Unforgettable Douro - Scenic Azure - Day 6

Day 6 – Wednesday 3 July 2024

 

Today most people took the full day excursion to Salamanca, leaving at 09:00. We’d been there on our previous Douro cruise with Viking and didn’t fancy the long coach ride.

Instead we were one of a small group to visit the sleep old village of Freixa de Espada à Cinta. The name means sword on the belt of an ash and according to the legend we were told a king tied his sword belt around an ash tree under which he slept and had a dream about his coming success in war. When he woke he declared the village be known as Freixa de Espada à Cinta. There’s a 550+ year old ash tree with a huge metal belt and sword next to a church and the ruins of a castle.

We entered a small museum in an old house equipped to show how people lived in old times, then we went to a modern small museum of silk. This was the place where they made silk in the pre-industrial way.

 

They had everything, including some silk worms eating leaves.

 

Then a 10-minute drive to Quinta do Sagueiro. This is a vineyard and farm. The energetic owners have rooms they rent via various sites. We sat at large round tables on their patio under umbrellas with jugs of cold freshly made lemonade, pastries, sandwiches, olives and slices of ripe juicy oranges. 

The owner, Margarida, had baked an apple cake for us and cut wedges which she put on our plates. Her husband then poured wine for us. They grow grapes of the region which go to the local co-operative. The red wine was delicious and I had a second glass. And I regret not trying his Port.

 

Margarida came around with almonds from their trees which she’d caramelised, and then she sang fado. It was an idyllic spot, a feast of food and welcoming generous hosts. I wanted to buy a bottle of the red wine (a blend of Tourigas Nacional & Franca and Tinto Roriz), but neither of us had Euros on us and they didn’t take plastic. But they insisted I take the bottle, and later give €10 to the Scenic guide who’d pass it on next time Scenic returned to them.

 

Food and drink kept being pressed on us but we had to return to the boat for lunch.

 

At 14:20 we moved to let Viking Hemming moor and we rafted on the outside.

 

After the Salamanca contingent returned we set off at 18:30 back down river to Pocinho which we arrived around 20:00 and rafted to another boat, our cabin facing theirs.

 

Overnight Location: Pocinho

https://what3words.com/hilarious.proofread.surroundings

Unforgettable Douro - Scenic Azure - Day 5

 

Day 5 – Tuesday 2 July 2024 

 Around 8:45 we pulled out into the river to let a Tauck boat to moor to the river bank as we rafted on the outside of them, so we retained our river view.

Irritatingly the front of Scenic Azure's sun deck is barred to passengers.

 

There were various on board entertainments but we missed them all as we were taking in the beauty of cruising the Douro.

Around 11:00 we moved off up river to Vega de Terrón. It was an all day sailing, passing through two huge locks and we arrived before the expected 20:15. This is the furthest the boats go. The other bank is Spain.

 

We weren’t rafted and our cabin faced the river

 

Overnight Location:  Vega de Terrón

https://what3words.com/lefthander.chillier.robed

Unforgettable Douro - Scenic Azure - Day 4

 Day 4 – Monday 1 July 2024

Group on Vila Real main pedestrian street

 

At 09:00 we departed for an excursion to the town of Vila Real. After a mooch along the main street and a glimpse inside Vila Real Cathedral we went through some side streets to Casa Lapão, a patisserie specialising in convent sweets. These use the yolks of eggs as in the olden time convents used the whites as starch.

Pastry and filling are made to a secret recipe by the owner and the staff turn them into the sweets. The day we visited they were making a pastry linked to the town, Cristas de Galo, or Rooster Crests.

Our group was split in two to enter the small kitchen by turn.

Owner with staff

The owner was there, but she employed an English speaker to tell us the history and explain what was happening. The two staff wore nun’s habits and worked away, making 600 a day.

A volunteer was called for and I put myself forward.

One ‘nun’ rolls a pastry ball very thinly. The other ‘nun’ adds a spoonful of filling in the middle, wraps the pastry over it and uses a zig-zag crescent cutter to represent the roosters comb. These are placed on a tray which, when full, is put in an oven until golden, then sprinkled with sugar.

The filling is egg yolk and ground almonds cooked together. My Cristas de Galo was pretty good, but not perfect like the professionals were turning out.

