Day 40 – Porto to Salamanca via Ávila

July 28, 2019 – This was a jam packed day… this will be a long post, but it was a great day! Enjoy

We loved our time in Porto/Gaia, but it was time to say goodbye to the beautiful city, our cute apartment, my grocer friends, the loud dudes at the bar below and the seagulls. It was a nice break to relax here for 12 days in this lovely place. Maybe we will return one day. We decided to drive, out of our way a bit, along the Douro River and through the Douro Valley. We heard it was absolutely beautiful to see the terraced vineyards on the green hills. As we left, and pulled out of the parking garage, Wayne revved the engine pretty hard a couple of times and slammed his foot into the accelerator…haha. We flew right by our bar friends and it didn’t even faze them…they didn’t even look…it’s the norm.

We left Gaia via the Dom Luis I bridge and drove along the Douro River toward the Douro Valley. The first part of the drive was not so great as we were driving through the city and through some industrial areas, shopping areas and some residential areas. As we got out of the city it began to get pretty, green and rising up into the green hills where we began to see vineyards. As mentioned before, the vineyards were built literally on the hillsides which presented a problem with drainage and erosion. In order to provide a flat surface on which to plant the vines and allow them to cling to the steep hillsides, three landscaping methods are used:

Traditional walled terraces  – The oldest vineyards are planted on traditional terraces supported by dry stacked, stone walls. These walls were built by hand on the steep hillsides and then back filled with soil brought up from the river bank or created by breaking up the stony bedrock.  Most of them are narrow, often bearing only one or two rows of vines.  The narrowness of these rows necessitates harvesting the grapes by hand, which is true even today. These historic walled terraces rise up the rocky slopes like the steps of the Pyramids, the product of centuries of Herculean labor. Now classified as World Heritage, they form one of the world’s most dramatic and inspiring vineyard landscapes. 

By the last decades of the 20th century, the cost of building these walls had become prohibitive and they are no longer built today. 

Patamares (meaning platforms) – Patamares are modern terraces cut into the mountainsides using earth moving equipment. They are not supported by walls but are separated by tall earth banks.  From a distance or from the air, they have the appearance of giant contour lines. This vineyard landscaping method became widespread in the 1980’s when a large area of the Douro vineyard was redeveloped.

Vertical planting or vinha ao alto – In places where the gradient allows, terracing can be replaced by vertical rows of vines running perpendicularly up the hillside, a technique perfected in recent years and known as vinha ao alto. Advances in drainage and erosion avoidance techniques have allowed an increasing number of vineyards to be planted in this way.

Driving along the valley, we saw signs of some of the cellars we visited above their vineyards. One sign caught our attention as it was one of the cellars that we were going to visit, but never did. Then there was another sign directing visitors to their tasting room. We passed on by, but then Wayne asked me if I was interested in stopping in to see if we could taste. Never one to pass up an adventure, I said, “Sure”, and Wayne made a u-turn and headed back.

As we entered the property at Sandeman, we drove up what seemed like a never ending series of switchbacks climbing from the river to the top of the surrounding hills. The road was a beautiful cobblestone path along the ridge lined with rock (schist) walls creating the terraces for each row of grape vines and views forever.

We did not have a tour scheduled and had no idea what to expect, but the nice girl at the desk worked to get us in for a tasting.  There was a bus tour of geezers ahead of us and the staff was very busy, but they were finishing up so we waited for about 10 minutes before she squeezed us in.  

The grounds at Sandeman are absolutely beautiful.  She led us down the path to the tasting room which is a walk among the vines that opens up to a large patio with a stunning view of the Douro Valley and River far below.  

When we were brought into the tasting room, we were the only ones there as the bus tour had to stay on their silly bus schedule and left, thank God, so we received the full attention of the entire staff. The tasting room was also very beautiful and the most comfortable we have ever been to.  It was more like a high end restaurant with hardwood floors and tastefully appointed walls.  Instead of having you stand at a bar to taste wines, Sandeman provides big, comfortable, wing backed chairs situated around tables with lamps looking out through a wall of glass at the spectacular Douro Valley.  

