Hello - hic! - from Oporto, home to the wonderful port industry. As a long-time port, muscat and tokay drinker I felt the need to get in touch with my spiritual side. I wasn't disappointed! Fabulous booze, so much to sample, such little time. And we had a driver, too. Can heartily recommend it to any prospective travellers.
The strange part about this part of the country is its strong British connection. The port wine was a British development, solving the difficult problem of how to get good wine across the channel without it going off (after the French decided not to sell to the poms any more). Simply add copious quantities of "brandy", in actual fact rocket fuel, a bit like grappa, 70% alcohol and it gets better with age as well as travelling well. So now the port here is full of English -sounding names like Grants and Taylor's. Are the portugese the only Europeans who are friendly with England? They are the only ones we have come across.
We also had a couple of days in Coimbra, a lovely university town, again set on top of a hill. (Oh, my aching knees!) the students wear black, with a gown, while attending classes. It was like graduation day every day. A feature here is an old nunnery which was built on low ground, very unusual for them, and which promptly started to fill up with water from a nearby river. Their solution was prayer, with limited success, and building extra levels just above the rising water, which kept the girls dry until the last one died in the 18th century. They had a new one built up the hill subsequently, which is now full of silent, chaste and dentally-challenged sisters (they are famous for their pastries, on which they apparently do a lot of product testing, albeit silently).
Tomorrow, back to Spain!
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