Having watched Australia demolish the Kiwis and book a spot in the finals of the cricket world cup we arrive in Oporto in northern Portugal. I stand at the airport luggage carousel and the minutes tick by. The bags stop coming and ours are not there. For the second time in less than a week our bags have not turned up and this is both our bags and on a short haul flight from London. Modern technology means that as soon as we report the loss they can work out exactly where it is it is in Madrid. Unfortunately the response is a lame email which is never acted on with alacrity and we are at the mercy of the lost luggage department at Madrid. At that stage it is administered by a third party and the airlines don’t want to know us any more. Conveniently the numbers given by the third party as a contact point always seem to ring out. Luckily the bags arrive late the next morning just as we were about to go out and buy some spare clothes to wear.
Port was first made in the early 1700s when, yet again, England was at war with France. Affluent English gentlemen deprived of their favourite tipple of claret from Bordeaux looked further afield. Portuguese red wine was an easy solution except for the small problem of spoilage on the longer sea voyages over. The solution was simple, add some brandy to fortify the wine and it easily survives the hot sea journey. Port was born and this is the whole raison d’etre for this area.
The city of Oporto is actually the second largest in this little country. It straddles the mouth of the Douro river and is the commercial hub of the port trade and has been for hundreds of years. The river still sports a number of smaller barges but I can imagine 300 years ago that it would be congested with wooden sail driven caravels transporting the local wine. All around especially on the river banks are warehouses of some of the great port houses and for a wine enthusiast names such as Dow, Warre, Graham, Croft and Sandeman are all represented and evoke memories of tasting these great wines in the past.
Even if you are not a wine drinker this prosperous city is a great walking city, albeit hilly and one with magnificent buildings such as the cathedral, palace and even the railway station with its blue tiled walls. Hope you enjoy. It was difficult to cull these photos down so I hope I haven’t bored you all.