They provide a nice menu for your consideration and walk you through the various offerings. Once you have made your section, they bring not only the individual glasses of port ordered but also the entire bottles so you can see them and read the labels, as well as, providing other information on each wine. They then leave you to taste at your leisure but are waiting nearby for any questions you may have or if you just want to discuss the winery. Very pleasant and relaxing. Just to remind you of where you were, the glass is tastefully etched with the words, “The House of Sandeman”.  It was all quite classy. 

Given the setting, we decided to just relax and spend a lot more time than we initially planned. Of course that meant we would arrive later that night in Salamanca, but this was too nice to rush.  We decided to share a wide range of their ports so we ordered a very nice tasting of three rubies and four tawnies ranging from their most popular port to their rarest. In order of tasting we had their Fine Ruby Port, the Founder’s Reserve (Ruby), the 10-year Tawny, the 2012 Late Bottled Vintage (LBV Ruby), then the 20-year Tawny, 30-year Tawny, and finally 40-Year Old Tawney Port. All were great, but the LBV and two oldest tawnies were phenomenal.

Our whim to turn around and follow a little sign up the hill turned out to be a completely unexpected highlight of the trip thus far.  Given the special time, we decided to splurge and buy a bottle of the 40 year Old Tawny Port to enjoy on the rest of our trip.  We later learned that this bottle is the fifth most highly rated Aged Tawny wine (based on critic scores) and ranked fourth among the wines from this region with respect to number of prizes won: Gold, Gold Points 96 from the International Wine Challenge was awarded as well as Grand Gold from the Mundus Vini. Told you it was good! Ha-ha…

Our travels through the Douro Valley produced a very interesting surprise. As we drove in the higher elevations, Sharon noticed something interesting about the oak trees that grow up there. The trunks of the larger trees were very smooth and red in color relative to their normal rough, grey texture. We pulled off the road to have a look and it became apparent that these were Cork Oaks (Quercus suber) and the cork bark had recently been harvested from these trees.

Portugal is the biggest cork producer in the world and produces more than 50% of the world’s cork supply, mostly in the south. It takes 25 years for a cork tree to start to produce cork and be profitable. It can then be harvested every nine years and trees can live to be 150 to 300 years old, so most trees are usually harvested at least 15 times. When harvested, the year of the harvest is written on the tree for future reference.

The cork is harvested with strippers called “tiradors” and hand axes. The large bark sheets are then boiled and pressed flat. The boiled cork is separated into batches, depending on its quality and the thickness. The ideal piece of cork is thick enough to be a wine bottle cork. Italy tends to buy a lot of the cheaper types of corks, which is probably why it’s made such a big move towards screw caps, whereas France is one of the biggest buyers of high quality wine corks. Cork that is not suitable for wine is now fashioned into any number of items including floor tiles, furniture, soundproofing, yoga mats, designer products like hats, handbags, purses, etc. You may have noticed in previous photos that Sharon is sporting her new cork fanny pack all over town. See below.

Interestingly, cork is still an important material in the high-tech aircraft and aerospace industries because of its insulating properties, low weight and low thermal conductivity performance. The leftover waste is glued into sheets to make cork boards.

As we were driving along, we came upon a very small village, called Barruecopardo, that did not seem to be very populated or have much going on there. As we drove through, I noticed that some of the trees were colorful on their trunks. We turned around to take a closer look and saw that someone had actually knitted sweaters for the tree trunks. They were very colorful and pretty and added a nice touch to this little village. I researched after we drove through to see what the heck… and found out that this was an old tungsten mining town, but there was no mention of the trees with sweaters.

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Our next stop was city of Ávila which dates back to the 5th century BC . The city is built on the flat summit of a rocky hill, which rises abruptly in the midst of a veritable wilderness: a brown, arid, treeless mesa, strewn with immense grey boulders, and shut in by lofty mountains. This results in an extreme climate, with very hard and long winters, and short summers.

