March 26-30

Jessica felt much better the next day and was able to join us as we set out on a Hop on Hop Off bus experience that would lead to a day of fun and adventure.  Our first stop would be across the river in the suburb known as the Lodges of Gaia.  In 1926 the Portuguese Government announced that all Port Wine had to be stored within a small area of Vila Nova de Gaia, which is located exactly opposite of the busy and beautiful streets of Ribeira.  

However, by then most companies had already stored their wines in Gaia for decades and some even for centuries. It was just the natural choice to build a storage place on that side of the river, as Porto was already very crowded, and where free lots for massive storage places were rare and expensive.  Gaia was also tax-friendlier – and it wasn’t very steep.  In a time when each barrel had to be transported by oxcart from the boats to the lodges a relatively flat place like Gaia was a good choice for the growing Port Wine businesses.

This was a good stop for us as there was an interesting playground for Gemma to burn off some energy on before we descended a steep hill to arrive river side just in time for lunch at UVA by Calem, a recommendation Evan gave us after he and Jan had visited town last fall.  They were quite busy, but we were seated soon on their outside deck with a nice view of the river and the Ponte Luis I bridge, which is a local landmark.

In 1879, Gustave Eiffel presented a project to construct a new bridge over the Douro, with a high single deck in order to facilitate ship navigation.  This project was rejected due to dramatic growth of the urban population, which required a re-thinking of the limits of a single-deck platform.  In November 1881, the public work was awarded to the Belgian Société de Willebroek, whose design provided better carrying capacity.  It was to be administered by Théophile Seyrig, the former partner of Gustave Eiffel and author of the project.

Seyrig had also designed the Dona Maria bridge that was constructed by Eiffel, hence the resemblance of his new bridge to the Dona Maria bridge.  By May 1886, the first weight experiments began, with the transport of a 4,400 pounds per yard.  In October construction of the main arch and upper deck were concluded, resulting in its inauguration the very next day and the following year the lower deck was inaugurated, completing the project.

We would have a fine lunch here at an incredibly reasonable price, particularly given its location on the river.  Of course we started with drinks, a Two-Liter pitcher of Sangria and a large bottle of water and then ordered a number of starters and entrees to be shared.  Gemma got one of her favorites, Linguini Bolognese and the rest of us enjoyed Cod Croquettes with Kalamata Olive Aioli, for me a Ham and Mushroom Omelet, Linguini with a cream sauce for Jessica and a host of items that can’t be recalled. 

It was all so very good and best of all, in this highly touristed area where one would expect outrageous prices, our total for ten items for seven people including that 35 Euro Sangria was 133 Euros, not quite $144 at the exchange rate that day of 1.08, which would dramatically increase once the current U.S. administration’s economic policies went into effect. 

Finished with lunch we walked along the busy waterfront, checking out the various vendors as we worked our way to one of our must do stops of the trip, a Port Wine tasting.  Joanna and I had a great experience in 2014 at Kopke and this time around our focus would be Porto Cruz, the world’s biggest selling brand of port which is owned by La Martiniquaise, France’s second-largest spirits group.

It was decided that Kris, Marty and I would enjoy the first part of an upgraded tasting (which would include twelve different ports and a nice cheese and cookie board, Marty helping out with the financing of this endeavor.  And were we in for a treat. 

Our knowledgeable host guided us through the tasting, starting with the lighter, younger vintages and working our way to the older and more expensive ones.  They were all good, some better than others and the biggest surprise was how good the Rose version was, definite characteristics of the style without compromising the overall nature of a Port. 

The rest of the group joined us before we finished up and had a chance to taste a bit themselves before we crossed the bridge over the river and began the walk back up hill to our dinner reservation at Brasao Cerverjaria, a highly recommended spot known for a uniquely Portuguese dish called the “Francesinha”.  Originating in Porto in the 12^th century, it was an attempt to adapt the croque-monsieur to Portuguese tastes.  It is made with layers of toasted bread and assorted hot meats such as roast, steak, wet-cured ham, linguiça, or chipolata over which sliced cheese is melted by the ladling of a near-boiling tomato-and-beer sauce called molho de francesinha.  Our hosts on the boat tour raved about it. 

We started off with substantial amounts of crusty bread, ham butter, olives, and rice chips to go along with our drinks (wine for me) and then we placed our orders.  I’d have a Filet with mushrooms, ordered medium rare but actually delivered quite rare, while Kim, Joanna and Marty would each have a half order of the Francesinha, Kim’s the vegetarian version. 

While an impressive looking edifice, the finished product didn’t knock out our participants, the overall take being a mess of a sandwich that while it might be appealing to the natives of Porto, didn’t win over our jaded American taste buds.  All in all, in was a nice meal, not the most memorable but still worth the effort.  And that would wrap up our time in Porto, perhaps shorter than desired but that is the nature of travel, often getting not quite enough of an experience instead of too much.  Next stop, Lisbon.   

Links

Gaia: https://portoalities.com/en/why-are-port-wine-cellars-in-gaia/

UVA: http://www.chefantoniovieira.com/uvabycalem/

Dom Luis Bridge: https://porto.travel/dom-luis-bridge/

Porto Cruz: https://www.porto-cruz.com/es/

Brasao Cerverjaria: https://www.brasao.pt/en/