ADVENTURES, CHALLENGES, AND INSIGHTS OF A COUPLE IN EARLY RETIREMENT
The first two ports of call after crossing most of the Atlantic Ocean were Madeira in the Atlantic and then Morocco in northwestern Africa. Two very different places we were quite curious about. After that, we had a short visit to Barcelona and a day in Genoa.
A big part of our roving retirement is traveling around Europe. However, during Covid lots of extra things need to be done. So, we thought we would describe our EU Covid pass experience. On our recent trip, people in Portugal and in France required our Euro QR code to verify our vaccination status.
After our stay in Porto, we felt compelled, COMPELLED!, to head up the Douro River to seek out the sources of all of the port wine we saw being aged in the warehouses in Gaia. We were not disappointed by the visit, neither by the Port, we tasted, nor the stunning views the Douro Valley affords.
Our route north in Portugal finally took us to Porto. We have really been looking forward to seeing the Duoro River and Porto, in addition to learning about port wine. The Porto metro area is quite large but Porto is very approachable.
After looking at the map of Portugal, we decided that visiting Coimbra, between Lisbon and Porto, would be a good idea. Coimbra, another UNESCO site, has the oldest public university in Portugal, dating back to 1290. The university, first established in Lisbon, went through a number of relocations until moving permanently to Coimbra in 1537.
