We were a bit sad to leave Porto, but happy that the day started off sunny, and best of all, dry. Yoo-hoo! No drip, drip. Ha! Ha! Haaaa! Little did we know that the two hour drive to our next lodging would be filled with drama and lots of drip, drip. The sweaty kind of drip, drip. We started off with taking the wrong exit on the highway. It might be a laid back country, but in this city there was havoc on the highway. It was peak hour and we were driving too slow. We had to find somewhere to make a u-turn, (was that a no entry sign? Oops!), drive all the way back and start over again. The further from the city we were, the quieter the road became. We could relax! No wait! Those bridges! High, higher, highest! Geez, and over one of them, the highest and the longest, it rained non-stop. Vision was non-existant. We crawled along, hoping that no-one bumps into us from the back, or that we bump into someone at the front. After fifteen minutes the spook was over. We needed something to settle our nerves, so made a detour to the nearest supermarket. After scoffing at least four Pastéis de Nata’s (Portuguese custard pies) each, and on a too-much-sugar high, we were so ready to get to our hotel asap. Ha! Ha! Haaaa! We did not reckon with our GPS! That nasty little so and so directed us to hell. We should have relied on our own brains and turned back when we saw that the road got narrower and narrower as we proceeded, BUT, there was nowhere to turn, back or otherwise, so onward we went. We had to flip the side mirrors inwards, which made it worse because now we really could not see the rocks and bushes threatening to scrape the car. One of us squeezed out through the door and tried to “navigate” the other one. A mess! Big car, tiny road (what road!!??) and to top it all, a downhill gradient of at least thirty percent! We had to roll down inch by inch, trying to keep all four wheels from slipping into the deep ditches on both sides. Drip! Drip! Drip! The German was a superstar! He got us out of there despite ear-piercing screams filling the air. We now really needed something to drink!
We stopped along the banks of the Douro river to catch our breaths, calm our shaking legs and also to admire the beautiful scenery. We were now on the wine route and all would be well again…wink…wink!
Quinta da Pacheca (our choice of stay)
There are a lot of wonderful places to stay in the Douro Wine Valley, but we chose the Quinta, because they had the barrels…
We did a guided mini tour of the cellar (below). This one is not in production and is only used for touristic purposes. Thereafter we had a complimentary wine-tasting with four of their wines, two of them port. The highlight was the 40-year-old. Other than the four on offer, we could also try some of the other wines. Needless to say, everything tasted so good, that we spent a lot of money, a LOT, buying lots of wines, LOTS. Hot cash card hee-hee. Thank goodness for their postal service! We tipsy-toddled over to our sleeping quarters to prepare for supper.
Wining and dining in style. We were so mellow by now, forgotten was the drama of a few hours ago. It was time to eat, drink and be merry! 😋
The Wine Barrel! What an amazing experience. As mentioned, they are the only hotel in Portugal where one can sleep in a real wine barrel, smack in the middle of the vineyard. A wine-o dream! We were astounded at how roomy and cosy it was, with all the luxuries one needed, especially the complimentary bottle of port wine. 🍷 The round bed worried us a bit because we were afraid to end up on the floor, but wow! it was very comfortable and big enough for tossy-turvies 🤣 😍
The next morning we woke up to this amazing rainbow! What a special way to start the day! After a scrumptious breakfast we packed the car (guess which one 🤓 ) and zoomed off to our next adventure. It was time to be beachy…
Angels Travelling 