We are booking hotels and beginning to pack for our trip to Portugal and Madeira.

Cathy is planning to see some of the places that were visited around 200 years ago by her ancestor, Clarissa Trant. Her father was a general under Wellington during the Peninsular campaign, and he remained in Portugal after the fall of Napoleon as governor of Oporto, which is our first destination.

I have been to Oporto in 1994 on a sailing trip, but only saw the centre of the City which is in the river valley of the Douro. I remember a steep side valley with shops selling all sorts of interesting things, and the moored 'barcos rabelos' (reproductions of the sailing vessels that were used to move wine and port on the river) moored by the Port warehouses, adding to the attraction.