OUR LADY OF REMEDIES AND MORE PORT

This morning we went through the deepest lock in Europe.  These locks are such feats of engineering that they do amaze, although they also get old after awhile.  But these boats are so long, it's just amazing that they made them that large 50 years ago when they were built.  It's a marvel of captaining, too, to get into this lock which I swear is only three feet wider than the ship.  

By the way, as opposed to other river cruises we have been on, where all the ship's employees are from Eastern Europe, the employees, including the captain, on this ship are actually Portuguese.

In the lock

Looking up from in the lock.  

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Our morning entertainment, lest one get bored with entertaining oneself, was an interesting lecture about the Druro valley and the Portuguese lesson.  The tour director, Carmen, is the one on the left.  

Our tour director is actually Spanish, though she married a Portuguese man and now lives here, but says her Portuguese is awful, so the head of housekeeping taught it.  

It has now turned a bit cooler.  It has been quite warm the past few days, though Hawaii warm -- not all that humid feeling and with a bit of a breeze.  

Our visit to Lamego included the visit to the church, Nossa Senhora de Remedios, with the big time order that if you weren't at the bus at the appointed time we would have to walk down the 600 steps to the town.  Here's the church with all 600 steps. 

John had leg cramps last night, and no way was he walking down those steps.  We may have been the first ones back to the bus.

The town is charming, we tasted cherries but skipped the port and ham tasting.  Looked around a bit in the church in town and had a gelato.  

Then it's back on the bus and on to another port tasting. We went to th Sandeman port winery, which is up one of the scariest roads you can imagine taking a giant tour bus on.  

One lane wide, ten minutes of twists and turns, some of which appear to be turning straight off the cliff, and that was on the way up while we were on the inside.  

On the way down we were on the outside.  I simply take pleasure in the logical notion that nobody wants to lose a $100,000 bus and incur all the ill will that might accrue to killing a load of passengers.  

If you can be calm about heights, it's beautiful scenery. High hills with endless grapevines and olive trees interspersed, with the occasional house with a little vegetable garden.  

We returned to our ship, the Viking Hemming, for yet another meal and an imported concert tonight.