Afterwards we sat outside in the sun and a tray of Cristas de Galo was passed around with glasses of tawny Port from the local co-operative. The local guide came out and sang fado.

The combination of sun, Port, Cristas de Galo and fado was sublime and the highlight of the trip for me.

 After lunch back on the boat we had the second excursion of the day, this time our choice was to go to Mateus Palace. The palace is depicted on bottles of Mateus Rosé wines, though the property had nothing to do with the wine other than sell its image for use on the label.

Gardens are extensive and there wasn’t enough time to enjoy them all. 

At 17:00 we moved mooring to the other bank for quiet, we were told. Now we had a river view and we weren’t rafted. The bank we’d left filled with hotel boats from Ama, A Rosa, Riviera, Tauck and more.

At 17:00 we moved mooring to the other bank for quiet, we were told. Now we had a river view and we weren’t rafted. The bank we’d left filled with hotel boats from Ama, A Rosa, Riviera, Tauck and more.

In the evening we were invited to dine in Portobellos. Everyone gets an invitation, and as there were 72 passengers they did three evenings each with 24 diners. It’s something that Scenic trumpets about but I can’t see the point. In the main restaurant one has plenty of choice, in Portobellos there is a set menu. But Joan wanted to go, so we did.

Overnight Location: Lamego

https://what3words.com/stem.egos.minien

Unforgettable Douro - Scenic Azure - Day 3

 Day 3 – Sunday 30 June 2024

There was a choice of three morning excursions; we took the one with latest departure (09:15) which was to Quinta da Aveleda and its gardens followed by a wine tasting. A local guide walked us around the gardens. There was a persistent drizzle at the start which developed into heavy rain. Our guide found shelter for us, and she radioed her colleagues and after 5 minutes a golf cart packed with umbrellas arrived and we continued the tour sheltering under umbrellas. The gardens were spectacular but we couldn’t fully enjoy them in the pouring rain.

Goat Tower. There were goats inside but they hid when they saw a camera

Summer House in garden

As the rain stopped we ended the tour and entered a hall for the tasting. Quinta da Avelada produces 21M bottles annually, and exports 70% to 70 countries. Two glasses and cheese and biscuits were on the table. 

The first wine was Vinho Verde Casa Garcia NV, named after a long serving winery worker. This was made in the old way with added sweetening and pettillance. 9.5% abv, and on sale at €4. This wine is on Scenic Azure’s wine list.

The red was Mandriola de Lisboa 2022, a blend of Syrah, Alicante Bouschet & Touriga National, 3% abv, €5 in the shop.

Back on board the boat set off for Régua during lunch, arrived shortly before 17:30 when we departed for a walking excursion to the Douro Museum. This was a quite interesting modern museum about Douro wine. We learned the difference between Ruby and Tawny Port was a matter of the time spent aging in wooden casks. Tawny Ports spend a minimum of seven years in wood.  Port can only be made in Douro, although many similar wines are made in other countries. Agreement with the EU protects the name Port, however because the USA does not recognise Port as a geographic name Porto is used in the USA by genuine Douro Ports.

We finished outside in the museum garden overlooking the river where we could taste white Port on its own or made into a long drink with tonic or lemonade and ice. I expected white Port to be white, but it’s a pinkish-brown as a result of barrel aging and I couldn’t see the point as it didn’t offer as much flavour as normal Port. White Port gets its name because it’s made from white grapes only. There was a much more tasty 20 year-old tawny Port.

View of boat from Port Museum

We remained in Régua overnight. Our cabin faced the riverbank and at some time during the evening Croisi Europe’s Miguel Torga boat was rafted on our outside.

Overnight Location: Régua

https://what3words.com/dozed.sags.bottle

Unforgettable Douro - Scenic Azure - Day 2

 Day 2 – Saturday 29 June 2024

During the night we’d changed places with Emerald Radiance. Now our cabin looked out towards the bank. The Emerald Radiance seems to be the same design outside, but was fitted differently inside.

