We arrived in Lisbon on the Adventure of Seas and were scheduled to return on the same ship from Barcelona. We specifically traveled to Europe by ship with the idea of traveling only by land for the 18 days we had to explore Portugal and Spain. We also wanted to spend time discovering smaller cities with rich histories. Hear is how we did it!

Porto, Portugal, Beautiful and fun City…but hard on the Liver

Porto, Portugal had been on our list to visit for some time. Being “Winos” and from Ohio, we appreciate a good port wine on cold nights. I had also heard of the old wine caves in the city where port wine was created. We had taken a transatlantic cruise from Florida and got off in Lisbon with a few weeks to explore. So we had a perfect opportunity to spend a few days up the coast in the Douro valley.

The high-speed trains from Lisbon to Porto (Portugal’s second city) ran almost hourly so it was relatively easy and inexpensive to get up the coast. We booked an Airbnb in the City Center that had a spectacular view over the City and river. Unfortunately, this four story walk-up (no elevator) was on top of one of the largest hills in the City. If you ever stayed in an Airbnb, you know that one of the challenges is finding where it is located. This was the case in Porto. We arrived at the main train station and transferred to the local train which ended in the City Center, The train station was under construction and many of the signs were missing. Google of course was of limited help but between the directions from the apartment owner, our phones and Reva correctly questioning my sense of direction, we eventually found the apartment. It was in the very center of the City atop a very steep cobble stone road.

One mistake I had made was not considering using Uber. From the main train station, it was only about a 5 euro ride to the apartment….oh well….lesson learned!

Porto is a very hard City for both your calf’s and your liver. The City is built among a series of very large and steep hills that you have to navigate to get around. The Dom Luis Bridge is the center focal point in the City and it has a lower and upper portions. It is approximately148 feet between the levels and you can walk across both levels. There was a funicular that you could use on the North side of the river, but we opted for the stairs. On the south side of the river, there was a parking garage that had an elevator which helped considerably…the locals use that. If you go up the elevator, you have to clime up a steep street…but they are all steep! At the top, there is a large park in front of the bridge where they have music every night.

Port wine is fortified with brandy and is around 20% alcohol. The wine caves lined the lower portion of the south side of the river. We learned that these “caves” were not really caves at all but warehouses where the wine was aged for years…sometimes decades. These caves all had tours and tasting rooms and we made a point to visit multiple times…after all that was our primary reason for visiting.

The other big tourist activity in Porto is tracing JK Rawlings footsteps and visiting the places that were influential in her development of the Harry Potter series of books. The bookstore and nearby coffee shop were big tourist draws and the lines were ridiculous just to enter. Right by our apartment was the University. Our first night in the City we were looking for a grocery store when we ran into large groups of students walking around. All the students were dressed in black capes and looked like they just walked out of Hogwarts. Turns out we had not stepped onto a movie set, but rather found where Rollins had got the concept for the uniforms that would be worn in her stories. The university had a nice museum which was free.

On our first full day in Porto, we opted to take a Douro Wine Valley tour with lunch. The tour was operated by Living Tours and took us through this famous wine producing area…….Portugal’s Napa Valley. The area was beautiful and we had the opportunity to enjoy many port wines and experience It was a several hour drive to the Valley, but the tour company was excellent. The cost was around 90 euro each (purchased through Viator) but it included an amazing lunch at one of the wineries with wine included. Living tours also offered a free walking tour several times a day. It was a good opportunity to find the major points of the city.

The following day, we wondered around the city and toured the Vasco cave which sat right across from the river. The tour was not exceptional but the associated tasting was quite good. We also took the time to visit a few churches and museums. Porto is a wonderful City and well worth a visit. If we visited again, we would skip the tours and just get glasses of the wine in the cafes at the various wineries.

Santiago De Compostela, finding “the way”

I was inspired to visit Santiago De Compostela back in 2020 when I learned about the pilgramage across Spain and Europe to visit the final resting place of Saint James. Unfortunately, Covid 19 canceled that visit. But now that we had some extra days to explore, we thought it would be worth a visit….and do our own pilgrimage.

We caught a bus direct bus from Porto to the Santiago (which literally means St James). The bus passed through Vigo Spain and took slightly less than 4 hours. There are direct buses between most major cities in Europe. Here, there were multiple companies competing on the route. In this case, we new to take Uber in Portugal instead of trains and dragging our bags. The 15 minute drive to the Intermodal station only cost 5 euros. In Santiago De Compostela, we opted for a taxi, about 12 euro to take us right to our Airbnb just a few hundred yards for the Gothic Cathedral and adjacent to the old city.

