Throwback Wednesday

Wednesday, November 5, 2025

Do you remember drinking Mateus rosé in the 60’s or 70’s? Well, I certainly do. We will soon take a trip down Memory Lane to Mateus Palace, which is pictured on the label above. But first, I will describe the morning’s activities.

A lecture on Portugal and the Douro Region was offered, but we did not attend. A second lecture, on cork, piqued my interest. Who could resist entering the lounge to see all the cork merch laid out by “The Cork Lady?” 

Cork trees belong to the oak family. It takes 25 years for a new tree to produce its first batch of cork. The cork is peeled off from the trunk from the ground up to the first branches, all the way around the trunk.It doesn’t hurt the tree to leave the trunk completely bare. After the first harvest, a cork tree will grow a new crop of cork in 7 to 9 years. When a trunk has been harvested, the last number of the year is painted on the tree so that farmers will know when it is time to harvest that tree again.

Portugal is the world’s leading producer of cork. There are cork shops (and wine shops) everywhere. Cork is lightweight, flexible, and buoyant. It is waterproof, flame-retardant, and decay-resistant. It offers thermal and acoustic insulation. I’ll drink to that!

Today we cast off from Vila Nova de Gaia and “sailed” to Lamego, where Viking Helgrim stopped briefly to disembark most of her passengers. While our boat continued on the river to Pinhão, the passengers traveled by bus to Mateus Palace.

Our boat passed through three locks today. The first lock we reached was part of a large dam.

  

At the biggest lock, the waiters passed out sangria during the transit.

The landscape along the route was hilly and verdant, and dotted with vineyards. 

At last we arrived at Mateus Palace and Gardens. It had been raining off and on. Now it was seriously raining. 

We had to walk to the palace from the gate. It was an impressive approach, even in the rain. Apparently, in Portugal, the word “palace” is not supposed to be used unless royalty has slept there. Thus, the Mateus Palace is not a true palace, even though it is called Mateus Palace. (I wonder if the Avenida Palace, our Lisbon hotel, is a legitimate palace.)

                                         

A second palace is reflected in the water as one nears the baroque mansion. But, wait, is that a body in the water? Is that a statue that fell over? 

The manor house was built around 1740. The reflecting lake was added in the 1950’s or 1960’s. The woman sleeping in the water is a sculpture installed in 1981.

The property is now owned by the Mateus Foundation, which is managed by descendants of the founders of the winery. The name Mateus comes from the location of the property. The family name is Albuquerque. Several family members still occupy a part of the manor house that is not open to the public.

After a while the rain stopped enough for us to wander in the formal garden for a bit.

On the way back, our guide, Inês, kept talking about the amazing railroad station we were going to see in Pinhão. (Inês is a Viking crew member and will be the tour escort for our bus for the entire week.) By the time we got to Pinhão, it was pitch dark. Everyone was tired and wet and ready to get back to the boat. But we drove past the turnoff to the dock and kept going to “see” the railroad station. The station was deserted and there were no lights on. The bus slowed down, but we couldn’t see anything. Then we came to a dead end and the bus had to slowly back up for a so that we could find a place to turn around and return to the boat. Maybe Inês started doing this tour in summer when it was light out at 5:45, but, as they say, that train has left the station. 

Back on the boat in time for a cocktail before dinner. Hugo gives a very short talk on the next day’s port every night. The chef talks about the local specialties on the menu. Then Hugo gives us a hilarious Portuguese phrase of the day. A phrase to describe chaos is “O fim do Munda em cuecas,” which means “The end of the world in underpants.”

We had dinner with our group, which I will call “LuAnn’s Group” in honor of the person who organized this trip but could not come due to last-minute shoulder surgery. There are 14 of us, including Ken and me. We don’t all fit at one table, but we will eventually get a chance to sit with everyone else.  Six of them are people we have not met before, but everyone knows at least one other person.

The passengers at large are not especially diverse. I would guess that all are over 55 and most are over 65. All but one Asian couple are white. There are four New Zealanders, and the rest are Americans. There is a group of 8 LGBT women, and there is one trans woman traveling alone. No scooters, wheelchairs, or walkers, but  a few canes. This is not a good trip for anyone with mobility issues.

After dinner we did not go to the Music Quiz. It was a long day.

By the way, the shape of the Mateus bottle was inspired by the water flask used by Portuguese soldiers in World War I. The label has been updated and the wine has been tweaked to make it a little drier, but the bottle shape remains and they still use a real cork stopper.

Today’s travel tips

Number One: Don’t buy stamps from the shop where you buy postcards. They are likely to be stamps issued by a private mail service. I have not had good luck with these stamps in the past - the cards were never received. On the other hand, I have not had good luck trying to buy stamps at a real post office in Italy. The lines are unbelievable and they are sometimes out of international stamps. Just mail the postcards after you get home. 

I won’t have a travel tip every day, but I have two today. Number Two: People, if you are eating in a restaurant that has cloth napkins, for God’s sake, do not blow your nose in your napkin. You will leave it on the table. Eventually the server will pick it up without being of aware of what you did. Then the server will come to my table to bring me silverware or food. I can’t tell you how many times I have seen this happen.

Today’s “fabric” is cork. Arguably, cork is not a fabric, because it is not woven, knitted or felted, and it does not consist of fibers. However, it can be used like a fabric, so I would consider it a fabric, along with leather, when it functions as one. Here are some of the cork items displayed by the Cork Lady. The cork felt soft and smooth.