November 25

Our Final Day

It just doesn't get any better than this river cruise.  We met the best program director, the BEST staff, had the best waitress and most importantly met two new sets of friends that I'm sure will be life-long friends.  We shared every meal and most every excursion with our "old friends" Dennis & Mary, along with our new pals Bob & Pam, and Tom & Mary-Pat.  Sadly today was the final day of our adventure before we head home tomorrow.  But as a consolation prize, Dennis & Mary and Tom & Mary Pat are on the first two flights with us - to Amsterdam and to Atlanta!  Today we headed to the quaint town of Lamego.  We went to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Remedies and then descended the 686 steps down to the bottom .... yes, every one of them.  In town we did some shopping, highlighted by Kim and I finding our Florida Derby hats - matching authentic, Portuguese cork hats!  At lunch we shared a bottle of champagne that had been given to Mary-Pat & Tom and at dinner we split the two bottles of wine we won last night at the "Majority Rules" competition.  Yet another great day.

After we docked in Porto, Sofia joined me on the sun deck and we shot a video for my highlight video which will probably be online by Friday.  Sofia gave Kim and I a Portuguese rooster, that crows :) and wrote us the sweetest note.  She will be missed, but she and I have become Facebook friends, so we WILL stay connected.  Then at our final meal, our farewell dinner we took a photo with our waitress, Vicky who has been great.

November 24

The Local Flavor of Portugal

Today we woke up to a gorgeous sunrise which set the stage for a wonderful day in rural Portugal in the town of Favaios.  We began in a wine cooperative where they produce Moscatel, a very sweet wine/port that often is used to mix with other alcohols for cocktails.  We then walked up town to a bakery which is manned by the same woman who was a maid to the last dictator of Portugal over 40 years ago.  She hand makes the bread and bakes it in a stone/wood-fire furnace.  She loved serving us, with more Moscatel, and insisted on giving out seconds....as well as loving having her picture taken.  Then we went to a museum to hear more about the process of the wine and bread making.  Finally we were hosted for a "traditional Portuguese lunch" at a local restaurant/winery.  And the best news of the lunch was as we were sitting at our table in walked Bob and Pam, who are in a different group AND we had two free seats at our table!  A wonderful day, again.

And we topped the day off with our group WINNING the "Majority Rules" Game Night competition.  We posed for a team photo with our most wonderful program director Sofia (who entertained the crowd with another beautiful song, the girl CAN sing) and our favorite bar hostess Dani.  What a great way to end the day :)

November 23

Our Day In Salamanca

Today we had a 9 1/2 - yes, nine and a half hour, excursion into Spain.  We arrived in Salamanca around 11 am and after a brief walk through of the market and tasting with wine we were on our own for nearly three hours.  We spent the entire time with our friends Dennis and Mary, and our new great friends Mary Pat and Tom (Pam and Bob were in a different excursion group) and we had a great time all afternoon.  Then we took a one hour walking tour, followed by a light lunch at a local hotel.  And then the 2 hour trip home.  A wonderful day despite the low-to-mid 40 temperatures (but sunny) all day.

The "magic moment" of the day came when our guide Ines was about to walk us to the hotel and when she turned around she saw her parents standing on the cathedral steps.  So sweet, she turned to the group and said, "Do you mind?" and of course we said, "GO FOR IT" and she greeted them then introduced them to us with big hugs all the way around.  And we all applauded.  Really special :)

November 22

Cruising / Castelo Rodrigo

We began the day by sailing along and I again was taken by how very, very narrow the river was.  Kim had not felt well last evening - skipped dinner and the music competition afterwards, for those of you who know her KNOW she didn't feel well.  But this morning she seemed "normal" and had coffee and breakfast.  But right after she was exhausted and just wanted to go back to bed.  Feel so badly for her.  All of our friends keep asking about her - they are so sweet.  I went up on the top deck and watched as we approached what we were told was the "most dangerous" lock on the river.  And this became obvious when you saw not only how narrow the river was here, but how shallow.  In the photo below note not only how close to the shore we are, but now you can see the rocks in the river out several feet into the river, indicating how shallow the water is!

I swear the lock was every bit as deep as the one yesterday and everyone I chatted with remarked how remarkable the entire lock system is and how massive.  When we were raised A-L-L the way up to the river level going forward everyone had to be off the top deck because the bridge barely cleared the top of the ship!

After clearing the lock we enjoyed more scenic sailing along the river.......

The last photo above is THE lowest bridge I've ever seen a river ship go under.  It doesn't begin to accurately portray the lowness of the bridge to the water and I took a video as we slipped underneath it.  Just remarkable.

Excursion to Castelo Rodrigo

The afternoon excursion, and just Dennis and I went, was to Castelo Rodrigo a very small town atop a mountain.  The temperature dropped from about 60 at the ship to mid-40s with a 20-30 mph wind high up in the village.  It was an interesting medieval village and Dennis and I explored the castle during our "free time" where we got some great photos.  A good day.  But the best news of the day was when we returned to the ship Kim was up and playing cards....and planning on going to dinner (but eating little).....good to have my wife back :)

One of the highlights of the day for me came when I ran into our program director Sofia.  We chatted for about twenty minutes about travel, and she spoke about her desire to travel to the United States.  I was sincere when I told her she was one of the very best program directors I'd ever had on a river cruise and though she couldn't have been as sincere as I was, I appreciated it when she said, "And you Mr. Love are my very favorite guest, from the time you boarded the ship."  Everyone is just fascinated by our name :)