20261026 Monday October 26, 2026; Lisbon to Porto and Viking Hemming Embarkation

20261026 Monday October 26, 2026; Lisbon to Porto and Viking Hemming Embarkation

The only issue with transitioning from Lisbon to the start of our actual Douro River cruise was having to get our suitcases out in the hallway by 6:30 a.m.  Worrying about this seemed to make it harder to sleep well, but we had no problems getting everything packed up and out in plenty of time.  After that was done, we had some time on our hands because breakfast didn’t open until 7:30 a.m.  

We did have a relaxed breakfast and then boarded buses at 8:15 a.m.  There were 26 people on our bus which had 40 seats so we were comfortable and could spread out a bit.  The 12 people who had been on our Madrid extension were all in our same bus group, along with some new faces.  

Driving through the Portuguese countryside followed what had been an ancient Roman road network through rolling countryside with scattered small cities and industrial areas interspersed with agricultural tracts planted.  There were recognizable groves of olives, umbrella pines and cork oak, as well as stands of eucalyptus trees.  The eucalyptus is grown for wood fiber for paper production and eucalyptus oil.  There are also tracts covered by photovoltaic solar farms.  There were also a few wind turbines visible along the way as well.

We made a brief rest stop at a roadside rest station which had a sizable convenience store and restaurant in addition to both gas pumps and electrical vehicle charger stations.

We arrived in the city of Coimbra in the early afternoon.  This UNESCO World Heritage site is home to the University of Coimbra, founded in 1290, and moved to its current location in 1537.  We were originally scheduled to tour the University, but last week we were notified that the campus was not going to be accessible so we will instead visit the Mosteiro de Santa Cruz, a historic monastery housing the tombs of Portugal’s first two kings.  

We were dropped off along the banks of the Mondego River near the entrance to the old town, which sits on a hill rising from the banks of the river.  This is a quaint medieval city with narrow cobblestone streets radiating out from the center like spider webs.  The main streets are lined with shops, restaurants, and bars.  At the center is the Monteiro de Santa Cruz, which looks like a cathedral.  

The interior is elaborately decorated and houses the tombs of King Afonso Henriques and his successor, King Sancho I, in the main chapel.  Upstairs in the sanctuary, there is a room filled with reliquaries gathered from around the area.  These were organized in 12 pyramid-like structures around the perimeter of the room, each with four sides and tiny windows revealing the sacred artifacts.  It was hard to recognize what any of these items actually were, but the whole room carried an air of mystery and spiritual power.  

After touring the Monastery, we had some free time to wander around the spiderweb of narrow cobblestone streets, peeking into various shops.  

The bus picked us up back by the riverbank and took us a short distance to a restaurant called República da Saudade, where we stopped for lunch and a demonstration of Portuguese Fado music.  The lunch included wine, soup or salad, and either a chicken or fish entrée.  The soup was like butternut squash soup, while the salad was a tomato and mozzarella salad.  The chicken was thinly pounded and grilled breasts served with potatoes, cabbage, and hollandaise sauce, while the fish was salted cod in a thick white cheese sauce with potatoes that was remarkably like macaroni with cheese.  The salted cod tasted like fish, and it was hard to imagine it started off dried and salted.  Dessert was a strawberry ice cream and diced fruit cup.

  

The Fado music was performed by 2 musicians and a singer.  There was one person on a guitar and one on a Portuguese guitar, which has 12 paired strings and is shaped something like a lute.  All three were males.  We learned that although modern Fado music can be performed by men and women, traditionally in Coimbra, it was strictly a male pursuit.  We had heard mixed things about what to expect of Fado, but it was melodic, emotional, and expressive.  With the wine flowing freely, it was a most enjoyable and memorable lunch stop. 

When we arrived in Porto, the bus began a narrow and winding descent to the dock where our ship was berthed.  There were actually 3 Viking River boats specifically built for the Douro River.  These are considerably smaller than the long boats that cruise the Danube and Rhine rivers.  They are probably close to the size of the Viking River cruise ships operating on the Nile in Egypt.  The ships were tied up 3 abreast.  Our ship was adjacent to the dock when we arrived so we could walk right onto our ship without having to cross through other ships. 

Our upgraded Veranda cabin is nice, but seems smaller than the staterooms on the Expedition and Ocean ships.  There is a narrow counter running in front of the foot of the bed containing the mini fridge and a cabinet with 3 pull-out drawers, but no real dedicated desk space.  There are both European and North American electrical outlets by the nightstands at the head of the bed, and a couple of USB-A outlets on the wall at one end of the counter at the foot of the bed.  This should be functional and comfortable enough for this short trip.

The bathroom also seems smaller than on other Viking ship classes, but still functional and efficient.  The shower is a bit narrower but has plenty of hot water.  The bathroom floors are not heated on this ship.

There were welcome cocktails and champagne.  They served something they called a Port and Tonic, which was white Port wine mixed with tonic and a twist of lemon on the rocks.  During the welcome reception, the ship pulled away from the dock and the 3 Viking Douro River ships shuffled like cards and then tied back up to the dock, this time with our balcony obstructed by the adjacent ship’s.  We’ll be keeping our blinds closed tonight.

There was then a safety briefing and introduction of the ship’s officers, followed by a daily briefing.  These ships will stay tied up at dock overnight, and will cast off their lines at 7 a.m. so most of the ship’s actual movements take place during daylight hours for scenic cruising.  We will visit the Mateus Palace, famous for Portuguese Rose wine, in the afternoon.  The ship will pass through three locks tomorrow, but from the schedule, it looks like the ship will pass through the third lock while we are on our excursion.  We’ll have to see just how that works out tomorrow.

Following the daily briefing, we headed down to the dining room where we had our first dinner.  The menu has a section of featured Portuguese cuisine in addition to the usual menu selections.  Janet had opted for a bowl of soup and risotto while Ben opted for the Portuguese menu with Caldo Verde à Minhota, which is a cabbage and potato soup with slices of mild Portuguese chorizo, Cataplana, which is a seafood stew like cioppino, and Torta de Laranja, an orange cake. 

 The food was all excellent. We had sat at an 8-top, so it was very loud and a bit chaotic, but it was a convenient place to sit at the time and we had met two of the other couples that had already been seated there.  In the future, we may try to get a 2 or 4-top for a more quiet dining experience.