![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/files\/2010\/08\/DSC09503.jpg\")
<\/a>Porto, we went through Coimbra, the University town, where we learned the Inquisition lasted longer in\u00a0 Portugal than anywhere else.\u00a0 Like so much of Iberia, it was settled originally by the Romans, and served as Portugal’s capital from 1131 to 1255.<\/p>\nSome sights on the Douro:<\/p>\n At the upriver end of the trip, we crossed the border into Spain, and boarded a bus for Salamanca, an inland city with a large university.\u00a0 The city is known for its Plateresque Some other sights in or around Salamanca included the Castello Rodrigo and the Casas de las Conchas with the shells in the facade that celebrated its status on the Walk of St. James.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n On the way home, we stopped in Madrid.\u00a0 I was rather disappointed in the palace, Of greater joy than Madrid, was our tour of Toledo.\u00a0 Although political <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Reminiscences 2024 Memories of this trip include wine tasting, and realizing that there is a difference between port and expensive port. On the way to catch our boat at Porto, we went through Coimbra, the University town, where we learned the Inquisition lasted longer in\u00a0 Portugal than anywhere else.\u00a0 Like so much of Iberia, it … Continue reading “Douro Cruise and a stop in Spain”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-portugal-2010-and-madrid-toledo"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3124"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3124\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7695,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3124\/revisions\/7695"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a> <\/a>The Douro cruise took us from Porto via the Douro River to vineyards, small towns, and led to a sampling of the wines, including at the estate of Mateus, a rose. that I remembered from my college days.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a>architecture, and the first university in Europe, courtesy of Alfonso X of Leon.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> given the scale of Charles V and the wealth of Spain.\u00a0 I think, though, there was an earthquake that required a rebuild, by which time Charles had exhausted the <\/a> treasury in a vain attempt to hold back the rising tide of Protestantism.\u00a0 The paella was good too, but the highlight for me was the museums.\u00a0 The Prado especially housed Hieronymus Bosch, one of my personal favorites, as well as Durer, Titian, Goya, and El Greco (among others).\u00a0 It was my Western Civ class!<\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a>power passed to Madrid when it was named national capital in 1561, Toledo retained much of its historical significance (the Visigoth court lived here in the 7th century); it had a thriving Jewish and Muslim culture; and is renown for its sword steel. Well worth the extra day to visit!<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a> <\/p>\n