Look out for your long-lost cousins!
ships shipwrecked on the shores of the West of Ireland after they were blown off course.
The reason, as our delightful national tour guide, Catarina, explained to me, is that much of the crew were actually Portuguese.
The Spanish armies and navies were fond of sending Portuguese to the dangerous front line – in much the same way as so many Irishmen fought and often died for the Crown forces through the ages – and the arduous voyage to go and fight the British was not considered a handy gig.
The rest is history, the Armada never made it to their great battle on the English south coast and many of the stranded sailors who crawled ashore in the west of Ireland counties eventually integrated and married into the local communities.
To this day, you will hear Kerrymen, Galwegians and even those from the Northern shores of Donegal claim that the swarthy looks often seen in Atlantic coast locals today is a result of the Spanish heritage inherited from the Spanish sailors.
Well, I hate to break the romantic notion, but it just needs to be tweaked slightly, we’re probably related to the Portuguese instead.
The beautiful city of Porto – and all our possible long-lost cousins – has recently started to be explored by Irish visitors in greater numbers, and this will grow now, with Ryanair set to expand its offering of flights there from flying twice a week to five times for the summer.
Let me take you on a journey of the secret delights of Oporto (its local name), it is Portugal’s Second City, and its twin city of Gaia across the Douro River.
The ancient old town centre of Porto is still the heart of the city and has been designated a Unesco World Heritage site.
The Pestana hotel group has converted a series of 11 buildings dating from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries into a modern luxurious five-star hotel, the Pestana Vintage Porto, that somehow manages to blend in seamlessly with the rickety-looking neighbouring buildings of the Praca da Ribeira.
It was a unique experience to stay there because the hotel itself is designated a Unesco World Heritage site too.
It’s the ideal venue from which to explore the narrow cobbled streets of the old town and a perfect central base from where to wander up the hills towards the main ancient architectural attractions of the city.
Principal among these are the city’s cathedral, which locals began building in the year 1110, alongside a typically impressive Bishop’s palace.
I asked if it was dedicated to any particular saint and was told it was built for the Virgin Mary, but was then told this was not particularly noteworthy as ALL cathedrals in Portugal are dedicated to Mary – easily the country’s most popular religious saint so.
A fantastic statue of Henry the Navigator pointing out towards the Atlantic he set sail from some 700 years ago sits atop an obelisk opposite the old town hall, also impressive.
Henry’s original home, now a museum, is just around the corner and is well worth a visit if you are interested in the great age of discovery like me.
The Sau Bento train station, St Benedict’s, is like departing from the Sistine Chapel itself with its magnificent frescoes, while a genuine steam engine received from the Nazis as war reparations still serves on the Duoro valley schedule.
Amidst it all is a modernist classic, the city’s Casa di Musica venue about three miles from the old Unesco-rated centre. It’s not just a concert hall, but an experimental space that pushes the boundaries of acoustics and allows some of the world’s finest musicians perform in an inspiring space.
NOW, down to what is probably the main event for many that will visit Porto, the hint is in the name, yes, of course, port itself.
The fortified wine is unique to the region and a visit to one of the dozens of port houses (across the river in Gaia in the main ironically) along with a trip up the Douro valley to see how it is all done are musts if you visit the region.
Lunch at Vinum restaurant surrounded by 3,200 oak barrels where the ports of Graham’s are aged is a special meal. When you’ve finished your repast with an exquisite tawny port, you can go down to the Graham’s cellars to take a tour from some of the experts.
You’ll learn how port retains its extra strength above wine because of the addition of a grape spirit at an early stage in the process.
This gives the port its distinctive sweet taste that so many savour over regular wines, and the spirit also delivers the extra kick that port has – real port must be authenticated by the city’s masters as having an alcohol content of 19 to 21% proof. The Graham’s cellars host vintage ports going back to the 19th century, with some bottles on sale for over €6,000!
We generally only see port as being red here, but on a visit to the Croft Port vineyards in Quinta da Roeda, I sampled white port, rosé port, our familiar ruby port, tenyear-old tawny port and 20-yearold tawny port – quite an expert I thought I had become in just one afternoon, obrigado Porto!
The vineyard surrounds of Croft’s property in Quinta da Roeda are inspiring and the dedication to authenticity here in the heart of the Douro valley must be admired.
Donkeys are still known to trek their way through the narrow paths separating the vines, grapes are still picked by hands, and, perhaps most impressively, the grapes are still crushed by human feet.
Croft’s wine tourism manager Filipe can arrange for you to take part in your own version of Stomp with the locals as part of a tour if you make contact in advance.
All in all, Porto and the beautiful Douro valley has so much to offer. Whether you’re in the mood for a restive trip enjoying the finest of food and port wine, want to find out where it all started for some of the world’s great explorers, need ch a special gig in the Casa di ca, mix it with the young in any bars and nightclubs that I'm reliably told were buzzing while sleeping, or are even there to see one of your favourite soccer teams take on FC Porto (Jose Mourino’s alma mater), Porto will And me you all. some remember, you could meet too.. long-lost Armada cousins