This open, largely featureless topography also made the city vulnerable to attack through the early medieval period. As a result, Avila alternated between Moorish and Christian rule until the Reconquest by Alfonso VI in 1085.  After re-conquering Avila, serious fortification of the city was begun to create a bastion against the Caliphate to the south. In 1090, the Walls of Ávila were started and construction, as well as, modifications would continued through 14th century. The walls are considered among the finest city defenses in the world. (For example, there is no comparison between shear size and strength of these walls and say the Walls of Porto discussed, previously.) The enclosed area of the city is 77 acres with a perimeter of 2,752 yards. There are 88 blocks of semicircular towers spanned by 2,500 parapets topping curtains 9 feet, 10 inches thick. The average height is 39 feet and there are 9 gates.

Long sections atop the walls are still walkable, which of course we did. The walls remain nearly perfectly intact today earning them a UNESCO World Heritage Site listing and also the distinction of being largest, fully illuminated monument in the world. I only wish we had time to spend a night to see the wall at night like in the picture below that we had to borrower from the interwebs.

Even inside the walls Ávila’s the cathedral and palaces were reinforced to repel an attack should the outer limits be breached. In fact, the Ávila Cathedral stands as both church and fortress and its apse, known locally as the cimorro and set in the walls, is the most imposing turret of the east wall.

Considered the first Gothic cathedral in Spain, the Ávila Cathedral was begun in 1172 by king Alfonso VIII on the remains of an original Romanesque building that was devoted to El Salvador (The Saviour). The new construction was designed as a transition and consolidation of the original building’s simpler Romanesque style with the beginnings of the highly detailed, Gothic style that was gaining popularity in the 12th century.

After king Alfonso VIII death, a second stage of construction brought in new materials and the use of granite ashlars as the project continued in a purely Gothic style.

The building stands on a Latin-cross layout made up of three naves, a transept and a semi-circular upper end with a double ambulatory and chapels set between the buttresses. It is flanked at the bottom end by two square-shaped towers. The first body of the towers and the naves date from the 13th century and the second body of the towers, the cloister (finished in the 16th century) and the vaults and flying buttresses date from the 14th century. 

Altarpiece of the High Altar is a work that started at the hands of Palentino painter Pedro Berruguete in 1499, giving the general traces and structure to the work. After Berruguete died in 1503, his student Santa Ana took over the work and completed many of the panels. However, Santa Ana died in 1508 and the work was passed on to Juan de Burgundy who completed the work in 1512.

The wooden frame that holds the paintings was started by Maestro Roldán at the same time as the paintings, but it was finished by Vasco de la Zarza in 1508, joining in this way Tardogotic and Renaissance elements. The Tabernacle of Alabaster is also the work of Vasco de la Zarza

The choir was originally in the main chapel, in the manner of medieval cathedrals. However, the Spanish Renaissance tradition of placing the choir in the body of the nave resulted in the original fourteenth century choir being replaced with a new one beginning in 1536.

The choir is a Renaissance piece organized in two seating orders and worked in walnut. On the backs of the first row, the lives of some saints, covered by a cornice with ornamental panels in half relief. Above are magnificent grotesque geniuses and monstrous figures, as well as, the
representation of the Apostles. In the center, on the episcopal chair, a polychrome sculpture of the first bishop, San Segundo.

The trascoro is a Renaissance piece forming the back side of the choir. It is divided into three panels by means of pilasters decorated with the reliefs (from left to right) of the presentation in the Temple, the Adoration of the Kings and the massacre of the Innocents

The trasaltar is the space dedicated to the burial of the bishop from fifteenth century, Alonso Tostado, known as El Tostado. (Seriously, he’s called El Tostado.) He held the chair between 1449-1455 and was noted for his holiness and science. The whole set is the work of the Basque sculptor de la Zarza, with the central body that is considered one of the most magnificent Renaissance works of the Spain. It is worked as a stone altarpiece in which the most exquisite sculptural decoration is used. This relief in tondo format serves to frame the figure of the prelate, who is dressed in the rain coat and miter, focused on his study task with his eyes narrowed by the vision problems he had at the end of his days.

