Douro Valley Day 2

 Sunday morning, we woke up on the earlier side to eat breakfast in the hotel and then meet our guide Nuno for our hike. Nuno was a great guide and from a village nearby. He drove us up to a small village to look out on the valley and then we drove a little further up to our starting point. We hiked about 3.5 miles all together (it was very hilly) with stops along the way to discuss the vegetation, the vineyards we saw, the history of the area, etc. After reaching the top of the mountain we were climbing, we walked downhill to lunch. For lunch, we stopped at this structure built into the mountain that had a small oven, sink and area to grill. Nuno’s colleague met us there with a picnic lunch and of course wine. We had homemade jam and homemade port, codfish salad, tuna salad with black eyed peas, egg, homemade bread and cheese. 

After lunch Nuno took us to another winery nearby: Quanta Terra. This winery was different because it combined art and wine. In addition to being a little more experimental with their wine making techniques, the owners also wanted to make art more accessible to the valley so the building was also used for several exhibits. We sat down for a wine tasting which was great. We had so many glasses in front of us, Nuno insisted on a picture. After Quanta Terra, we wound our way back down the mountain in Nuno’s car and went back to the hotel. It was an incredible experience. 

At the hotel, we had time to hang out so Mom went to the pool while I hung out in the air conditioning. After we got ready for dinner, we walked to the train station and ran into Sarah. Our dinner reservation was about a half hour away, so we took the train to that neighborhood while it was still running and took a taxi home. The roads are narrow and curvy here so I’m glad we aren’t driving. 

We had dinner at Castas e Pratos which was in the old train station building at Regua. Everything was delicious. We had duck ravioli, scallops, veal with risotto and sea bass with risotto. We finished with a lemon made of some sort of mousse and a deconstructed tiramisu. 

Today we head to Coimbra for one night. It’s so beautiful here but we have tasted a lot of wine so we are ready for new activities.