April 21 - Spain is a country that inspires the imagination and stirs the soul. (Picasso)

How true that statement is!  Today we arrived in Getxo, the port for Bilbao.  Bilbao is the largest city in the autonomous region of the Basque community of Spain.  Including its metro area it has a population of more than 1 million people making it the largest city in all northern Spain.  The city lies on the Nervión River and which is not navigable because it’s subject to large tidal swings; hence we docked in Getxo, which at one time was an upperclass residential community for merchants and businessman who worked in nearby Bilbao.  At one time the larger city was the center of the wood, wool, and iron trade in Spain.

This region of Spain includes the Basque people and I think they deserve some commentary.  The Basque language is the only language unrelated to any European languages.  From everything I’ve read, no one really knows what the origin of the language is, but there have been some linguists who speculate that it  is the closest to what would have been Cro-Magnon speech.  The Basque people occupy several provinces in Spain and a couple in France.  Until not so very long ago there was a pretty strong separatist movement, especially in Spain, but after being given more autonomy that seems to have calmed down.

Today I had a free tour provided by a representative of a travel agent consortium of which my agent is a part.  It was free so I figured, why not?  We took a half hour bus ride into Bilbao and arrived at the Guggenheim Museum. The museum was funded by the Solomon Guggenheim Foundation which has built several other such facilities around the world.  It opened in 1997 and houses  contemporary Spanish works of art.  The building itself is a metal structure designed by the architect Frank Gehry and which Gehry himself described as a “randomness of curves” designed to capture the light and to provide views of the surrounding hills of the Basque country.  The atrium has been described as an opening flower as it rises from the ground level to the upper stories.   That all sounds pretty grand doesn’t it?  If I’m perfectly honest, the building itself I find pretty interesting, but the art it contains just isn’t my cup of tea.  I guess I just don’t understand some of it and I would much rather see some impressionist or even Picasso or Dali work. 

It is a unique building!

These next few are some of the art I saw.  They didn;t do much for me.

I did love this indoor puppy though!

There are some very interesting sculptures outside the museum worth mentioning.  One is a massive puppy created by Jeff Koons. It is a 43-foot-tall topiary covered by thousands of flowers with an internal irrigation system to keep them alive.  It was originally brought here on loan when the museum opened, but it became so beloved by the locals that when it was slated to be moved there were huge protests so a decision was made to leave it here.  The other is a gigantic metal sculpture of a spider named Maman created by an artist named Louise Bourgeois.  She has made several of these located at museums around the world.  The spider is about 33 feet tall and the same width.

The topiary puppy

I only got a photo of Maman through a museum window but you can see how big she is.

After our very brief visit to the museum we headed into the old part of the city which is for pedestrians only and had pinxos (the Basque word for tapas) and some wine in a small local restaurant.  There were three kinds of crusty bread topped with a local crab and cheese mixture,  a squid ink and spinach mixture and a potato and truffle one.  They were all tasty and pretty filling.  After our pause for food it was already time to head back to the ship.  It doesn’t sound like we did very much but somehow I managed to get in more than 8,000 steps and I was pooped when I got back.

This pinxo was crab and cheese - very tasty!

A couple of photos of downtown Bilbao

An interesting thing I forgot to mention.  In days gone by some boats would evidently come up the Nervión River if the tide was right but as the tide went out they could become trapped on a sand bar.  To free them women would tie ropes around their waitsts and pull them free.  Along the river we saw this statue commemorating those women.

Not the white cliffs of Dover, instead the white cliffs of Getxo as we sailed away

In the evening I met two friends in the Observation Bar for a pre-dinner cocktail and then we dined at the Colonnade restaurant for barbecue ribs night.  We sat outside and it was quite lovely.  The ribs aren’t as good as some we can get at home, but the ambiance makes up for that.  Of course I went to the show and the Club afterward and even did a little dancing.  Then it was time to call it a night.  We’re leaving Spain tonight, so Adiós España until la proxima vez.