So some of you might recognize the name Ávila from St. Teresa of Ávila … Yep, she was born and lived here. St. Teresa was a Spanish noblewoman who chose a monastic life in the Catholic Church. A Carmelite nun, prominent Spanish mystic, religious reformer, author, theologian of the contemplative life and mental prayer, she earned the rare distinction of being declared a Doctor of the Church over four centuries after her death. Active during the Counter-Reformation, she reformed the Carmelite Orders of both women and men.

We saw the the Basilica de San Vicente in Avila or Basílica de San Vicente in Spanish. The Basilica de San Vicente that stands today dates from the 12th century. The portals and portico of the Basilica are fine examples of Romanesque architecture. The interior is also Romanesque but with some later additions.

The church stands on the traditional site of the martyrdom of St. Vincent at the hands of the Romans. The Romans executed him, along with his two brothers Sabina and Cristeta, because they refused to sign a document to recognize they offered rituals to the Roman gods. According to legend, a rich Jew laughed at the saint’s execution, but afterwards he was nearly suffocated by a serpent that emerged miraculously from the rocks. He repented, converted, and built a church on the site.

The tomb of San Vicente is sculpted with the gory events of the saint’s torture and execution and in the crypt there is a rock said to be the site of the martyrdom and where the serpent appeared.

We happened upon the Plaza Mercado Chico and decided to grab a quick bite to eat. We found some produce stands and pastry stands so we bought some bananas, grapes and a fish empanada. The lady selling the empanada was very nice…at first. she let me try a taste of the empanada because I wanted to be sure that I liked it, which I did. Then I told her (showed her with my hands) how big of a piece I wanted for us to share. She cut the perfect size, but then picked up the remaining gigantic piece and started to wrap it for me… I told her no, that I wanted the other piece and she got so mad… and then not nice. Oh well.

We walked to the Palace and went into the courtyard… It was nice, but not overly impressive.

The ticket that we bought to walk on the walls had another portion to walk on with a different view, but it was in a different area of the city. We walked everywhere to try to find the other location and after an intense and frustrating search, we found it tucked away in a corner of the city ( with very little signage). We walked the wall on the side and part of the back walls. We had a corny audio guide to listen to as we followed along the walls and it explained the different areas along the walls. On this section of the walk it became so corny, as the guide was speaking as if she were St. Teresa of Ávila herself… we were probably either cranky or hot, but we just couldn’t listen to her anymore.

We wanted to visit the Convent of Saint Joseph and St. Teresa of Ávila Museum, but it was closed for siesta. This is how upset we were that they were closed:

Sadly that’s all the time we had for our whirlwind tour of the beautiful and interesting city of Ávila as we only had a couple of hours before we needed to be in another awesome city….Salamanca. So we headed on down the road to Salamanca and as we were leaving, we got some great shots of the outside walls from the point of view of the Moors, ha-ha. Someday we hope to come back….

We arrived at Salamanca and the first thing we noticed was …. it’s GORGEOUS. We both loved it right away the moment we drove into the areas surrounding the city. The soil here is an auburn color and gives the area a warm feel to it. The areas surrounding Salamanca are mostly flat, so the city appeared to rise above the horizon and was a beautiful sight on the drive in. It is an impressive ancient city skyline and we could only imagine being a foreigner coming into the city 500 years ago and seeing this obvious sign of wealth and power from a distance.

Our pension was in the middle of Old Town, so we had to find off site parking outside the walls. Wayne had found a free parking lot and we checked it out before he drove me in as close to the old town as possible to drop me off with all of our bags. He parked and walked back into the walled city and on the way he got to cross the 2000 year old Roman bridge spanning the Tormes River with the cathedral as a backdrop!! What and awesome entry to this historical place.

He finally found me and we carried our bags to our pension literally in the center of the city. Of course, in Spain, that means our pension was on the Plaza Mayor or the Main Square. Known as the ‘living room’ of Salamanca, Plaza Mayor was built in 1755 and is one of the largest public squares in Spain. It’s located in the heart of the city and, along with the Cathedral, is the top tourist attraction in Salamanca. It was built in the baroque style of architecture and is impressive. Our room was on the 3rd floor and it was very narrow and small, but very clean. We had twin beds (across the room from each other), no desk, a sink and a private bathroom just outside our room in the hall…quirky. We were here for 2 nights and never saw another guest.

