Monday, November 25, 2013

Anticipation

We are going to take a Viking River cruise to Portugal and so I thought I'd start a blog to record and celebrate the adventure.

https://www.google.com/search?q=portugal+and+the+douro&rls=com.microsoft:en-US&rlz=1I7ADFA_enUS467&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=9uOUUqX3PLi-sQTQy4LwAg&ved=0CCwQsAQ&biw=1036&bih=523

One disappointment is that our plane rides make it a 24 hour trip from the time we leave Tampa until the time we arrive in Lisbon.  Perhaps we will sleep as the time over the ocean will be at night. 

We had such lousy flights because we booked them blind with Viking.  We were a bit too trusting that what they would book would accommodate us without our looking at the itinerary.  So the price was right, but the booking was really dumb.  And there really was nothing to do about it.

I complained on a discussion board, thinking it was a place where criticism was collected.  Actually, it was a collection of Viking fans, many of which were almost insulted that I would be so critical.  Some did not read what I wrote.  None seemed to get the distinction between custom air and booking a blind flight.  Viking wrote a fine note with an email address, but when Elizabeth wrote, she did not get an answer. 
All I really thought I was doing was tipping folks off who might do what we did.  I'm sure the post did that, and perhaps I'll just trip report what happens to us and perhaps include this blog.

Elizabeth did manage to get us good seats for most of the air journey and that is encouraging.  We only hope that our luggage will find us in Lisbon, immediately if possible, and within a couple days if they are misplaced.

And we hope that we won't get stranded in Washington, or Munich with winter weather.  On the way back it won't much matter.  We come back through Brussels so it might be a grand adventure to get stranded there for a few days if we don't have to sleep in the airport.

We need to get our heads around it like an adventure.  We need to think see it as earning a few hundred dollars by being inconvenienced.  We are working on that.  Some days it dominates my emotions.  But on days when my arthritis acts up and I'm not doing too well sleeping here, I get a bit anxious.  After all, I am not a young fellow anymore.

What is available from Viking is a thing called "custom air" but it was not available for our flight, probably because the timing coming back, so near Christmas, precluded flexibility. 

It should be a journey of old buildings, wine, and good seafood.  I am excited about all three.  There are only 140 people on the boat and that should make it a treat as well.  We loved the last trip, to France.  I think we will love this one as well.

Once we get on the boat, we are certain it will be just wonderful.  It suited us in France and this looks even more interesting with less religious history and more other sorts of stories.  We liked the Catholic background of the French towns, but we don't identify so much with that. 
Before the boat we have three days in Lisbon and have some good plans for that as well

Here are some suggestions:

INTERESTING PLACES TO DINE

Clara (Lisbon; tel. 21/885-30-53): This elegant citadel with its soft piano music is a refined dining room serving a remarkable Portuguese and international cuisine that has made it a favorite among serious palates. The chefs take special care with all their ingredients, and we sing their praise year after year for their impeccable offerings.

Gambrinus (Lisbon; tel. 21/342-14-66): It isn't as upscale as some of its competitors or the preferred rendezvous of the country's most distinguished aristocrats. Nonetheless, this is one of the hippest, best-managed seafood restaurants in Lisbon; the stand-up bar proffers an astonishing array of shellfish. Enjoy a glass of dry white port accompanied by some of the most exotic seafood in the Atlantic.

Casa da Comida (Lisbon; tel. 21/388-53-76): This restaurant is probably at its best on foggy evenings, when roaring fireplaces remove the damp chill from the air. Don't let the prosaic name fool you -- some visitors prefer its Portuguese-French cuisine over the food at any other restaurant in Lisbon. Portions are ample, and the ambience is bracing and healthful.

Conventual (Lisbon; tel. 21/390-92-46): The facade that shields this restaurant from the medieval square is as severe as that of a convent -- which, in fact, it used to be. Inside you're likely to find the prime minister of Portugal dining with assorted ministers. You'll always find a collection of panels from antique churches, and rich but refined cuisine based on the bourgeois traditions of Old Portugal.

Gambrinus is my first choice of these noted.  We'll see how the time goes and what more we learn.
Mateus is the wine from Porto that is best known to us with its distinctive bottle.  I remember enjoying it in Spain and then again here at home.  I think at one point I had a bottle with Frank when he visited us in Sand Lake.  I have that memory.
http://www.winemag.com/Web-2012/Wine-Travel-Destination-2013-Douro-Valley-Portugal/
http://www.winesofportugal.info/pagina.php?codNode=3893
http://taylor.pt/en/what-is-port-wine/douro-valley-vineyards/soil-climate/
We wills see some of the boats that once carried the grapes from the Douro River to Porto.  They are a blend of Viking boats and gondolas and unique to this region.  They are not used anymore, but there are some that line the river just the same.

https://www.google.com/search?q=rabelo+Portugal+images&rls=com.microsoft:en-US&rlz=1I7ADFA_enUS467&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=8-aTUsT0PK7dsAT41IDgBw&ved=0CDkQsAQ&biw=1067&bih=447

I am excited to get to see them. 

Food features plenty of fish.  Fish stew is everywhere and while it is laced with potato, I think I'll get enough to eat.  Grilled fish is common:  sardinas being a favorite as it was in Spain.

We will get into the Spanish section of the Douro River as well at Salamanca.

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