My discovery of Portugal took place while sailing on a river cruise ship with 21st-century luxuries. A stretch, but wasn’t it also on a ship that Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan “discovered” the Philippines five centuries ago?
Text and photos by JOANNE RAE M. RAMIREZ
Discoveries are always exciting, especially if it is a gem you unearth, tucked amid a mix of winding cobblestone streets and lush vineyards.
My discovery of Portugal beyond Lisbon took place while sailing — just like Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan “discovered” the Philippines five centuries ago. How times have changed, when the everyman can journey easily to the other side of the world and discover new places to post on Instagram.
Journeys are more fulfilling when they take you to places that make your eyes sparkle and your soul sing. And when the journey starts even before you leave your suite — like in a river cruise with views of vineyards, castles and fairytale houses on riverbanks — the journey becomes a scenic experience, 24/7.
A recent river cruise on the Scenic Azure took me on a journey of discovery while sailing on Portugal’s pristine Douro River.
Not many have cruised the Douro River. There are other beautiful rivers with scenic views like the Danube, the Seine and the Rhine, each with its own breathtaking allure — but the Douro has the charm of a gem still unmined.
The Douro is as green as jade, and is embraced by more green — trees, shrubs, vineyards, orchards. Portugal has only 10.5 million people (roughly the population of Metro Manila) — so you could imagine all the green spaces in the country. To celebrate its 30th anniversary, CITTI, led by its president Shan Dioquino David, and Scenic Luxury Cruises invited me to a cruise on the Douro on the ultra-luxury, all-inclusive (from meals, cocktails, room service to most shore excursions) Scenic Azure.
Shan Dioquino-David, president of CITTI; Five-star Scenic Azure, voted “Best River Cruise Ship for 2024” by the World Cruise Awards.
A five-star river cruise ship, the Scenic Azure accommodates a maximum of 96 guests, so each guest
is given unhurried attention by the crew — from the chef who whips up the omelet in the morning to the bartender who shakes the Margarita for your nightcap.
As we were sailing, it was announced on board that the Scenic Azure was just voted by the World
Cruise Awards as the “Best River Cruise Ship.” We were sailing on a winner!
“I think the beautiful thing about river cruising is that Europe was built along the rivers, which are the arteries,” Anthony Laver of the Scenic Group told me when he visited Manila earlier this year.
For our Douro River cruise, we sailed from Porto, the second major city in Portugal known for port wine, brightly colored buildings, winding cobblestone streets and six unique bridges (one of them by Gustav Eiffel). Storybook houses and shops line the river, and at night, they look like colored tiles shimmering under the lamplight.
Porto is also where J.K. Rowling once lived and taught English. There is a bookstore there named Lello dating back to 1906, whose sweeping staircases, bookshelves and decor are said to have inspired certain chapters in Rowling’s books.
Porto has several churches, among them the majestic Sao Francisco Church that is 51 steps above a rolling street with a view of the Douro River.
Outside, the church is a typical Gothic stone ediffice. Inside, it’s jaw-dropping.
The gilded altar of the Sao Francisco Church in Porto; Ferdinand Magellan, the Portuguese explorer who “discovered” the Philippines.
The interiors are intricately carved from chestnut wood, and gilded, so much so that awed visitors have called it, “the church of Gold.”
The church’s acoustics are akin to an opera house’s, thus we were treated by the Scenic Azure to an hour-long concert of classical and modern spiritual music performed by a baritone, a soprano and a quarter of musicians.
The church was awe-inspiring, and the music (from Bach and Mozart to Broadway), heavenly.
Gasps of admiration and quiet sobs from the audience — touched to their core by the music —broke the quiet in the cavernous church.
After the concert, we walked back to the Scenic Azure with a song in our hearts.
On our last day in Porto, we motored to the town of Guimaraes, about 90 minutes away. A UNESCO World Heritage site, it has preserved its Medieval charm with its fortresses and castles, and its winding cobblestone streets.
By the giant mosaic, in blue and white azulejos of the Virgin Mary in Guimaraes; The world-famous Portuguese egg tarts; The colorful city of Porto.
While walking though Guimaraes, one’s attention is riveted to a huge and edifying blue and white tiled mosaic of the Virgin Mary on one side of the Nossa Senhora do Carmo church.
We also toured the massive palace built by the first duke of Bragança in the 15th century. The palace’s Romanesque-era courtyard, for me, is the most eye-catching part of the massive castle, which also boasts centuries-old tapestries, intricate wooden furniture and porcelain jars.
From Porto, the Scenic Azuretook us on an eight-day cruise to magical and quaint towns like Regua, Lamego, Vega de Terron on the border with Spain, Pocinho and Pinhao. My favorite excursion was to Lamego, whose main attraction is the Lady of Remedios church standing majestic atop a hill. From the park below, there is a total of 686 steps to the church. There are several landings before you reach the top, each landing adorned with blue-tiled walls (azulejos). These walls are thanked by majestic stone staircases. From afar, the church looks like it is perched on a wedding cake.
My travel group (Shan, Sylvia Gomez, Meday Santamaria, Mitch Belizario, Antonia Lugtu, Ava Lugtu, Josephine Cruz, Emilie Maramag, Armand and Roxanne Sarthou and Joy David) and I decided to visit the church first before descending the 686 steps from the church to the park below. It was both a spiritual and physical workout.
So many discoveries, so little time.
