Douro valley

We left the winery and drove along the Douro river on some crazy windy roads, with sheer dropoffs on one side (with some sections, especially on s-curves, where we noticed very incomplete fences/barriers) terraced hillsides above with grape vines, wineries on every corner. The sun came out and it was a gorgeous drive.

We stopped for lunch in the town of Peso de Regua, and had a delicious lunch at Vista do Douro. We finally enjoyed some tasty franceshina!

 

This was the extremely narrow, two-way bridge into the town of Pinhao. We were staying at a guest house just above the town that was constructed in 2021 out of the slate that distinguishes the area. 

Here's our house, perched on the hillside, and the view.

And then here's the view from inside our room.

Steve and I decided to go for a walk down to Pinhao and then up the opposing hillside to a viewpoint. It was the steepest decline and uphill trek you could imagine, literally straight down and up, and then down and up again. We were both breathing hard and sweating by the time we returned to the house.

This is the view from the opposing hillside, of our house halfway up the hill.

And then it was time for dinner, which was at the in-house restaurant and was delightful. Steve and Seb shared an aged steak, Liesl had veal, and I had octopus. Dessert was gelato with chocolate sauce, preceded by a fruit jelly and these crackling little pop rocks. There was port, served to all four of us to precede the meal, and a wine that had been made for the house.