April 19 - Santiago de Compostela (La Coruña), Spain

Today I made the pilgrimage to see the shrine of Santiago de Compostela but I didn’t do it on my knees as it traditionally is done (Thank Heavens! My knees couldn’t take that.) Instead I went by bus.  We docked in the port of La Coruña on an absolutely beautiful morning.  I decided to take this tour because it went some place I’d been what seems like a million years ago when I was a kid living here  in Spain and I’d forgotten everything about it.

Santiago (the Spanish name for James) de Compostela is reputed to be the site of the burial of  the remains of St. James the Apostle.  One never knows if it’s true if a particular saint or relic of Christ is in a particular place;  it is really a leap of faith.  In this case James is thought to have been the first of the Apostles to have been martyred by beheading.  His bodily remains were somehow taken to Spain and according to legend lost there for a few centuries.  Sometime in the 9th century a hermit shepherd observed strange lights in the forest and with the help of the local bishop found the remains.  Anyway, they are now ensconced  under the main altar in the magnificent cathedral in this city.  Santiago (St. James) became and still is today the patron saint of Spain.

In the Middle Ages pilgrims began making the pilgrimage to Santiago on the Way of St. James.  There are several routes but the most popular is the “French Route” which stretches across the northern part of Spain from the border at the Pyrenees to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia. By the way, Santiago is the capital of the Spanish province of Galicia in the far northwestern corner of the Iberian Peninsula.

Our drive took us right to the historic part of the city of about 180,000.  This part is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  We walked up to the central plaza where our guide Ana told us a little about the place.  On one side is a former monastery which is now a Parador (hotel).  The Spanish government more than a century ago appropriated some old castles, fortresses and religious order convents and monasteries and converted them into hotels around Spain. On another side is the building which is the medical school of the university in Santiago. A third is a municipal building and the fourth is the Basilica of Santiago de Compostela.

Ana, our guide, in front of a monument celebrating St. Francis of Assisi (there's a Franciscan monastery here near the Basilica)

The entrance to the Parador where we had lunch

The Basilica was begun in the 11th century and consecrated in the 13th century but it was not completed at that time.  Additions and embellishments continued for several centuries, even as late as the 18th century.  For that reason the building displays a hodge-podge of styles of architecture.  The basic is Romanesque which is pretty plain . On to that base there are more intricate Gothic layers and then baroque ones.  It’s an interesting mélange of styles.  We had a time slot to tour so our first order of business was to have a lunch of tapas and wine in the Parador.  It was all very good and way too much food.  Actually it turned out well that we did the majority of our walking after lunch to work it off.

Main entrance and façade of the Basilica

This and the next photo are some wooden sculptures in the small museum we passed through on the way to the main level of the church

A cloister outside one part of the main church. You can see in the details a variety of architectural styles

The Basilica is very ornate inside with lots of gold statuary and columns, in true Spanish style.  I’m not going to really describe much of what I saw except for one truly unusual one of a kind thing.  Above the main level of the church is a gallery.  Over the ages when there weren’t many lodging places for pilgrims who came, the gallery was where many were permitted to stay when they arrived and while they prayed there.  As you might imagine, these were a smelly lot because there were no bathing facilities and they came with chickens and who knows what else to feed themselves on their journey.  Ana told us that the interior became quite aromatic.  To counteract and dispel the aroma in the mid-19th century the Church commissioned the creation of a huge thurible, an incense burner, by a goldsmith.  What he made and what was hanging in the nave in front of the main altar is an incredible sight. The Botafumeiro is the largest censer in the world.  It is 5.2 feet tall and weighs roughly 180 pounds.  It is suspended from nearly the roof of the transept and on Holy Days it is filled with 40 kilos of incense and swung from side to side by 8 red-robed men called tiraboleiros at speeds of up to 50 mph dispensing huge clouds of incense.  Mind you, this thing is made of silver and gold!  Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately since the incense would have been overwhelming), it was not being swung during our visit.

A statue of St. James (Santiago) in a side chapel dedicated to him.  That's all gold.  Can you image the value with gold going for around $5000 per troy ounce!

