2016   Northern Portugal

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	We sailed the 250 miles or so South from Cape Finisterre to Lisbon with several stops.  One of the most interesting was Povoa de Varzim, where we saw the remnants of this 4 km long aqueduct constructed in the 17th century to carry fresh water from the inland hills to the Santa Clara monastery. It is a demonstration of the wealth and power of the church at the time.
	Oporto appealed, but not motoring up the river to a city centre where docking is expensive and difficult to find, so we took the very modern metro from Povo to Oporto.  Despite a population of only a few hundred thousand, the region has a metro system that would be the envy of most North American cities. Oporto's main attraction is that is the centre of port production, all from vineyards in the Douro Valley.  the great port marketing houses are in Oporto, and offer interesting tours.  We enjoyed our day in the city, and found one port house tour enough. While old port is generally valuable, it is possible for it to spoil.  Those who buy the very old bottles, for thousands of dollars, take their chances on whether is excellent or unfit to drink.  We settled for testing normal port, and enjoyed it.
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