Geoff Brock & Bruce Gamble
         
     
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Régua: A morning walk to Quinta da Pacheca and an afternoon visit to Lamego
Thursday 16th November 2023
After arriving in the dark last night, these were our first good views of Régua, across the river.
 
 
 
The Emerald Radiance pulled up alongside us for a short time. Emerald is owned by Scenic and offers a slightly less rich experience than that offered by Scenic, although their ships are pretty much identical.
 
There was a choice of two outings this morning. We chose the "walk along the river" option, in preference to the one which involved a coach ride. A last minute add-on to the walk was a visit to Quinta da Pacheca winery, which was a reasonably short walk from the ship and was only possible to visit because we were docked on the other side of the river from the town. It turned out to be one of the highlights of the holiday.
 
This photo (not ours) shows the estate in relation to the river.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
We were met by a local guide who gave us a really interesting tour.
 
 
 
Seasonal treading of grapes is undertaken here.
 
 
 
 
After the tour, we were treated to a tasting.
 
Their tawny port was excellent and we bought a bottle afterwards.
 
Our tour guide was passionate about the estate and its produce. It was lovely listening to him.
 
The sun came out as we began our walk back to the ship. The golden colours were lovely in the sunshine.
 
 
We asked Katia and David to take a photo. We had met them at dinner last night and we liked them.
 
 
Half way back to the ship, the ship's "enrichment manager" Guido, who had accompanied us, got a call asking if we could walk a bit faster because the ship had received clearance to sail over to the other side of the river to a more desirable docking location, adjacent to the town centre. As we were almost back at the ship anyway, it was fine by us and as soon as we were on board, we began the short trip across to the other side.
 
 
Looking back to where we had been docked...
 
...and forward to where we were heading.
 
Looking upriver to the bridge which we would later drive over.
 
 
 
 
Over lunch, which ended with a rather amazing Portuguese meringue dessert (called "Molotov"), we pondered whether to spend the afternoon exploring the town of Régua or, alternatively, to take one of the two coach excursions on offer. It was a difficult choice, but in the end we decided to take the coach to the town of Lamego.
 
The journey from Régua to Lamego took around 40 minutes and we passed some beautiful scenery along the way.
 
 
A map of the centre of Lamego.
 

We drove through the town centre and up to Nossa Senhora dos Remédios (Sanctuary of Our Lady of Remedies), from where there are lovely views and many steps down into the town itself.
 
The ornately decorated church, both inside and out, made for an interesting visit.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
We could only peer into this room at the back of the church.
 
 
After visiting the church, we began the walk down to the centre of the town. We were offered a ride down in the coach, but we were pleased to get the exercise and to admire the views as we descended.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Just before the final flight of steps we were invited to eat some local delicacies and drink more wine!
 
 
Afterwards, it was only a short walk to the top part of the town.
 
 
 
One of the first places that caught our eye in the town centre was Lamego Cathedral, which appeared to be receiving a new bell.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Statue of Dom Miguel, the Bishop of Lamego in the 17th century.
 
We had an hour to spare before going back to the ship and the museum was our rendezvous point.
 
 
 
We didnt take any photos inside, but the exhibition was interesting, especially the many pictures and exhibits from the former Portuguese colonies.
 
 
Returning to the ship, we had a another very good dinner. Later, Geoff enjoyed a portuguese brandy with coffee in our cabin.
 
We remained docked in Régua overnight.
 
 
 
©Geoff Brock and Bruce Gamble