The Art & Architecture of Lisbon

Topic: Tour CalendarJuly 7 to 20, 2008

plus an 8-day destination cruise through Portugal's Douro Valley

Dr. Tom Schantz retired as Professor of Art Education at Kutztown University in 2004 after 35 years of teaching Two-Dimensional Design, Animation, and Visual Literacy. Since 1981, he and Witte Travel have teamed up to offer distinctive art and architecture tours. Not limited to the fine arts, Tom’s tours seek out the decorative arts, folk art, the popular arts—and sometimes the eccentric!

This year’s tour will feature Uniworld’s Douro Valley program, which includes two nights in Lisbon and a seven-night cruise aboard the Douro Queen. As a complement to the Uniworld program, Witte Travel has arranged an in-depth experience of the fascinating Portuguese capital exclusively for Tom’s group. This very special three-night Lisbon package precedes the Uniworld program.

Day 1 ~ Monday, July 7 - Departure from the U.S.

Dr. Tom Schantz’s 27th tour gets underway today! Check in at Newark International Airport for the overnight flight via TAP Portugal. Next stop: Lisbon!

Day 2 ~ Tuesday, July 8 - Lisbon

• Arrive Lisbon in the early morning.
• Meet your local guide and transfer into the city for a familiarization tour of the elegant Lapa district.
• Spend the balance of the morning at the Marionette Museum. Housed in a former convent, this museum’s collections include props, stages, masks, posters and 1,000 puppets. At this museum and all sites to be visited on July 8, 9, and 10, your local guide will pay admissions and provide a highlights briefing. You’ll then be free to browse independently. (Visit www.golisbon.com, a user-friendly website for quick information on museums and all things Lisbon.)
• Continue to the Alfama, the old Moorish quarter, for a get-acquainted tour followed by a break for lunch.
• Afternoon visit to the Tile Museum, a five-century history of decorative tiles—known in Portuguese as azuelos.
• Check in at Le Meridien Park Atlantic Lisboa (www.LeMeridien.com) between 5:00 and 6:00 p.m.

Day 3 ~ Wednesday, July 9 - Lisbon

• Breakfast is included at the hotel this morning and each morning in Lisbon.
• Meet your local guide in the hotel lobby at about 9:30 a.m. for a short transfer to the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
• Start your visit at Gulbenkian’s Modern Art Center. The collections in this distinctive, contemporary building include British and Portuguese art.
• At midday, Tom recommends getting a bite to eat at the Gulbenkian’s popular self-service cafe.
• After lunch, walk to the adjacent Calouste-Gulbenkian Museum, where you can spend as much of the afternoon as you desire. The Calouste’s collections are organized into two circuits: Asian and Classical, and European. In the Decorative Arts section, you’ll find a collection of Art Nouveau glass and jewelry by Rene Lalique.
• Ready to do some shopping? Head for the nearby Campo Pequeno, a bullring built in the Moorish style in 1892 and extensively remodeled to include a shopping mall, supermarket, restaurants, and cinemas.
• Meet your motorcoach at the Calouste-Gulbenkian at 5:00 p.m. for the return transfer to the hotel.

Day 4 ~ Thursday, July 10 - Lisbon

• Take off from the hotel around 9:30 a.m. for a transfer to the Belem district.
• We’ll spend three hours at the Berardo Museum of Modern & Contemporary Art—works by Duhamp, Bacon, Pollack, Koons, and Dali, as well as temporary exhibits.
• Tom’s suggestion for lunch today is the Berardo’s terrace cafe overlooking the river.
• Around 1:00 p.m., transfer to the Ancient Art Museum to see its collections of 14th- through 20th-century European works. Not to be missed: Hieronymous Bosch’s macabre triptych, “The Temptation of St. Anthony.”
• A 3:00 p.m. transfer will be available to take those who are interested to the nearby Jardin do Ultramar (admission included.) This beautiful spot is filled with tropical and subtropical trees, many of them endangered species originally gathered from Portugal’s former colonies.
• Transfer from the gardens to the hotel at 5:00 p.m.

Day 5 ~ Friday, July 11 - Lisbon

• Travelers—mainly from the U.S.—will be arriving in Lisbon to join us on Uniworld’s Douro Valley cruise program. While they settle in, we have the entire day to pursue our own interests in the Portuguese capital.

Day 6 ~ Saturday, July 12 - Lisbon

• Uniworld’s sighteeing program kicks off this morning with a guided city tour. See the Belem Tower, considered to be a masterpiece of 16th-century Manueline architecture. Visits will be made to the National Coaches Museum, one of the world’s finest collections of antique coaches, and the Manueline Jeronimos Monastery built at the beginning of the 16th century in honor of explorer Vasco de Gama.
• An optional afternoon excursion will be offered to the very old towns of Sintra—once a summer retreat of the Portuguese—and Cascais, a fishing port and bustling resort.

