10:10am Monday 11th January 2010
By Telegraph & Argus
Drifting dreamily down the Douro, it was hard to imagine that this peaceful river in northern Portugal was once a navigational nightmare for boats.
A series of locks, some of them particularly spectacular ones attached to huge dams, have created the tranquil conditions we encountered on the Douro Princess riverboat.
It was the Douro’s port-wine production that put the ‘port’ not only into Portugal, but also into the city of Oporto, where our journey began.
Oporto – or Porto as the Portuguese call it – is the hilly city where the Douro reaches the Atlantic. The birthplace of famous explorer Henry the Navigator, it boasts some spectacular bridges across the Douro, including one designed by a certain Mr Eiffel.
Having flown in from London, we were taken by coach to the Douro Princess, moored on the south bank.
Before setting off down the river the next day, we toured the city.
Porto has a terrific cathedral, perched on a hill and dating back to the 12th century. From here we had great views over the city, which is in the middle of a massive refurbishment programme to restore a large number of run-down properties.
Before returning to the boat, we had the first of our port wine tours, visiting the cellars in Vila Nova de Gaia. Most people are familiar with the two types of red port – ruby and tawny – but less is known about the white variety.
We certainly got to appreciate all kinds of port during our trip, and the white was particularly enticing.
We were just about sober enough to clamber on to our boat for the beginning of our week-long journey down the river and back to Porto.
As we pulled away from our berth, we could see the names of the great port-wine houses – Cockburn, Taylor’s, Sandeman – adorning the buildings perched above the river.
The Douro used to be a fast-flowing river with rapids and narrow ravines. Then, to tame the turbulence, the Portuguese decided to build a series of dams from the 1960s to the 1980s.
The first we came to was Crestuma, the smallest of the five we were to encounter. Here, the change in water level was 14m, but later we passed through the Carrapatelo dam where there was a 35m change.
All you can do is sit tight on the boat within the lock in the dam, and wait for the water level to rise. Locals, though, invariably seem to find the process fascinating, and line the banks to wave you through.
As we journeyed on, the riverbanks rose more and more steeply. The further we got from Porto, the more vineyards appeared until both sides of the Douro were covered with them.
Before the dams were built, the port wine was taken down the river to Vila Nova de Gaia in flat-bottomed boats, but now tanker trucks are used.
Early cloud soon gave way to warm sunshine, and it stayed hot for the rest of the trip.
This micro-climate makes the Douro valley such a fine wine-growing area. It was the world’s first demarcated wine region, having being established in 1756.
Much earlier, the Romans planted the first grapes in the valley, and discovered they could grow on the sloping, rocky terraces despite fierce heat in the summer and the cold winters.
We were given strict instructions on just how quickly we were supposed to the drink the port once a bottle had been opened. With vintage ports, for example, you are supposed to knock the whole bottle back within days of opening.
This news took most of us by surprise. It got us wondering about the state of some of our port left lingering in sideboards and cocktail cabinets at home.
It was the adding of brandy – a British idea – that was the making of port. Incredibly, some ports can stay in the bottle for up to 100 years.
By the end of our trip most of us had become experts – in as much that we’d all become very good at drinking it! On our second night, we got off at the small town of Bitetos to have dinner at the 14th-century Alpendurada Monastery. Much wine and, of course, port was consumed.
Next day it was on to Pinhao via the town of Regua. Both are important port-wine locations and are among the places that can be reached – if you don’t fancy going by river – by the railway that runs along the side of the Douro.
Next we crossed the border into Spain. At this point, we needed a one-hour, 45-minute coach trip to get to the delightful Spanish university town of Salamanca.
First, we were taken on a tour of the huge town square, the Plaza Mayor. Then we went around the cathedral – or rather, the two cathedrals.
The locals decided that their first one, started in the 12th century, was not good enough so they built another in the 16th century, and now the two stand side-by-side.
Back in Portugal the next day, we visited the small market town of Figueira de Castelo, where we clambered around the ruins of the fort looming above it.
Our next excursion to Lamego featured a 700-step climb up to the town’s Baroque church, the Sanctuary of Nossa Senhora.
Some of our party braved the steps, while we wimped out by taking the coach.
After that, we returned down-river the same way we had come until the spires of Porto appeared again. Sailing almost due west, we were greeted by a glorious sunset out over the Atlantic.
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