Week 387 · Dom Luis Bridge · Praça da Ribeira · Port Wine · Douro Valley
We had mixed views of Porto — I liked Lisbon better but acknowledge that the Praça da Riberia area by the Dom Luis bridge is the best site of both towns. Sharon and Annelise both liked Porto better. We didn't have as much time in Porto as Lisbon either.
We started our Port education in Lisbon — the short answer is that it is fortified wine developed by the English in the 1600s as they added brandy to keep the wine from going bad on a trip to England — and the English loved it. Except when pairing with a tart dark chocolate dessert, I wasn't a fan.
Port wine originated in the Douro Valley in northern Portugal in the late 17th century. During the War of Spanish Succession (1701–1714), England cut off French wine imports and turned to Portugal as an alternative. To preserve the wine for the long sea voyage, English merchants began adding grape brandy — stopping fermentation and leaving residual sugar, creating what became Port wine. The Methuen Treaty of 1703 gave Portuguese wines preferential tariffs in England. The major Port wine lodges (cave) are concentrated in Vila Nova de Gaia, directly across the Douro from Porto. Koepke — visited on the Douro Valley tour — was founded in 1638 and is believed to be the oldest Port wine company still in operation. Porto itself gave its name to Portugal — derived from "Portus Cale," the Roman name for the settlement.
We spent one day on a wine tour of the Douro Valley — pretty spectacular. I guess to grow wine you need dry sunny weather and hills, so most wine growing regions are really scenic.
I got the traditional cod at a place — only bad meal I had. This particular cod is frozen and thinly sliced with a sour sauce. Not my favourite. We had Japanese one night which was excellent and tapas most other meals. Generally got a meal for $15/head, including wine.
All of Portugal is a huge drinking culture — but not a huge drunkenness culture. There were many people drinking in the streets but no obvious drunk people causing issues — maybe a correlation with the UK banned due to COVID and not a lot of USA visitors.
"The Praça da Riberia area by the Dom Luis bridge is the best site of both towns. Sharon and Annelise both liked Porto better. I liked Lisbon — but I acknowledge that view."