Hard to see (or grasp from this photo) but that's one side of the organ in the nave

The main altar

The Botafumeiro that would be filled with incense

If you look closely you can see it and the rope suspending it.

It  is a very impressive Basilica and I am glad I came to see it again.  I wish that the organ had been playing; it appeared massive with pipes on opposing sides of the nave up above the pews but below the gallery.  Unlike many cathedrals I’ve been in there weren’t too many stained-glass windows but the golden artifacts around the side chapels and the main altar made up for that.

Then it was time to return to La Coruña.  I think most of us took a little siesta on the ride back.  A little personal aside note here.  When my family lived in Spain, La Coruña was one of the places my father spent quite a bit of time.  It was at the time the major port in western Spain and my father came here often to meet ships bringing US aid to Spain.  Times have changed since then.  The USA had three very large airbases (they are gone now) in Spain and one very large naval base down in the southern part.  We still have that but at the moment the Spanish Prime Minister will not allow us to use that base even to refuel our aircraft on their way to the middle East.  On the big municipal building facing the Basilica in Santiago there was a gigantic Palestinian flag draped down the façade. And there were protesters with signs proclaiming, “From the river to the sea” and some of the same slogans I’ve seen on the news on streets in Iran. It was startling to me to see those.  Times do change!

Tomorrow we'll be in Gijon, a city in Asturias on the Bay of Biscay.  I've been there a couple of times so I think I'll have another sea day in port.  There aren't really many things to see  there and it's supposed to be gloomy outside.  Hasta mañana!

April 18 - Oporto, Portugal

It’s the first full day of the cruise and I’m lagging behind already.  Yesterday I was picked up at noon and driven to the cruise terminal.  There, no fault of Seabourn, there were a couple of long lines.  Portuguese customs and immigration were doing their thing.  Since I’d been through that stuff at the airport I wondered why a repeat was necessary.  As it turned out here at the cruise terminal we had to go through the new ETIAS system for the EU.  When I eventually got to the window where two of the grumpiest looking fellows I’ve seen in a while were doing their thing, I found that my fingerprints had to be scanned and a photo taken.  Evidently it’s good for three years so I shouldn’t have to do this again in the EU.

Waiting in line was okay though, because I met some old friends including one of my Australian dancing partners and I met some lovely new people.  What is it they say in New Orleans, “laissez les bons temps rouler!”

The cabins were ready so I plopped my carry-on down and then headed to the Patio Grill for lunch.  As I walked to the salad station eager to have them make me an excellent salad, I ran into Orrin, a man I met and dined with on my last cruise.  We had lunch together and caught up on news of mutual friends.  My luggage came by the time I got back to my home away from home and I unpacked.  

Just before sailaway  there was a little party up by the pool. I went because the cruise director was introducing the entertainment staff and since that’s part of my reason for cruising I had to see who would be playing the music I love to hear. One band was on one of my more recent cruises and I enjoy their style.  The other is new to me but sounded good too.  I sat at a table with new friends from England and along came another couple I’ve sailed with a couple of years ago and who were on the same trivia team (we did very well that time).  I think we have enough for a new team already.  In addition to fellow passengers, there are so many staff members I’ve sailed with before.  I am always bowled over by how they remember our names, considering that they see hundreds of new people all the time.

Dinner was at the cruise director Nick’s table.  I last sailed with him when he was an assistant.  I went to the show which was performed by a great singer originally from Portugal.  I’ve heard him before and he’s very good.  Then as usual I went to the club and stayed until they shut down talking to more new friends from Switzerland and Belgian (but they live and work in Thailand), LA and Mexico.

This morning we arrived in Leixões, the port for Oporto.  I’ve been here a few times, both with Al and alone, and I had a tour planned, but I didn’t go.  I had a bad night with lots of leg cramps so I slept poorly.  I called to Guest Services to let them know I wasn’t coming so they wouldn’t wait for me.  Instead I slept until nearly ten once I fell asleep and am now enjoying my first sea day in port.

