Day 32 - Tuesday 23rd May 2023

Today was to be a navigation day. Last night at the port talk, they had told us that the plan was to travel from Pinhao to Porto navigating all five locks along the way. There would be no excursions today.

Although we were going to sleep in, the ship's engines woke us at about 5:15am as they prepared to leave Pinhao. Eventually we got up and went down for breakfast soon after 8:30. It was yet another warm sunny day.

At 11am, we participated in the Duoro quiz in the lounge. Carolina asked 20 questions about the Duoro - things that we would have been told during the cruise. Our group consisted of the four of us plus the couple from Edinburgh. Believe it or not - we won again. The prize was a bottle of port.

Lunch was at 12:30 and the port talk was at 2:15pm. The port talk covered tomorrow morning's activities and the arrangements for disembarkation on the following day at the end of the cruise.

While the talk was in progress, the ship docked at Porto. The special yacht was still there.

At about 3:30, Suzy, Janet and I walked into town. I didn't go very far because I was puffed when I got up the hill to the beginning of Flower Street. The girls went shopping while I sat in the sunshine on the same bench that Chris and I sat on last week. I was back on the ship by 4:30.

At 6pm, we went to the lounge for a predinner drink and then went down for dinner at 6:30 where we sat with another couple from Perth. It was an excellent buffet dinner.

Dinner was earlier then usual because there was an evening event. We left at 7:45 to walk to the cathedral for a classical music recital involving a string quartet and two solo singers (one woman and one man).

It was a classy evening in an elaborately decorated building. Our dose of culture for the day.

The concert only lasted 45 minutes. On the way back to the ship, we took photos of the city which was highlighted by pink clouds from the sunset. The best pictures were from the ramp to the boat looking down the river at one of the bridges. What a setting.

We retired to the lounge for coffee and wine. Tonight's quiz was about famous kisses in movies. I'm not an expert on romantic movies so I went back to the cabin. Suzy stayed and joined one of the other groups for the quiz and they won.