three.

Amsterdam and British Isles Cruise

Germany

Lisbon and Porto, Portugal

August 8, 2015 - Dusseldorf to Madrid to Lisbon

I'm off to Lisbon while Eric returns to the U S of A.  Right now I'm in the Iberia lounge in Madrid drinking champagne.  Eric is on his flight to Chicago probably doing the same thing. I recall that at age 16 I took my first flight ever from Idlewild to Madrid.  That was before it was called JFK.  It was a 12 hour flight in a prop.  On the way home we had to refuel in Gander, Newfoundland.

 August 9-14, 2015 - Estoril, Portugal

I'm staying in an apartment, about a mile from the beach.  At least I’ll get my daily exercise.  I ate in town the first night and had this wonderful fresh fish, that I picked from the cart.  I have no idea what it was.

On Monday I took the train into Lisbon.  This was my third time in Lisbon, so I walked and revisited many sights.  I bought two cute cycling t-shirts.

Estoril Train Station

Cute trolley in Lisbon

Arches by port in Lisbon

Main square near the port in Lisbon

I love the wavy sidewalks throughout Portugal and Brazil

Bright flowers matching the building in Lisbon

On Tuesday I took the train to Cascais, another beach and port town.  The beaches were crowded with summer tourists.

Beach in Cascais

More waves

On Wednesday I had had enough of the Estoril apartment.  It was in the middle of nowhere, the closest restaurant over a mile away.  This is the last time I let someone else choose a place to stay.  I moved to the new, modern section in Lisbon.

I think this was made in Australia

A beautiful hotel in the new section of Lisbon

A modern train station by European standards

A cute poster

There were so many fantastic worldwide restaurants near my hotel.  I had Italian, Peruvian, Japanese and finished with an excellent steakhouse.  I also had my fill of sangria and local wine. The walk along the Tejo River was a great place to do my exercise.  The huge shopping mall offered the same stores and products as anywhere else in the world.

August 15, 2015 – Lisbon to Porto, Portugal

I took the train from the modern station in Lisbon (see photo above).  It was a four hour train ride to Porto.  The train was comfortable, but definitely not up to ICE trains in Germany.

August 16, 2015 - Porto, Portugal - Boarding the Queen Isabel River Boat

I was one of the first passengers to arrive at the pier in Porto.  The majority of the other passengers spent three days in Lisbon and were taking a coach from there to Porto.  So I had the ship to myself all day.

Porto is the second largest city in Portugal, but in my opinion, it was not really a pretty city.

Boarding the Queen Isabel

That evening we sailed from Porto to Escamarao, where we docked for the night.  I later found out that ships cannot sail on the Douro River at night.

August 17, 2015 - Regua, Portugal

During the morning sail we went through the tallest lock in Europe, rising 115 feet to meet the Douro River again.  In total we went through five locks, once up the river and again down the river.

In Regua we visited the Museu do Douro for a lecture on "The Magical Douro Valley".  We learned all about the history of port wine.

Here I am holding the bridge up as we proceeded through the lock

One of the beautiful bridges across the Douro River

In the afternoon we took an excursion to the Mateus Palace and gardens.  The estate was made famous from its image of Mateus Wine, which we all drank in the 70s.  I will have to buy a bottle for old times sake.

The Mateus Palace

Grapes ready for the picking

Me at the Mateus Palace

That evening we took another excursion to the wine estate, Quinta da Avessada, where we had a typical dinner.  The owner was quite entertaining.

A wine shaped pool at the Quinta da Avessada wine estate

August 18, 2015 - Vega de Terron, Portugal

We had a morning of sailing to get to Vega de Terron.  We passed another lock, this time only 109 feet, the second deepest one in Europe.

There was a large group of passengers who all play pickleball, which I had never heard of.  It is a combination of ping pong and tennis, played on a small court.  We used the helicopter pad on the top deck to play the game.  You can see me playing below, with the ship's captain.

Playing pickleball for the first time

Even though we lost, I had my picture taken with my partner, the captain

One of the thousand vineyards we passed while sailing the Douro River

In the afternoon we docked at Vega de Terron and had an excursion to the medieval village of Castelo Rodrigo.  It was high on a mountain top.  As in most of Europe at the time, there was a Jewish section.  The synagogue was no longer standing but the street sign was still there.

Synagogue Street

Castelo Rodrigo

Back at the ship, I took my afternoon walk up a hill and across the river.  We were docked in Spain, but the bridge took me back to Portugal.

