We have joined the cruise in Porto, settled in and survived the first night aboard!

Will we survive the coming day’s excursion and activities? Allthego has always liked to try to improve his cooking expertise. Homealone says it needs improvement. So we are off to participate in a Portuguese cooking experience. What we cook is what we will eat for lunch. Will the mushrooms be ok? Will we need dinner?It was to take most of the day.

There was a short walking excursion of the old port area prior to the meal prep and ‘cook off’ starting circa 11am, finishing 3 pm after eating it.

A fairly extensive menu was planned. Of course to help us along there is a bit of cheese and wine to drive the creative juices. The chef goes through the ingredients and defines the objectives and techniques required.

Our group is divided into a number of ‘teams’ to assemble the meal. All the ingredients are laid out before us ready to be prepared. Mushrooms and other vegetables to be peeled, sliced and chopped. There is to be a blended vegetable soup.

Prawns to be peeled, deveined and the heads retained for later squeezing during the sauce stage.

The free range chicken to be skinned and deboned ready for a chicken and vegetable pot stew. Skin and bones headed into a stock pot.

Allthego was part of the chicken team expertly skinning numerous pieces, managed to also deal with some onions and a couple of capsicums utilising newly learned techniques.

Another team is dedicated to the production of Portuguese Tarts. Homealone brings her pastry skills to this group and manages to secure the recipe.

All this seamlessly progresses amid banter from the chef and his assistant George. There are no temperamental Masterchef episodes or walkouts.

It was a great success. Some great spicy mushroom and prawn nibbles, a smooth velvety vegetable soup and a robust chicken and veg pot stew. And of course some Portuguese tarts to finish off the meal. Some white and red wine helped.

We returned to the boat for a rest. No strange mushroom effects. Dinner was not required!

Later that evening we headed out for a musical performance to what is known as the Stock Exchange Palace, built from the mid 1800s. The building is really the very fancy premises of the local Chamber of Commerce. We had a look around the rooms and furnishings. The foyer was a large room with the ceiling surrounds depicting the national shields of all the countries that Porto traded with, around the early 1900s.

We ended up in the elaborate Arab Room for the musical performance. This room was built especially to impress Arab business visitors, with whom Porto did not trade at the time. Most impressive.

The musical performance was a little ‘ho hum’, three local guitars and singer, probably excellent performers but it was all in Portuguese. Others enjoyed it, depends on one’s taste I suppose.

A rather long day ended back at the boat. We next head off up the river for what promises to be a relaxing few days on the twisting river among the vines.