The central gathering place on Seabourn ships is Seabourn Square.  It’s here where they have a coffee bar which is better than any land-based coffee place I’ve been to and which has snacks and light fare.  It has recently been expanded with more of a selection.  For my late breakfast I had a cappuccino and a delicious puff pastry filled with almond cream.  I’m using the time to try to catch up, check mail and take care of any business.  It’s formal night tonight so at some point I’ll have to go and get gussied up.  For now though I’m going to close this and check out the gym. TTFN!

Just look at this beautiful coffee they made for me.

Hard to see, but some of the snacks and light fare available

April 16 - The other side of the bridge over the Tagus River in Portugal

I had an absolutely fabulous day today seeing part of southern Portugal I’d never been to. I booked a private tour through ToursbyLocals with Natalia, a naturalized Portuguese citizen who came here because she fell in love with a Portuguese man.  She is an interesting character.  She is Russian from a small town on the Volga River.  Before coming here she worked as a journalist in Russia.  Besides falling for the Portuguese guy she told me she was disenchanted with journalism because in Russia if you don’t write what the government line is, you can wind up in prison or dead. So she moved here, married the man (she has since divorced – the togetherness of Covid did them in), and changed careers.

Natalia in front of some beautiful tiles at the entrance to the market

Back to the tour.  I booked this one because it was a food and wine tour.  (I know, I know.  I’m going to have nearly two months of probably eating more than I should.  But this is one of the countries that specializes in glorious wine and cheese, and besides I’d seen the palaces, churches, museums and typical tourist sites before.) After a marvelous breakfast of fresh mango and blueberries followed by crusty Portuguese bread, Iberico ham, and a yummy local soft cheese, Natalia and I headed over the 25th of April Bridge crossing the Tagus River. I’ve been under the bridge a number of times but never had driven over it.  Designed by the same people who built the Golden Gate, it looks like a smaller version.  On the hill next to the far side of the bridge is a Christ the Redeemer statue which is the same size as the one in Rio.  I like the Brazilian one better; this one is more modern and stark.

Here's the statue taken from the ship

and here's the bridge

Since it was just the two of us I sat in the front seat and Natalia and I talked a lot along the way. She told me the history and geographical information of things we passed. Perhaps I shouldn’t have, though she didn’t seem to mind, I asked her about how ordinary people in Russia feel about what’s going on in the world.  She was very candid and told me that because the press is so controlled there, people don’t really know what is happening in the war with Ukraine.  She has her mother and other family living there and it has made visiting them very difficult.

Our first stop was at a big indoor market in the fishing town of Setúbal.  I am a sucker for markets and this one was very clean and interesting.  There was a huge variety of fish (it is a fishing village after all) but there were plenty of other food provisions..  I saw red bell peppers bigger than my outspread hand, luscious strawberries, gorgeous flowers, various meats and sausages, and homemade jams and crystallized fruits and  vegetables. Along the outer sides of the market there are a number of coffee shops and Natalia recommended one where I could get a typical Portuguese pasteis de nata.  I.ve written about them before; they’re small custard tarts, and this one was warm and fresh.  After some free time seeing the foods for sale and taking more pictures than I should, I met my guide by a cheese merchant. Natalia had fixed up a tray with a soft goat cheese and a harder sheep’s milk one.  There was crusty Portuguese bread and to finish the little tasting we had luscious ripe strawberries.  Natalia had met a fellow guide she knew who was escorting an elderly couple from rural Nebraska so the three of us shared the samples.  It was all wonderful!

Baked goods, produce and flowers in the wonderful market

These fish slept in the ocean last night.

We got back into her car and zipped off to a road that took us to the Arrábida National Park.  The Atlantic coast of Portugal is mainly mountainous with impressive cliffs and only small strips of white beach far below the road on which we drove.  We stopped at a couple of beautiful viewpoints. Fortune smiled on me today because it was a gorgeous day with Carolina blue skies and a nice temperature in the mid 70’s. 

