The new day dawned clear and warm – temperatures are averaging in the mid 30s during the early afternoon so early morning I g excursions are appreciated.
We berthed at the lovely river side town of Regua which is the unofficial capital of the Douro Region and the little town was heaving ! They have an Annual Half Marathon across the three old bridges spanning the river, and into the hillside – and it was on the next day.
We set off after a massive breakfast as usual, up into the hillside leading up and up and up away from the river. Through wine and orange groves, with unbeatable views and searching for a square metre of vacant land. We didn’t find one vacant square metre.
Again, the bus driver was some kind of freak manoeuvring the bus ever ipwa da and around horrifying hair pin bends with barely an inch to spare.
Our first experience today was visiting the Mateus Palace made famous for its image being placed on the label of the most famous of Portuguese Rose wines.
The Palace is a privately owned property that has absolutely zero connection to the manufacture of the wine – apart from its photo on the label 🤷♂️
The building and the grounds have become one of the more important spaces in Portugal, as the site has been almost handed over to the Government for people of explore the beauty.
The descendants of the original owners still live in the home, and as a result of the significance of the buildings and gardens the original owner was made a Count in recognition of his donation to the cause.
And it’s beautiful
We moved on wining through the magnificent vineyard laced hillsides trusting that the tighter we gripped the seat armrests the safer we’d be in the case of a tragic spill over the edge of one of these cliffs.
Our destination was one of the older and larger vineyards in the Douro – La Quinta da Pacheca – and wow.
What a place. The property is in pristine condition and the staff are amazing with their knowledge and hospitality.
We had a fantastic introduction to the property and a lovely chilled white port – one of their specialties.
We then moved onto a wine cave, holding dozens of huge barrels of wine on hold and had the most beautiful three course meal with paired wines
What an afternoon !
They also produce maybe a dozen varieties of port wine so we sought out something different and found their Pink Port – gorgeous. So we bought one.
What another super day
Back to the ship to relax in this beautiful little village port.
And then after another spectacular dinner we had a local Portuguese music troupe join us on boats for what we thought may be a lame night of “entertainment”
Well it turned out to be somewhat different to what we expected !
A fun and entertaining night from a group of musicians that love their craft.
We move onto Porto tomorrow for the last couple of days of the River Cruise. Really looking forward to Porto but will be really sad to get to the end of the Douro adventure.
Ralph and Karen's Tours 