A walking tour left at 08:40, led by Cruise Director Filipe Nunes. We had to cross the Douro to Vila Nova de Gaia by ferry. But as we were too early Filipe took us on a gruelling walk up and down back streets. When we got to the traditional style Rabello boat used as ferries they were rafted and I couldn’t cross over the gap between the high sided boats, so returned to the boat.

At 15:00 I joined a Tile Making class led by Maria Kocas, who we were told was a famous maker of traditional tiles. We could draw freehand or use a supplied template. We painted our design in blue paint; texture was given by washing with thinned paint. I was quite please with my finished tile and we were promised the fired tiles would be delivered to us when we returned to Porto at the end of the cruise. Unfortunately this didn’t happen, and I returned home tile-less.

Slow cooked Beef Tenderloin for dinner

At 16:30  Scenic Azure left its mooring and arrived at Entre-os-Rios about 20:00

Overnight Location: Entre-os-Rios

https://what3words.com/fleshes.percussion.caged

Unforgettable Douro - Scenic Azure - Day 1

Day 1 - 28 June 2014

Since we couldn’t go on Saga, which was Joan’s intent, because it didn’t meet her flight requirements I chose Scenic’s Unforgettable Douro because it offered an 11 day cruise of the Douro whereas the competition have 7 days. 

Advice from Cruise Critic forums was the 11 day cruise avoided rafting because it didn’t call at the same places or on the same days as the other lines. Unfortunately this is not true now there are so many companies cruising a relatively short stretch of river. Scenic booked British Airways but it turned out to be a code-share and we flew return from London Heathrow to Porto on Iberia planes, via Madrid.

The flight to Madrid was on a long haul plane and we were taken by cabin crew to our business class spacious seats with lie flat beds and full range of entertainments. But there wasn’t time to enjoy them as the flight was only 2 hours long. We had one hour 25 minutes before the Porto flight departed and had to take an underground train to the departure terminal, but there was no queue at immigration and security search was quick. The flight to Porto was on a much smaller plane and at both ends we had to use the aircraft’s own stairs.

We landed at Porto around 16:00 and met the Scenic rep outside arrivals hall. We were the only Scenic customers and were taken straightway to a car and driven to the boat. On the quayside our names were ticked off, our bags taken, and we descended the steep steps to a floating pontoon and up Scenic Azures’ steep narrow rickety gangplank. On board at 17:10 we collected our room keys and lanyard with QR code use to swipe on and off the boat.

We were taken to our cabin by our butler Amhan Silva who explained all the cabin features. I asked for printed copies of daily programmes and for the mini-bar to just have red and white wines.

There was a 15 minute Safety Briefing before dinner. It seemed casual. Unlike Viking we didn’t have to wear our life vest, go to our muster station, have our names checked off a list, staff didn’t check rooms and there weren’t crew dressed in fireproof costumes. In fact I can’t remember what we were supposed to do.

However we learned that the boat had 72 passengers against a capacity of 96, thus we were only 75% full.

Mooring at Porto at the start and end of the cruise is on the Porto side. This has a much higher river bank than the other side at Vila Nova de Gaia, which has a riverside lined with Port Lodges. Entering and exiting the boat need getting down to just above water level which changes by about six feet as the river is tidal here. 

There’s a fixed steep wooden ramp down the bank to a landing then a wooden ramp to a floating pontoon. The angle of this ramp varies from steep to very steep depending on water level. Then one has to climb a steep narrow gangway to the boat’s third deck, part of which has only two slack ropes as hand rails. Since an accident where my shoulder was shattered in  multiple places I struggle with balance and I find the Scenic gangplank frightening, and that will be a factor in booking future cruising.

In 2024 Scenic dropped their Tailormade app which you had to download to your phone to hear guides. They now use Quietvox devices instead, as used by Viking, which are reliable – unlike Tailormade. But they still rely on people using email onboard. Onboard photo competition could only be entered by emailing photos to the boat and they expected guests to receive an email with a link to complete their questionnaire before departing the boat. As I don’t use my phone for emails I was unable to do either.

Time for a flute of Drappier Champagne before dinner. I was pleased to see the wine list was all Portuguese wines, apart from one red and one white from Spain. But the only two names I recognised were Mateus Rose and Monte Velho so we went with the suggested wines most nights.

Overnight Location: Porto - https://what3words.com/treaties.emails.streaks