Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Salamanca, Spain


The Douro River starts its journey to the sea in Spain and so eventually we reached the Spanish border.  From there we took a bus to visit Salamanca, in the Castile and Leon region, which is where the Spanish language was born. 


Salamanca, Spain
It is an ancient town whose university (its main industry) is the oldest in Spain, having been founded in 1134.  A Celtic settlement, an important Roman city and a pilgrimage stop on the road to Santiago de Compostela, Salamanca was ruled by the Moors for a time as well.  Now, its historic center is a delightful walking area full of structures in the distinctive peach-colored sandstone that shimmers in a golden sun.  I know that only from pictures, of course, because it was raining cats and dogs in this otherwise extremely arid climate the day we were there.  We tried to share in the gratitude of the city's residents for the needed moisture, but it was a struggle.

Saint's Tomb

There are two cathedrals, nestled side by side.  The first is a Romanesque church built in the 12th century, but eventually deemed insufficiently grand.  The 'new' cathedral was built in a grander 16th century style.  By the time it was finished in the 18th century, however, the city fathers decided not to tear down the old one and so they are joined and create a stunning -- and massive presence in the city.  I just loved the religious art and the massive organs in the newer structure but also found some beautiful, though faded, examples of earlier religious art in the old one -- the saint's tomb on the left being one of my favorites.  Though this figure is in repose, she is actually not lying down but vertical on the wall.





Organ in 'New' Cathedral



The organ in the 'new' cathedral is a good example of the quantity of guilt and ornamentation lavished on this structure.  Everything about it is enormous.


University Library
The modern university is on the outskirts of the old quarter, but the original buildings are now occupied by a private university and the old library is still there with unique scallop shells adorning its exterior.  Inside, is a beautiful cloister with lovely carvings over each pillar.  When the university was founded, it was really a religious institution and the city is full of monasteries and minor churches, all in the beautiful sandstone of the region.

University Library Cloister

One of the things we noticed in many places was faded red writing on the walls.  In medieval times, a successful PhD candidate was supposed to throw a party for the University (of course a fraction of the 30,000 who are in attendance now).  It lasted for days and ended in the butchering of a bull, which was then cooked to feed the throng.  The successful (though poorer) graduate used the bull’s blood to inscribe his name, date and degree on the walls of the university – a sort of advertisement of his availability for work.

Plaza Mayor
Vegetable Stall in Salamanca Market

The Plaza Mayor is the center of the civic life of the city, with porticos all around and cafés spilling out onto the plaza from all sides.  They weren't spilling far on this day because of the rain, but it was easy to imagine what a thriving place this must be on a sunny day.  There is also a wonderful covered market.  This part of Spain is famous for its black pigs and so the market is devoted to every kind of pork product you could imagine – even ears!   We did find a few vegetables, however, and some saffron as well.  


I wish I could have stayed longer in this extraordinary city.  There is so much to see.




Sunday, April 17, 2016

Mateus Rosé

Mateus Palace
I think the first glass of wine I ever drank was a Mateus rosé and who didn’t have one of those funny shaped bottles with a candle stuck in it in college or graduate school?   (Am I dating myself?)  When the ship docked in Régua, we had the opportunity to tour the Mateus Palace, the image of which is on every bottle of Mateus ever sold.  Imagine our disappointment when we discovered that Mateus wine is made in southern Portugal and that the image of the Mateus palace on the wine label was licensed from the family.  The good news is that the funds thus provided have enabled the establishment of a foundation to preserve this beautiful ancestral estate, an exquisite example of Portuguese Baroque architecture.

Ornamental Gardens, Mareus Palace
The palace is set in large grounds with extensive ornamental gardens around it, including the biggest camellia trees I’ve ever seen.  

Camelias at the Mateus Palace
Unhappily, we couldn’t take pictures of the interior, which is decorated with beautiful wooden ceilings with carved ornamentation and even more elaborate pediments over the doors – ornate but otherwise unadorned, they are absolutely stunning against the plain white walls and complement the furniture beautifully.  Only the public rooms are available for viewing as the family still lives in the house in the summer.  I wish you could have seen it.

I should also mention that as we’ve moved up the valley, we’ve started passing through locks, one of which has a lift of 115 feet.  Indeed, the river is running so high this spring that the captain had to lower the wheelhouse in order get the boat under the superstructure of the lock.  Further inland, the river has narrowed and the hills steepened – in some instances, we’ve barely had enough room to pass through.

The Tallest Lock on the River
Vineyards in the Douro Valley







The landscape has grown steeper as the river has narrowed.  It is still so early in the spring that the vines are just beginning to leaf out.  This rocky ground is, of course, perfect wine country, but it is otherwise a stark environment.



The Viking Torgil





Thursday, April 14, 2016

Porto & Guimaraes

Porto
Like Lisbon, Porto is a hilly city located on the north bank of the Douro River.  Directly across the river is the city of Gaia, where the Viking cruise ship docked, affording us lovely views of the old city, crowned by a graceful baroque tower.   Portugal is a combination of the names of these two towns.   

Boat for transporting casks of Port
Porto is the center of the port wine trade.  The grapes must be grown in a certain region, below a certain elevation and under other strict rules in order to be called port wine.  They are crushed and put in casks upriver and then shipped downstream to the warehouses of Gaia to be aged before being bottled and sold.  In this sense, it is a system much like the French “appellation controlée”, but it is hard to imagine that all the port wine in the world comes from this narrow valley.  One can still find replicas of the old boats in which the casks were brought down along the key side in Gaia.


Porto has a beautiful “fortress” cathedral, in which city residents could gather for safety during periods of conflict in the middle ages.  These are relatively rare in my experience of Europe.  Lloyd and I saw only one other in our travels – in Albi, the region of the much-persecuted Albigensiens in France (and also the home town of Toulouse Lautrec).  Inside, however, there is a beautiful altar and baptismal font.  The city hall is also an elegant Baroque structure and the railroad station is full of exquisite art works made in Delft blue tiles that depict the founding of the country.

Tiled scene from Porto Train Station 



Guimaraes Fortress
From Porto, we made the trip to Guimaraes, the first capital of Portugal, a world heritage site, and a lovely little city.   Its medieval quarter dates back to the 10th century, including an imposing fortress with some of its wall reconstructed.  The palace, which was rebuilt in the middle of the last century, has an unusual architectural style and contains some lovely pieces from the period, including an absolutely gorgeous chest with ivory and turtle shell decorations.

Decorated Chest


Old Quarter, Guimaraes


One of the Stations of the Cross, Guimaraes
But it was the town I enjoyed seeing the most.  Just outside the castle, there are beautiful buildings and large open squares with fountains and then one plunges down into the medieval city, with its smaller squares surrounded by narrow houses.  This was (and remains) a particularly religious city and there were once cupboards along certain streets each containing a diorama of one of the stations of the cross.  Only four of them are now extant, but because it is still Easter season, they were open and decorated with flowers – so beautiful.

A footnote:  I just had to add the picture on the right of a lovely spot in Guimaraes.  It is just a classic of Portuguese Baroque architecture.