Day 7 ~ Sunday, July 13 - Lisbon, Coimbra, Porto

• Beginning with breakfast today through disembarkation from the ship on July 20, all meals are included.
• A morning drive takes us north to Coimbra, Portugal’s third largest city and birthplace of six of Portugal’s kings.
• Sightseeing in Coimbra includes a visit to the 13th-century university and its ornate 18th-century library.
• Enjoy lunch in a local posada.
• Travel an additional 120 kilometers north to Porto or Oporto, the “City of Bridges.”
• Board the Douro Queen and settle in for a delightful 7-night cruise.

Day 8 ~ Monday, July 14 - Porto, Bitetos

• Morning tour of Porto’s medieval city center, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
• Afternoon cruise to Bitetos where dinner will be served in the former 14th-century Benedictine Monastery of Alpendurada.

Day 9 ~ Tuesday, July 15 - Regua, Pinhao

• Morning cruise through the marvelous scenery of the Douro Valley.
• Dock at Regua and take a short drive to Lamego, known for its wealth of Baroque buildings, the Sanctuary of Our Lady the Redeemer, and its wine.
• Continue to Pinhao where our “floating hotel” will be anchored for the night.

Day 10 ~ Wednesday, July 16 - Pinhao, Barca d’Alva

• A morning visit to Pinhao’s Wine Academy includes a lecture on the centuries-old tradition of port wine making and an opportunity to sample the famous beverage.
• Afternoon cruise to Barca d’Alva, which lies very close to the Spanish border.
• Captain’s Dinner on board tonight.

Day 11 ~ Thursday, July 17 - Salamanca, Vega de Terron

• Cruise into Spain and on to Vega de Terron.
• Travel overland (about 145 kilometers) to Salamanca, a virtual museum of design and architecture.
• Visit the University of Salamanca, one of the oldest universities in Europe and a blend of many decorative building styles.
• Walk in the handsome 18th-century Plaza Mayor, the center of life in Salamanca, and see the City Hall, the only asymmetrical break in the facades of the three-story arcaded buildings that border the square on all four sides.
• Lunch, showcasing the local cuisine, will be served in one of the city’s fine restaurants.
• Free time to shop, visit the Old and New Cathedrals or the Art Nouveau and Art Deco Museum. (The museum’s Modernist building alone makes it worth visiting. But finding the time to get inside might be tricky, since it’s only open from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m.)

Day 12 ~ Friday, July 18 - Castelo Rodrigo, Pinhao

• Recross the border and visit the tiny medieval town of Castelo Rodrigo
• Return to the Douro Queen at Pinhao.
• Dine at the magnificent Vintage House Hotel.

Day 13 ~ Saturday, July 19 - Vila Real, Regua

• En route today, we’ll visit Vila Real and the nearby Mateus Palace and Gardens. The outstanding Portuguese Baroque manor house is complimented by some of the most beautiful gardens in Europe.

Day 14 ~ Sunday, July 20 - Porto, Return to the U.S.

Our unforgettable journey into the heritage—cultural, historic, and scenic—of another amazing part of the world is winding to a close. After breakfast, we’ll say obrigado y adeus to the ship’s crew and transfer to Porto Airport where we’ll check in with TAP for our flight back to Newark.

Your floating hotel

Inaugurated in 2005, the Douro Queen is the newest and most luxurious ship sailing on the Douro River. It measures 254 feet in length and 37 feet in width and it can accommodate up to 130 passengers. All of its very comfortable staterooms are river view and each is appointed with a private bathroom, vanity and make-up mirror, built-in closet, hair dryer, individually-controlled air-conditioning, and flat-screen TV.

The ship’s public areas include a lounge with a full-service bar and dance floor, an elegant dining room, a sun deck with a 360-degree panoramic view, hot tub, a small swimming pool, and a small boutique with sundries and gifts. Staterooms are divided into three categories. Categories 2 and 3 are on the Main Deck and are the same size—134.5 sq. ft. The difference between the two categories is location with Category 2 cabins being in the preferred area. Category 1 staterooms are on the Upper Deck and they measure 161.5 sq. ft. including balcony. Five staterooms in Category 1 and five in Category 2 have been reserved for our group. We will be able to obtain additional staterooms in either category as long as they are available. At the time this brochure was printed, there were no staterooms available in Category 3. However, if any of our travelers prefer Category 3 staterooms, we’ll be happy to request them.

CONTACT US: for more information regarding this tour or to have the brochure mailed to you

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