Day 25 - Tuesday 16th May 2023

This was the first full day of our Scenic cruise on the Duoro River. We woke to a pleasant day in Porto with blue sky. It was warmer than Scandinavia (15C).

I'd set my alarm for 6:15am to allow plenty of time to get ready for our outing this morning. Just as well because we had a problem with the shower - there was no hot water. This was the first time I'd had a cold shower in a long time. Yesterday we'd ask them to fix a problem with our toilet and I suspect they fixed that but messed up the hot water supply somehow.

We went to breakfast at 7:30 downstairs in the Crystal Dining Room and when we got back to our room, they'd fixed the hot water problem. Although it was a buffet breakfast (with table service), you can order other options and so I asked for poached eggs.

The morning outing was due to depart at 8:40am and we were told to be in the lounge at 8:30. This also gave them an opportunity to make sure that everyone had the Scenic Tailormade app installed and set up correctly.

One group was doing a walking tour which had been described as strenuous. They also said not to do it if you are scared of heights or suffer from claustrophobia. The four of us decided to do the bus tour.

The bus took us a short distance to the church we'd walked past yesterday morning. Our guide, Ines, took us into the big room downstairs, then upstairs to walk through more rooms. The last room was quite special because it was large and ornate. Surprisingly it had Muslim influence.

Apparently the building had been used as a stock exchange for many years.

Next the bus took us along the road next to river heading towards the mouth of the river. Then it turned back towards Porto along a long straight wide avenue containing flower gardens and a bike path in the centre.

At the end, there was a very large roundabout containing a park lined with trees with unusually large trunks. In the centre of the roundabout, there was a monument containing a statue of a lion smashing an eagle which represented the victory of Portugal and its allies over the French under Napoleon.

At 11:30, we stopped near the railway station and walked into the entrance hall which is decorated with tile art - a traditional Portuguese art form. Each was a scene representing a historical event. My guess is that the individual tiles are about 150mm x 150mm.

After visiting the railway station, we had free time to explore the city from 11:30. We had the option of walking back to the ship or catching the bus. We decided to walk. The girls went shopping while Chris and I did some exploring and taking photos. When we got back to the boat at 12:45, I was surprised that the girls were already there.

Once again we had a light lunch. I had fish and chips with a glass of red followed by chocolate cake. Suzy and Janet tried some Mateus rose - a famous Portuguese wine.

During lunch, we sat with an Australian couple. It turned out that he had worked for OTC just like Suzy about 45 years ago. Darryl also knows Kit and Julie who we know and are very good friends of Chris and Janet. Small world.

The cruise ship set sail from Porto at about 3:30pm and so we had the opportunity to go up to the sun deck to take photos of the city, bridges, boats, navy ships, etc. We also got more photos of the large Portuguese yacht that arrived yesterday to much fanfare.

At 5pm, we attended a talk in the lounge where the tour director went through each of the activities for the remainder of the cruise. They gave us a form to fill in to indicate which activities we planned to attend.

I was surprised by the tone of the cruise director's talk because he was unusually blunt about some of the tours. He seemed to trying to talk us out of going because some people might find them too hard. This was a big contrast with Gennady, our tour guide in Scandinavia, who would gush about everything being beautiful and wonderful (which was correct).

During the talk, we went through the first of the five locks on the cruise. The windows were blocked by concrete walls on both sides. Welcome drinks were held in the lounge at 6:45 followed by the Gala Dinner in the Crystal Dining Room at 7pm. At dinner, we sat with a couple from Perth.

Each of us had the avocado and prawn entree. Then three of us had the beef tenderloin for main course (Janet had a vegetarian option) followed by a chocolate dessert. The meal was exceptionally good. First class. Absolutely delicious. Cooked and presented to perfection with excellent, professional, attentive service accompanied by excellent Portuguese red wine.

Originally we were supposed to be docking at Entre-os-Rios overnight but for some reason they decided to stop at an earlier wharf at Bitetos.