Rare kazu Posted May 1, 2019 Author #676 Share Posted May 1, 2019 Lots of steps and pretty streets but we were going down (until we had to return to the Se which was at the top - LOL.) Yes, we were at the street where Henry the Navigator was born. The statue of Henry the Navigator - pointing to the Atlantic Ocean. Behind the statue is what used be the Mercado. Now it is used for performances, etc. the house where Henry the Navigator was born: this is one of the 12 gateways to the old medieval wall. This is the palace. It’s only used when there are royal visits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare 1of4 Posted May 1, 2019 #677 Share Posted May 1, 2019 1 hour ago, Despegue said: Witch is a Flatfish which is quite delicious and is found in the Atlantic and North Sea. In Dutch: Wijting. some may know this fish as Flounder. Try it! I figured it must be a type of fish and appreciate the explanation. I recognize flounder but have never seen either on a menu in my part of Canada. The 2 types of flat fish I can readily buy are sole and halibut. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare kazu Posted May 1, 2019 Author #678 Share Posted May 1, 2019 the funicular which you can take to get to the top of the hill (where the Se is ) or across the river to the other town. Ummm - this is not high on kazu’s list of options to return. Not at all 😉 Near the end of the tour, we ended up in Port bar. Are you ready for this? The port was served in chocolate cups. Totally edible. It was a really nice pairing. Highly recommended. I was tempted to buy a bottle but I didn’t want to lug it home. I would have paid corkage happily. Turned out my intuition was right. Port (a fortified wine) was considered as liquor and was not allowed to bring on board. Everyone had to have it stored for the last night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare kazu Posted May 1, 2019 Author #679 Share Posted May 1, 2019 Here is the little spot where we went for our Porto: And our Porto cups. We used Blue Dragon and it was a great tour and very reasonably priced. After our tour ended we asked for restaurant recommendations and most were up top but our guide looked at his watch and said you might be ok. So he led us to his favourite spot in this area which is not touristy. It was very fancy and I was concerned but the prices were great. Originally when the waiter found out we didn’t have a reservation, he frowned. But his next reserve was 3 pm and since we had to be back to our transfer to Leixoes by 2:30, we assured him we would be out in time so he accommodated us. 🙂. Renato was right as in 15 minutes, the place was packed and people were being turned away. We had scored 🙂 Look at the lovely mixed salad that Gary and Barbara got. They opted for the deep fried sardines. (We were all sharing). They hadn’t had sardines yet, so this place looked perfect as I could see the fish was fresh. And with it they had rice and beans. They were kind enough to share. We all shared. The portions were HUGE. DH gave them a thumbs up. Three of us had ordered the grilled sardines. They brought it on one plate. A lovely presentation and the sardines were delish. The restaurant - you have to make the most out of small spaces in Europe. The fish is REALLY fresh. The spot in case we ever return again and we just might 😉 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sansterre Posted May 1, 2019 #680 Share Posted May 1, 2019 Porto is now on my bucket list! Thanks for sharing your photos. Looks like you threw quite the party in your suite. In one of the photos I saw Lynn from my home town in Ohio; we met her on a cruise several years ago. However, I did not see my brother. Bob joined the cruise in March, had trouble figuring out how to get on Cruise Critic, finally posted just a week or two prior to sailing intending to go to the M&G. I can't wait to see the next two ports as I have not bee there either. Enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare kazu Posted May 1, 2019 Author #681 Share Posted May 1, 2019 17 minutes ago, sansterre said: Porto is now on my bucket list! Thanks for sharing your photos. Looks like you threw quite the party in your suite. In one of the photos I saw Lynn from my home town in Ohio; we met her on a cruise several years ago. However, I did not see my brother. Bob joined the cruise in March, had trouble figuring out how to get on Cruise Critic, finally posted just a week or two prior to sailing intending to go to the M&G. I can't wait to see the next two ports as I have not bee there either. Enjoy! Porto is gorgeous. I see it in a land tour in my future. 😉 I don’t think your brother joined the roll call sorry, The invite for today was for roll call members and not everyone chose to do it, understandably 😉 Really looking forward to docking in downtown Bordeaux. We are doing a wine tour and then going out for dinner in Bordeaux and the next day although Bordeaux is nice DIY city, we like to hear history so we are doing a walking tour i the morning with another 10 of us and will then have feee time. We’re thrilled to go to Bordeaux and was a highlight for us but it also means that the cruise is coming to a close 😞 this has been a beautiful itinerary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare kazu Posted May 1, 2019 Author #682 Share Posted May 1, 2019 A nicer close up of the bridge that was built by the Eiffel Tower architect. We headed back to our meeting point. Did Kazu take the funicular? NOT 😄 We found a Tuk tuk and Andrea and we shared it. We just had a few minutes but we were determined to see the inside of the Se. OMG. It was gorgeous! Admission is 3 euros. It’s worth every penny / euro. Go and see it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJcruzer Posted May 1, 2019 #683 Share Posted May 1, 2019 (edited) Bolsa Palace - Porto Read below pictures regarding “palace” Jacqui, enjoying reading your adventure! Regarding Porto, and the royal palace and your picture, caption.... It is the Bolsa Palace, actually the Stock Exchange. There are public tours, and the building is fabulous, especially the Arab room (probably where they hold banquets, etc). However, it was not a palace lived in by royalty, It was established to show the wealth of Porto and function as a stock exchange in the merchandising of port wine. We took the tour, and all I can say, if and when you return to Porto, do try to get in! Just to whet your appetites, day trips to Guimaeres and Braga are great to round out a land stay, Edited May 1, 2019 by CJcruzer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare kazu Posted May 1, 2019 Author #684 Share Posted May 1, 2019 1 hour ago, CJcruzer said: Bolsa Palace - Porto Read below pictures regarding “palace” Jacqui, enjoying reading your adventure! Regarding Porto, and the royal palace and your picture, caption.... It is the Bolsa Palace, actually the Stock Exchange. There are public tours, and the building is fabulous, especially the Arab room (probably where they hold banquets, etc). However, it was not a palace lived in by royalty, It was established to show the wealth of Porto and function as a stock exchange in the merchandising of port wine. We took the tour, and all I can say, if and when you return to Porto, do try to get in! Just to whet your appetites, day trips to Guimaeres and Braga are great to round out a land stay, Fabulous pics. thanks. It wasn’t open when we were there and wouldn’t be open until we too close to leaving 😞 the stop here was unusual compared to the others. All onboard was at 3:30 pm so we had to be transferring back at 2:30 😞 Not sure why - tides - whatever. But we could have stayed here until 11 pm (as we have in other ports) or even an overnight, It’s truly an exquisite place 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobalink Posted May 2, 2019 #685 Share Posted May 2, 2019 Jacqui - you are a gracious hostess! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare kazu Posted May 2, 2019 Author #686 Share Posted May 2, 2019 12 hours ago, bobalink said: Jacqui - you are a gracious hostess! You are very kind ❤️ Room service was very impressed with how little they had to do to take the trays. We had the mess all cleaned up 🙂 They were tipped well, believe me 😉 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare kazu Posted May 2, 2019 Author #687 Share Posted May 2, 2019 Behind today. Why? We are in Bordeaux and when I say in Bordeaux I mean downtown 😄. and we were off for our winery and St Emillion tour and now we are going out for dinner, so I will try to catch up later 🙂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare kazu Posted May 2, 2019 Author #688 Share Posted May 2, 2019 Here is today’s when and where for our first day in Bordeaux: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare kazu Posted May 2, 2019 Author #689 Share Posted May 2, 2019 And, here is tonight’s dinner menu Can’t report on the dinner tonight as we just got back from Le Bouchon Borderlands where we had dinner. There will be a LOT of food porn coming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare kazu Posted May 2, 2019 Author #690 Share Posted May 2, 2019 So, today we were going to two Chateaus for wine tasting and St. Emillion the gorgeous medieval town and the monolithic (underground) church of St. Emillion. It would be a very full day. Just a few pics from the van as we were heading to St. Emillion. Pomelo is THE area for wine in France. Vines are everywhere. Land is precious and many chateaus are small as they need the land for the vines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare kazu Posted May 2, 2019 Author #691 Share Posted May 2, 2019 I know some people on CC like to say that the ship rolls up the carpets at 9 pm, but we just got back from dinner and chatting with others out and about on the ship and it is after midnight 😉 So, with a small tour tomorrow, I should try to get some beauty rest but let me see if I can show you a smidge of St. Emillion today and I will be back tomorrow (with luck) to show you the rest: Approaching the lovely town We took a short walk and were at the monolithic (underground) church. The city is named for the monk who lived in what was then a cave and became the church. He was there for 17 years until his death and had a lot of followers as he took care of the poor and seemed to perform miracles. No mention was made of him again until the 12th century so to some he is a legend and to others real.d St. Emillion was on the path of the way of St. James but slightly out of the way so the church was elaborated on to try to attract pilgrims and it worked. It is formed of caverns and labyrinths which were then dug out and carved upon. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rowsby Posted May 3, 2019 #692 Share Posted May 3, 2019 (edited) 2 hours ago, kazu said: Wow.....you can just imagine...centuries ago....when they were riding on horseback thru the town......!!! Edited May 3, 2019 by Rowsby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare kazu Posted May 3, 2019 Author #693 Share Posted May 3, 2019 Some of the cobblestone steps - Many of the stones are from England. The English came over to get the French wine. In order to sail safely on the way over they needed weight in the ships so they put stones in them. The people of St. Emillion used them to make their streets. Some of them are REALLY slippery. People here say the English stones cause the trouble 😉 These are good compared to what we old hit. Macaroons and yummy, yummy French pastries. Just because I thought it was a pretty pic with the roses in the background. As you can see, this city had walls too. Part of the outside of the underground church. It’s enormous. Darn, wish this wasn’t small (I still don’t know why this happens). Expand it and you can see the steps. If you think these are bad, wait until you see the steps of tears (as our guide called them). