Douro Valley
Early Morning Walk
I had a restless sleep last night. I think the port is giving me weird dreams. I dreamt that while we are away, Cameron has been sneaking a flock of chickens into our house and roosting them in our air ducts. Dear neighbours, please advise us if you see Cameron up to anything fowl…haha.
We are up at 5:30am and walking to meet our tour near the train station by 6:30am…only 240 steps up and a number of steep inclines…quite the workout for so early in the morning.
The streets are practically empty. Lights are still on the monastery as the sky starts to lighten. A man rides his bike past us, loudly singing “My Eyes Adored You”. The Portuguese love music; if you take notice, it is always present.
Amarante
A bus takes us towards the Douro Valley. An early morning fog rises from the river below us.
We are about to stop in the town of Amarante. The guide says we should have something to eat before we start our port tasting. She recommends the traditional phallic shaped, cream filled pastry, created by nuns, which is distinctive to this area.
As we leave the bus, the guide once again strongly insists that we eat before port tasting…she must have had a bad experience on a past tour.
We first visit the baroque church of São Gonçalo. The facade of the church highlights numerous saints and kings.
John and I next go to a bakery/cafe by the river to try the famous phallic pastries. They come in three sizes. They are filled with a creamy custard. Our guide says that the nuns had lots of eggs and they were always coming up with creative ways to use them. I Googled the pastries and it has a different story of the pastries being a traditional gift from the medieval ages used to wish people a fertile or favourable year. Click here for historic details of this pastry.
On our way to the bus, we notice the El Camino walking trail sign of the shell in the pavement.
The church bells are ringing as we board the bus.
Through Bridges and Tunnels
Our bus leaves for a one hour ride to the Douro Valley and our boat cruise. We pass through a mountain range into another Portuguese province. We cross bridges and pass through tunnels, (one is 5.7km), and pass through yet another province.
Douro River Cruise
We stop in the small town of Pinhão where we catch a boat cruise down the Douro River. The vineyards up the hills (mountains) are gorgeous.
Port Tour and Tasting
Our next stop is Crofts winery for a port tour and tasting. We have a tour through the vineyards first. We learn a lot. The gardens at the winery are full of wisteria, iris, thyme and more. Gorgeous.
Then comes the tasting. Yum. Having no pride, I also drink one of the other guest’s ruby port. (He didn’t like sweet wine).
The bus is a lot more lively after the port tasting.
Lunch and Viewpoints
We head out to lunch…probably a good plan.
Our guide plays music to go with the mood of what we are seeing. Have I mentioned, the Portuguese love music?
We stop for a full lunch on the top of a mountain/hill. The views are gorgeous. After lunch we travel a little higher for some final views before heading back to Porto. Click here for a short video.
Scavenger Hunt
The other day I bought a souvenir for myself. The next day I thought, this would be a good birthday gift for my girlfriend Penny.
Today is our last full day in Porto, it was now or never if I am to buy this gift. I go into one shop after another…we walk km after km. But every shop I go into doesn’t have the right design of the item. The look on John’s face says, “Shoot me now!”.
Finally I find it at the same place I bought the original one.
We find a cozy, traditional Portuguese restaurant and I order a sardine stew and John orders a Portuguese sausage bruschetta.
We walk down to the riverfront, watch the sunset and head back to the apartment to pack.