Douro Valley

A Portuguese, two Spaniards, two Australians and an American went for a drive, tasted wine, cruised on a riverboat and ate. A good time was had by all.

It took 90 minutes of good roads, spectacular bridges and a 6km tunnel to reach the other side of the mountains and the Douro River Valley. Pinhão was our coffee stop. We also admired the beautiful tile decoration on the walls of the old railway station.

After many hairpin bends we stopped at a winery with spectacular views and 3 decent table wines to taste.

Then we wound our way back down the mountain to the river. We took an hour-long ride and ignored the commentary. Instead we took pictures and chatted with our fellow travelers.

More driving took us to a rather poor restaurant lunch but the wine and company were great so we retained our good humour. The final stop was a port tasting. At both wineries we also got the tour which was interesting. Port and nibbles followed. The guys all liked one of the port styles, though not the same one. The women didn’t like any of them! Lyn did like the tiny local church.

Throughout the tour the real pleasure was in the conversation. The Spanish couple were happy speaking English, many stories were shared and, not for the first time, people discussed the fact that Lyn looks like Meryl Streep. When it was suggested that this made me a lucky man, I countered that perhaps it was because I looked like George Clooney. This suggestion was vehemently rejected.