Picture taken from Portugal of Queen Isabel docked in Spain

August 19, 2015 - Salamanca, Spain

This was the primary reason I picked this cruise.  I went to summer school in Salamanca, Spain 50 years ago.  As soon as we arrived and I visited the Plaza Mayor, I remembered the great time I had that summer.  We cut classes many days and sat in the plaza sipping Cuba Libres and having cheese sandwiches.  I also found the dorm that I stayed in.

Me back in the Plaza Major in Salamanca

I remember taking a similar picture 50 years ago

Donde esta la biblioteca?

An astronaut on the 500 year old cathedral (added recently)

Me in front of my dorm, Fray Luis de Leon

Me with the cathedral in the background

While we were in Salamanca, the ship re-positioned to Barca D'Alva, a short distance from Vega de Terron.  You could walk from one to the other, crossing the bridge from Spain to Portugal.

The bridge at day

The bridge at night

August 20, 2015 - Pinhoa, Portugal

Again we had the morning to relax as we sailed down the river, this time dropping as we passed through the locks.

Today's excursion was visiting another port wine estate.  I opted for a walk instead.

We passed inches below this bridge

Getting in position to drop over 100 feet in the lock

The narrowest part of the Douro River

The Queen Isabel in Pinhoa, from across the river

August 21, 2015 - Porto, Portugal

The ship returned to Porto today, but we had two more days to tour the city.  The first afternoon I took the mostly walking city tour.

City Hall - Porto

Tiled train station in Porto

One of the seven bridges crossing the Douro River in Porto

Traffic uses the lower span, while pedestrian and trams use the top

August 22, 2015 - Guimaraes and Porto, Portugal

In the morning we took our final tour - to Guimaraes, Portugal.  Guimaraes is the birthplace of the Portuguese nationality.  We started at the castle and worked our way to the main church seen below. 

A courtyard in Guimaraes

The doors of Guimaraes

One of the squares in Guimaraes

The cathedral in Guimaraes

In the afternoon, we had free time to shop in Porto.

An old trolley in Porto, just like in Lisbon

Walking down after crossing the upper deck of this bridge

One of the old boats that used to transport port wine down the river

Porto at night

August 23-24, 2015 - Porto to Madrid to Miami to Orlando

My six week vacation was over and it was time to return home.  I had to spend one night near the Madrid airport due to poor flight connections.

But do not fear, I will be back in Europe in two weeks.

Germany - July and August 2015

I have made three postings for my trip to Europe from July 12 - August 24, 2015  Please read all three.

Amsterdam and British Isles Cruise

Germany

Lisbon and Porto, Portugal

July 27, 2015 - Amsterdam to Koln (Cologne), Germany

At least we had seats on this train ride.  In Koln we visited the famous cathedral – the subject of one of my first paintings, long missing.  I also got a sim card and could use my phone to make calls.  We called Julie to wish her a happy birthday (yesterday), but we forgot to tell her this.

Stained glass in the cathedral

The famous Cologne Cathedral, one of the few standing buildings after WWII

July 28, 2015 - Koln, Germany

Today was one of those walking days.  We walked along the Danube in both directions.  We visited the serf (mustard) museum.  We saw some apartment buildings that looked like they would fall over.  Tonight we opted for Chinese food, enjoying Peking duck and German beer.  It is funny, I never drink beer at home, but in Germany it’s like drinking water.

One of the many bridges crossing the Rhine

Eric and his new car, a rental for $350 a day

How does this building stand?

Exercise anyone?

July 29, 2015 - Koln - Stuttgart, Germany

We became oriented to the city before meeting our friends Ann and Norman Shuker, from London.  This was the first time in Stuttgart as tourists for all of us.  Beer was our first stop.  We walked around before enjoying another German dinner.

Somewhere in Stuttgart

July 30, 2015 – Esslingen, Germany

We took a day trip today to the quaint medieval town of Esslingen.  We wandered the streets, visiting the church du jour – that is my rule, only one church a day.  We then climbed over 300 steps to get a great view of the valley.  After we climbed down, Norman took a hilly road, basically climbing the mountain a second time.  We had a wonderful traditional lunch at a local restaurant.  After lunch (and beer, of course), we hit the shopping streets.  I bought spoons for Bloody Mary's, which had internal space for straws.

