Sunday, October 12 - Pinhao to Bitetos
Before breakfast we passed through one of the locks.
We watched from our balcony. The morning tour was to the Mateus Palace --- remember Mateus wine??
First wine most of us ever drank, then we'd use the bottles to hold candles that melted and dripped many colours of wax. They don't make Mateus there anymore but the family still lives there in 1 wing while the rest of the Palaces is open to the public.
It's quite the place. Wonderful woodwork, lovely Portuguese carpets, artworks from all the major places dating back to the 16th century. Once again I was enthralled by the heavily embroidered vestments. They have many large silver reliquaries, so many that a few hundred years ago they had to build a bigger chapel!
[Some relaxed in the afternoon, some took a "selfy"
and Larry took a tour of the bridge]
While we were there some people who hadn't done the winery tour at Quinto do Seixo wnt there for a picnic.
It was a shorter and tamer ride to the Monastery of Apendurada for dinner.
This was one of the many sites abandoned when the religious orders werw banished from Portugal in 1834. It stood abandoned for about 150 years hen was boought by an individual and converted to a hotel. It is beautiful, with many works of art. Our dinner was simple and nice.
I feel so pampered. On the ship, the dining staff know which dishes are garlic-free, and have made me sparate ones when I wanted.
When we've dined out they've arranged for my meals. Last night I asked about tea with dessert, so tonight they brought it to me automatically. No-one else got tea [spoiled brat]. It'll be hard to adjust to real life again after this trip.
Before breakfast we passed through one of the locks.
It's quite the place. Wonderful woodwork, lovely Portuguese carpets, artworks from all the major places dating back to the 16th century. Once again I was enthralled by the heavily embroidered vestments. They have many large silver reliquaries, so many that a few hundred years ago they had to build a bigger chapel!
[Some relaxed in the afternoon, some took a "selfy"
While we were there some people who hadn't done the winery tour at Quinto do Seixo wnt there for a picnic.
It was a shorter and tamer ride to the Monastery of Apendurada for dinner.
This was one of the many sites abandoned when the religious orders werw banished from Portugal in 1834. It stood abandoned for about 150 years hen was boought by an individual and converted to a hotel. It is beautiful, with many works of art. Our dinner was simple and nice.I feel so pampered. On the ship, the dining staff know which dishes are garlic-free, and have made me sparate ones when I wanted.
When we've dined out they've arranged for my meals. Last night I asked about tea with dessert, so tonight they brought it to me automatically. No-one else got tea [spoiled brat]. It'll be hard to adjust to real life again after this trip.
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