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare kazu Posted May 3, 2019 Author #694 Share Posted May 3, 2019 St Emillion is absolutely gorgeous. If you are lucky enough to have an overnight in Bordeaux or, even time in Bordeaux, do go to see it and the underground church. This was so huge, I couldn’t get it all in one shot. I had to use my camera and will download the card later so I can show you the full impact. For now, I want to try to get some pics up for you before our tour this morning. Narrow, pretty streets. Everything is picture perfect. Some of the old remaining walls. There are tons of wine shops everywhere! Once we were done with the underground church and a bit of a walk in St. Emillion, it was time to head for lunch and wineries. We would return to St. Emillion so don’t despair, there are more pics - or, should I say too many pics? 😉 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare kazu Posted May 3, 2019 Author #695 Share Posted May 3, 2019 I tried to grab some pics in the van of some of the scenery on our way to lunch. I didn’t have the best place for pics in the van (so much for being the organizer 😉 ) but here goes: We are heading to Pomerol where some of the most expensive wine is Chateaus along the way As you can see some of the chateaus are not all that big. A new chateau - and yes those are trees growing out of the roof. It helps balance the temperature and humidity! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare kazu Posted May 3, 2019 Author #696 Share Posted May 3, 2019 Before I forget - I am REALLY far behind today 😉 Here is our When and Where for today: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare kazu Posted May 3, 2019 Author #697 Share Posted May 3, 2019 Back on board - no time for free wifi today in the port so let’s see if I can get some posts done before the whole world gets on the internet on board 😉 DH and I are really worn so we got back on board a whole 1 hour earlier than necessary. Scary 😄 Back to our day yesterday. SERIOUS FOOD PORN Alert - one of a number for Bordeaux. We went to one of the few chateaus that has a terrace on the recommendation of our guide. She had given me options. I nixed one and left the rest up to them. The choice was good 😄 The absolutely delicious butter they have here. It came wrapped: Our little amuse bouche - a type of couscous. Kazu is not a fan of this stuff but this one was very tasty. This is the wine we selected for the meal. We opted to share with another white wine lover as it was cheaper than by the glass all things considered. The wine was wonderful. The cheese tray: The olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Three thumbs up on these. By the way, there was no surcharge for the bread, butter or olive oil. The tuna ceviche (mine). It was really good. Snails (my roll call friends know that food porn is a must and kindly let me take pics of their food). They even hold plates up for better angles. 🙂 Fois Gras. Absolutely exquisite. Andrea kindly gave us all a taste and OMG - it was delectable. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare kazu Posted May 3, 2019 Author #698 Share Posted May 3, 2019 Then I went out onto the terrace for a few views. Our table was ideal facing the views but always better to go out and get / try to get some good pics. OMG it was absolutely gorgeous. (Are you tired of words like this yet? LOL) Yes, those are all vines: This is the chateau I tried to get a pic of in the van. It’s a close up but I think it shows the detail, hopefully ? In the middle of the terrace they have stretch of red glass pebbles. It represents the different type of red Bordeaux they specialize in . It’s siding is a type of red that while it is all the same, because of the way it reflects the sun, it represents the different shades of the Bordeaux they make. Their barrels down below. Note they are stacked. This will be important later when we visit our wineries. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare kazu Posted May 3, 2019 Author #699 Share Posted May 3, 2019 Absolutely lovely lunch and lovely grounds. We went out to investigate the strange sounds we were hearing and decided they were frogs, not ducks. Could only spot tadpoles though, no frogs. This is the pond where we were hearing the sounds. The irises were beautiful but smaller than ours at home. But what the heck, nothing I have at home is blooming 😉 While we were having lunch, our guide was busy finding us a treat. Yes, the famous Macarons: The pretty bag: The box inside: And inside, 4 layers of macarons for us 🙂 We got the leftovers to bring back on board and share. Hopefully, I can get that done on the sea day 😉 These are really good and worth a few bites. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare kazu Posted May 3, 2019 Author #700 Share Posted May 3, 2019 Our guide offered us a tour of this town. Said it wouldn’t take away time. We had to laugh since it is basically two streets with a church. 😄 It is a famous wine making region though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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