Eric, Ann and Norman

The river through Esslingen

We climbed over 300 steps to get to this building.

The local rooftops

This looks like a painting I did years ago.  Will there be another?

Same here

This is the main river in Esslingen

July 31, 2015 - Stuttgart, Germany

In the morning, Eric and I walked around and saw this commotion down the street.  When we got there there were about 30-40 young men in underwear waiting outside the men’s clothing store, Jack & Jones.  It was the grand opening and anyone who came in underwear when home with a full outfit.

Waiting at Jack & Jones for a free outfit

Norman and Ann joined us and the four of us sat at a cafe on the main square for an hour and a half.  Then we walked through the gardens and had some more beer.  We took the tram to the Staatsgalerie museum.  There was an erotic piece in neon with four naked erect men shaking hands.  I saw one Monet, so the visit was worth the while.  For dinner we had Italian, with one of the best veal dishes I've ever had.  I wish Julie was there to share it with me.

Sculpture in the main square

Me and Eric

Eric, Ann and Norman having our afternoon beer

The neon sculpture with four erect men shaking hands

A fountain outside the museum

Modern lamppost

August 1, 2015 - Stuttgart to Berlin, Germany

We took a six hour ICE train to Berlin.  We took local transport to the Gay area.  We had a beer and then went downstairs to visit the cellar.  I'm afraid I can't describe what we saw down there.  I’m sure its packed at night.  We had more beer and wiener schnitzel for dinner.

August 2-3, 2015 - Berlin, Germany

We bought a two day hop on, hop off pass and rode around town.  On day one we saw most of the tourist attractions, including the train station, city hall, the remains of the Berlin Wall, and the Holocaust Memorial.  I can't tell you how many times we crossed from east to west and back again.  In the afternoon we walked at least five miles, through the Tiergarden and beyond.

Dome on the Reichstag Building

Don't know if I'm in the East or West

Reichstag Building

A beautiful indoor mall

One of the remaining panels of the Berlin Wall

Holocaust Memorial in Berlin

On day two we saw the Olympic Stadium.  The hop on, hop off experience in Berlin was the worst ever. There were times the bus waited up to half an hour.  After lunch I visited one of the remaining sections of the wall, ending at Checkpoint Charlie.  That evening we had another fantastic meal with my friend Dirk and Kristof, who recently moved from Belgium.

The Olympic Stadium

Me in front of the Berlin wall

Checkpoint Charlie

President Kennedy in Berlin

August, 4, 2015 - Berlin to Hamburg, Germany

We had two fantastic meals in Hamburg - and not hamburgers.  For lunch we had cod from the Baltic.  For dinner I had a potato/spinach/cheese casserole and Eric had goulash.

August 5, 2015 - Hamburg, Germany

We started the day on a tourist boat.  It was all in German so you know how much we understood.  The weather was perfect.  We then visited the Rathaus, or City Hall.  After the obligatory beer, we walked along the port of Hamburg.  Finally we had a bagel for lunch and took a long walk back to the hotel.

A protest in Hamburg

The fountain on the lake

The City Hall

The back of the City Hall

A gold T-Rex

This sculpture goes up and down and round and round

Flags by the lake

A rainbow in the fountain

August 6, 2015 - Lubeck and Scharbentz, Germany

Today we took the train to the Baltic Sea.  The first stop wasn't on the water, so we took a second train.  The beach was mobbed, due to the perfect weather.  I managed to get my toes wet in the freezing water.

During our short stop in Lubeck

The crowded beach

August 7, 2015 - Hamburg to Dusseldorf, Germany

This was our last full day together.  After the tour hour train ride we rested in our hot hotel room until I went to the desk and demanded a room where the air conditioning actually worked.  We walked to the river and across the two bridges over the Rhine.  We had dinner at a riverfront cafe.  We retired early in preparation for our 5:30 am departure.

Dinner at this cafe along the river

As usual, there is a mystery picture.  There is a prize for the first correct answer.

August 8, 2015 - Dusseldorf to Madrid to Lisbon

I'm off to Lisbon while Eric returns to the U S of A.  Right now I'm in the Iberia lounge in Madrid drinking champagne.  Eric is on his flight to Chicago probably doing the same thing. I recall that at age 16 I took my first flight ever from Idlewild to Madrid.  That was before it was called JFK.  It was a 12 hour flight in a prop.  On the way home we had to refuel in Gander, Newfoundland.