When we left the park road we came to the little town of Villa Nogueira de Azeitäo.  Here we stopped and took a tour of the Fonseca Winery.  That name was familiar to me because  Fonseca is a big port wine producer and has a big operation in Oporto in northern Portugal.  This winery produces both red and white table wines and muscatel, the sweet dessert wine.  Our guide was very informative and I won’t bore you with all the information she passed on, just a few things.  The vineyard and winery were founded in 1805 and is now operated by the 8th generation.  It was the first winery to bottle and label wines in Portugal.  Prior to the early Fonseca implementing that wine was kept in barrels and tapped when someone wanted some.  If it was put in a bottle there was no printed label; instead it was wrapped in paper and the variety was handwritten on it.  Muscatel, the sweet wine is fortified with brandy to stop the fermentation process.  Once it has been bottled it doesn’t change or age; hence it can be drunk 100 years later and will still be good.  Once a bottle is opened it should be drunk within a year.   Oh, one other thing I thought interesting about muscatel. Back in the 19th century Fonseca was shipping muscatel to Brazil where it turned out the Brazilians weren't that fond of it.  Consequently several barrels were returned to Portugal.  When those barrels were tapped they found that the muscatel had aged much more than the wine in the barrels that had stayed here.  Apparently the motion of the ship in the months long voyage plus the salt in the air contributed to aging the muscatel into a richer wine. As with other European countries the vines here died from phylloxera in the 19th century, so the ones here are grafted from American vines which were resistant to the pest.  I tasted two whites and two reds at the conclusion of the tour and they were pretty good. I liked the whites better, but then I’m a white wine fan.

The original Señor Fonseca

These were some of the original barrels of muscatel shipped to Brazil and returned. That's when it was discovered that the sea voyage aged the wine faster.

These are several photos of  the lovely winery

We left the winery and a short distance away we stopped in a tile atelier. Portugal is famous for its tiles and this place is one where the tiles are all made by hand, no factory production.  I was shown the process from forming the clay into shapes, to etching, painting and firing them.  There were several artists painting tiles, very painstaking work.  Most of the tiles produced here are custom orders.  It was fascinating to watch these artisans.

Upon leaving the atelier we drove back to the Fonseca place because it was lunchtime and the winery has a lovely restaurant attached to it as do many in the US.  I treated Natalia to lunch and we had a delicious traditional Portuguese seafood lunch.  She had toasted bacalhau (cod) and I had pan-fried choco (cuttlefish).  I don’t think I’d ever had my fish so I thought I should try it.  It’s a relative of octopus and squid, but it wasn’t rubbery and chewy.  It was really tasty and I washed it down with a very nice glass of white wine from Fonseca.  It was a very enjoyable meal.

We went to our last stop, another winery, Quinta da Bacalhao.  There I was shown around the production in a small group, all of us from the US.  The couple from Nebraska that I met earlier in the day was there and two sisters, one from Virginia Beach and the other from New Hampshire.  What a small world it is!  Anyway, our guide Jorge showed us around from where the grapes are pressed, to the aging in tanks and then barrels, and then to the bottling itself.  Of course the best part was the end when we sat in a lovely arbor and sampled four wines and a muscatel.  To accompany the wine we had samples of a local soft cheese with local apricot preserves.  The wine was good, but the cheese and preserves were heaven!  I have no idea what the name of the cheese is, but it evidently won 3rd place in a worldwide cheese competition. I can only say that all of us thought it was divine.

Jorge, our guide

The grape press

The first stainless steel tanks the wine goes in

French and American oak barrels are the next stop to age

Part of the wine bottling line

Then it was time to go.  Natalia and I headed back to Lisbon, over the bridge and through the rush hour traffic.  As we crossed the river I could see two cruise ships sailing away.  That will be me tomorrow.  It was an absolutely wonderful day.  

Back at my hotel I went to the wine bar and sat in the outdoor courtyard and had a gin and tonic and tapas for dinner.  After all the other things I consumed today, the cocktail and tapas (tuna tartare mini-tacos) hit the spot.

The courtyard in the morning

And at night.  Kind of magical, isn't it?