Porto-Amarante

After putting my port education to good use by tasting many of the delicious ports offered by the wine lodges and enjoying the city some more, as the weather became colder and rainy, I headed off to Amarante on Saturday afternoon. The train from Porto to Livração was a beautiful ride as it travels along the river and through the countryside and climbs into the hills The trip from Livração to Amarante is 25 minutes on a narrow gauge line (single track) which runs along the Rio Tâmega. As you travel high above the hills and the river, the views were stunning.

Amarante straddles the Rio Tâmega and the main square is dominated by Gonçalo’s namesake church and monastery, both of which are gorgeous. While you definitely knew you were in a church, it was one of the most subtle and tasteful churches I have seen in my travels. There is a rebuilt medieval bridge that offers a main crossing of the river (by car or foot) and was used to allow the inhabitants of the city to flee and hold Napoleon's troops at bay during the French occupation of Portugal. The French then burned the town in retaliation. You know I can’t help putting a historical spin on my visits.

Amarante is home to São Gonçalo, Portugal’s Saint Valentine. Amarante means love in Portuguese and it is said that many lonely hearts make pilgrimage here in hopes of the miraculous – true love. I did not know this at the time I chose to stay here and while I don’t consider myself a lonely heart, as of this writing the miraculous has not occurred. I learned this morning that legend and tradition hold that for the not-so-young (moi?) in search of a mate they will find true love if you make a heartfelt wish and touch the statute above Gonçalo’s tomb in the church. Following my mantra of when in Portugal, do as they do, I will go back to the church today and make a wish because a love in my life would be a nice thing.

The town is also known as something of a foodie Mecca as the town offers fabulous prize vineyards, excellent cheeses, smoked meats and rich egg pastries – all of which I am happy to say I have sampled. While calling this town a foodie Mecca is something of a stretch for a Bay Area girl, I will say that the meals and wine I have had here have been outstanding. On Saturday evening, I wanted a glass of wine and went into one of the local cafes. After some English-Portuguese-French negotiation, I came out with a half bottle of red wine opened for me and a glass to “take away.” It was so good, a straw was really all I needed. I headed to the river, enjoyed the wine and the sunset and it was glorious. Afterwards I went to dinner and had some of the best grilled salmon I have had in ages. Yesterday, I spent much of the day exploring the ups and downs of the town’s cobblestone hills and walking along the riverbanks.

As I was wandering around yesterday, it hit me hard that I only have about a week left of traveling, yikes! There is part of me that would like to keep traveling and the other part that longs for the creature comforts of home – my own bed, a home cooked meal, wardrobe choices that are not limited to a suitcase, etc. At times, it seems like I have been gone just a week or so and at other times, it seems like ages. I will be spending most of this week in Nazare which is a small village on the coast before heading to Lisbon.