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 to a pristine river that flows off the beaten path — Portugal’s Douro River.
Not many have cruised the Douro River — a delightful discovery. 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 greens — 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 Scenic Azure. A five-star river cruise ship, the all-inclusive (food, drinks, cocktails and excursions), ultra-luxury (each suite has a butler) Scenic Azure accommodates a maximum of 96 guests.
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 cobblestoned streets and six unique bridges (one of them by Gustave 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.
From Porto, the Scenic Azure took us on an eight-day cruise to magical and quaint towns like Regua, Lamego, Vega de Terron on the border with Spain, Pocinho, Pinhao and Guimaraes. 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 flanked 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, 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.
It was a stairway to heaven built by man. *
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(To be continued)