This was a strange ground floor apartment. I assumed that it had previously been a storage area since it was quite long and very narrow. It was well appointed with its own courtyard. Unfortunately, the weather had turned on us and we were dealing with steady rain….not a good day for a happy hour in the courtyard. The most peculiar thing was the design of the apartment. The kitchen was one end, the bedroom was on the other. The toilet and shower sat in between the two areas, The walls of the bathroom were clear glass…kind of like a fishbowl. Now, Reva and I are fairly progressive, but we both prefer privacy when we are doing private things…..so this was more than a little awkward situation. Fortunately, there was a door to the kitchen, so we would take turns being exiled to the kitchen to allow the other some privacy. I guess, we are not very “Euro…peeing”.

The weather was bad, but the church didn’t disappoint. There was no charge to visit the Cathedral (the way it should be) but we did pay to access the roof on top of the 14^th Century church. Not a great choice for me, since I thought I was going to take a fall on the uneven roof, but I was rescued by a Spaniard…so all was good, although embarrassing.

Inside the Cathedral, behind the alter, you can climb a few steps and hug a statue of St James that sits over his bones displayed in a crypt below. We opted to attend mass the following morning in the Cathedral with the pilgrims from around the world who had hiked “The Way” to reach this sacred structure. Many had walked hundreds of miles, following arrows and signs depicting an “the way”. During the mass, periodically you would see a set of hands clasping St James neck above the altar…..very strange!

The old town area surrounding the Cathedral was full of winding streets and small hostels for Pilgrims. This was a very spiritual and, in a way, romantic part of Spain. The area was know as the Galicia region. Santiago De Compostela was the region’s capital which even had its own language. It was a melting point for people from throughout Europe and the world. I could see the interest and value in making this journey…but I am past that stage in my life. That should be saved for younger men. This was the third Apostles’ tomb we know that we had visited. Saint Peter’s in Rome, and St Mathew in Salerno, Italy.

Toledo, possibly the best thing to do in Madrid.

Departing Santiago De Compostela the logical place to visit was Madrid. Being the largest city in Spain, we weren’t very excited about spending too much time in the City. In researching the City, we found that one of the most popular things to do was to leave the City and go to the nearby “walled” city of Toledo. Being from Ohio, hanging out in Toledo for a couple of days sounded like a fun option. So after taking the high speed train to Madrid and spending a day walking the massive (modern) City, we took another train on to Toledo. It was only a 35 minute train ride and we arrived at a very small train station. The old mid-evil City of Toledo was on the top of a large hill and we were advised to take a 8 to 12 euro taxi up to the city. Our Airbnb here was atop the hill and overlooked to City. I had picked a penthouse which required another hike up a five story building…again no elevator.

Ancient, cobblestone streets, Gothic Cathedrals and Moorish fortifications ….perfect Spanish city to explore. This was home to the second largest cathedral in Spain. There was also a City pass which we purchased which gave us access to a number of historical sites throughout the maze-like old city.

It also was quite helpful that we had a Kabob restaurant right next to our Airbnb which was interestingly located on Toledo, Ohio street. It is a strange little world that we live in.

We spent two days roaming the old city …in the rain of course. This made the cobblestones very slick. Fortunately the rain stopped long enough for us to get our laundry done. The European washers somewhat resemble a deep fryer…which always makes laundry interesting. Typically, there are no dryers in European homes, so we hung our underwear out in the breeze just like the locals…however we did put extra clothespins to the work, jut to ensure we didn’t have to go down five or more flights of stairs to rescue any of our underwear.

Toledo was an interesting City. The ancient streets were exceptionally narrow and steep, with few street signs. Google maps was fairly worthless, as well, since the building were densely packed together in a maze of streets.

One full day was enough to explore this small hilltop fortress city, but its history was fascinating. Prior to Madrid it served as the Capital of Spain and it bared the marks of many wars.

These were three excellent cities, not fully overran by tourists. From Toledo, we booked the high-speed train to Barcelona which connected in Madrid. It only took about 4 hours. There are dozens of these smaller cities full of history throughout Spain and Portugal. You could easily spend a whole summer easily exploring these gems. Here cars are more of a hassle than trains, buses, taxis and Uber. Planning these trips are easy and relatively inexpensive. Our top notch Airbnb accommodations were never more than 100 euro a night. You don’t need a travel agent to put this together, just some imagination.