We find the history of these Spanish cities absolutely fascinating and we struggle not to present really deep dives into each one as we have learned so much with each visit. Not only the individual city history’s, but more importantly, how they functioned as part of the entire Spanish history over the last 2000+ years. There is so much in terms of why they were important, how they were conquered, the development of weapons and corresponding defenses, how the cities functioned during each power’s reign, the massive human pain and suffering from battles, forced exodus, decimated social structures, etc. During their existence, many of these beautiful cities were completely ruined and/or vacated for years and then had to be repopulated and rebuilt from the rubble which was re-purposed into some of the buildings we see today. We know only a fraction of what there is to learn and are overwhelmed to see and touch it every day.

Anyway, trying to keep it brief…Salamanca got its early start around 400 B.C, when indigenous Celtic tribes, known as the Vacceos, first fortified the area to protect their territories along the Duoro River. (Basically the areas we had just driven through all day from Porto to get here.) However, Hannibal and his Carthaginian forces besieged the area 150 years later and settled in until the Roman Empire extended into the area and quickly pushed them aside. During “Salmantica or Helmantica”, as it was known, became a staging post on the Vía Lata (Silver Route) and enjoyed its first taste as an important hub of commercial activity. 

Christianity made its first appearance with the decline of the Roman Empire and the arrival of the Catholic Visigoths sometime before 600 A.D. However, the massive Moorish invasion in the eighth century put a quick halt to Visigoth power. The Muslim empire enjoyed a period of rule in Salamanca and its surroundings, but soon Salamanca again piqued the interest of Christian powers who proceeded to win, lose, and reconquer the city over and over again. This massive, historical power struggle finally came to an end in the 11th century when Spain’s most victorious king, Alfonso VI, drove the Muslim powers down into the south and re-populated the city with Christians. As such, the city’s historic center has important mix of Romanesque, Gothic, Moorish, Renaissance and Baroque buildings and monuments which we will visit over the coming days.

The University of Salamanca is the 3rd oldest in Europe behind Paris’ University of Bologna and England’s Oxford. It was officially established in 1218 by the royal decree of King Alfonso IX, although it was actually founded in 1134, and teaching at the site dates back to at least 1130 – making it the oldest university in Spain. Fun Fact: While Christopher Columbus was lobbying the King and Queen for a contract to seek out a western route to the Indies, he made his case to a council of geographers at the University of Salamanca. In the next century, the morality of colonization in the Indies was debated by the University of Salamanca along with questions of economics, philosophy and theology. 

Well, since extended stops along our way put us in town a little later than anticipated, Wayne got to work and Sharon decided to make a quick trip to the local market and picked up some fresh baked bread, Jamón ibérico, local Spanish cheese, grapes, cherries, and yogurts. During Wayne’s lunch hour, Sharon packed it all up and we headed out to stroll the city at sunset and find what we heard was an adorable, little park called Hueto de Calixto y Melibea. Interesting fact – Calixto and Melibea are fictional characters from the “Celestina” book, one of the oldest and more important books of Spanish literature.

We found the park deserted to our surprise and we chose a perfect little bench by a fresh water fountain. As you may or may not know, the water in these old fountains is not recirculating. Rather, it flows into the city from from natural springs and is designed to flow from fountain to fountain along the way to provide water for each neighborhood. The water usually is pure and delicious.

The bench was under a massive “strawberry tree”. Normally these are shrubs or small tree but this one was old and gnarled. I didn’t know they grew that big. The tree had fruit that looked like blackberries and was surrounded by beautifully manicured flowers and shrubs everywhere with night lighting.

After dinner we walked to the edge of the garden and looked down the city walls. We also, found the a large horseshoe shaped bench that the host at our hotel told us was a place that university students come before tests for good luck!

Needless to say it was an epic day of adventure along a 255 mile journey. We are feeling very lucky, blessed and more than a little tired!