The sunny, stunning Douro Valley

Wednesday, May 09, 2018
Porto District, Portugal
Sunday morning after eating some of Jane’s fresh baking - remember in the previous chapter Jane had gone for an early morning walk to find some baking - we packed the Skimobile loaded the GPS and left Porto (Emglish translation is Oporto). As the Skimobile is a new car and the French are cunning the car is not supplied with a full tank of petrol  (unlike a rental) so we had to find a petrol station and then the  minor road of the N108.   We found some petrol and eventually the N108 - The GPS does not like sending you on minor roads - we have since learnt to use our phone on roaming (free with European SIM card) and that allows the navigator to give good directions to the driver. Our aim was to avoid the highways and motorways where possible. “Forget the highway. Drive route N-108, which is narrow, twisty, a bit steep and fully delightful. The road follows the Douro River from Porto to Regua “ ex Trip Advisor. Sounds just like our sort of road to get used to driving in right handed car doesn’t it. Life is full of challenges and we are in no rush. Simon as driver was understandably apprehensive, as was Susan whereas Jane was your untypical back seat passenger she was perfect. Jane said she was just happy to be driven through such lovely countryside.  The Skimobile was a Peugeot with handy sensors that beeped if you got too close to any objects. It has a 6 speed manual gear  box and during our time in the Douro it was put into 5th gear once, we look forward to driving a road suitable to try Top Gear! 
We struggled to find Our Majestic Property in the Douro Valley. In Santa Leocádia, Porto District 4640, Portugal and after messaging Francisco he came to a rendezvous and we followed him to Our Majestic Property in the Douro Valley. We were not the first, Simon thinks, the vast majority of guests ask for assistance even those from Lisbon. First impressions of Our Majestic Property in the Douro Valley were that it was majestic. The photos of where the house is nestled into the valley with stunning views of the Douro Valley plus our own pool, do not do the location justice. We headed to the supermarket which was near by this took a bit of time and involved a bit of a rest break back at Our Majestic Property in the Douro Valley before finding it on our second attempt. It certainly was not like a NZ supermarket but we got some basics to keep us going, Bread, milk, margarine, coffee ( as AirBnB had a filter coffee machine), water etc. We dined at a nearby Hotel Porto Antigo on the banks of The Douro. 
We made sure we started each morning with lovely freshly picked & squeezed Orange juice. A good Get Go!            As we were staying until Friday we had an ‘at home day’ on Monday. Thunder and rain were forecast for 3pm. So at 3.05 the heavens opened, thunder and the power went off briefly. Luckily we had had our pool time by then and we had a lovely Pork Loin with fresh orange cooked by Jane. We washed this down with some unmarked bottles of chilled white wine. We discovered the following day that some of the unmarked bottles were red wine also chilled. Not too bad on a hot day. 
Tuesday we were getting the train to Pinhão. We doing this as it was a one hour train along the banks of the Douro through wonderful countryside. Pinhão was also famous for lovely blue tiles decoratingthe railway station. The tiles depict the history of the area. Pinhão also allows you to access to Wine & Port tours. We had a bit over 2 hours before the return train so we stopped at cafe. It was local as some firemen came and had their meals with accompanying red wine. Luckily we did not hear the sirens go off. Last year  Portugal had some quite serious bush fires and we could see quite a bit of evidence of parts of the valley.  Sorry I digress Lunch ended up being an assortment of local dishes. We had so much we got doggy bags to take home. A lamb dish as well as bean and pork dishes. We did do some shopping a bottle of Port and some labelled Red wine! 
We got the train back and once back at Our Majestic Property in the Douro Valley. Jane and Simon went for a pre-wine walk. Susan’s knee was coping well with the amount of walking we were doing but as she does not like wine that much  a pre-wine walk would be silly! Dinner was our doggy bags.
Wednesday was Rachel’s 25th birthday so to celebrate we ( Jane, Susan & Simon) were going out for a Ski Lunch. DOC, whose chef has a  Michelin Star for another restaurant,  was great - you can fast forward through the photos but we know some people are keen to see what we ate. We sat outside and ended up being the only outside diners due to the wind. The waiting staff had to keep rescuing glasses, napkins etc that were been Blowing in the wind. The staff eventually gave up and cleared all the tables. We were quite happy dining outside enjoying our Ski Lunch. 
We  called into a supermarket on our way home to get a few supplies we knew that we would need a bit of supper at 8 or so. Simon wanted a pasta salad so we brought a chicken to roast and the ladies could eat it how ever they wanted. While the chicken was  cooking  Jane & Simon walked down to the Douro River. Simons chicken pasta salad was so nice he had enough for lunch on a Thursday.
Thursday was another at home day as it was our last real day of R&R before becoming true tourists & driving north to Orly Airport. So we did some clothes washing and Simon of course went for a run.
Our final dinner in The Douro was at a local cafe up the hill Cafe A Casa which Francisco had told us about. On asking for a menu, we were told “No menu I see what’s available”. Pork with rice, French fries and salad was offered and all 3 of us said  sim, por favour. On speaking to the ‘waiter’ Reuben (English version) who is 16 yrs old & mum is the chef. He had taught himself English from watching  movies, it was pretty good.   He wants to be a wine maker and was excited when we were from NZ - wow I would love to go NZ. He gave us a shot ( to share) of  Amarguinha  ( made with bitter almonds). So strong a single sip was enough for us Kiwis. Jane not wanting to go to waste knocked it back. Apparently the Portugese often start there day with a shot! In NZ we have muesli and fresh milk. In Portugal the milk is long life 1 litre cartons not quite the same. Hence coffee is often only offered as espresso or stronger. 
Friday morning we packed up and left Our Majestic Property in the Douro Valley and headed for a seafood lunch in Porto, before dropping Jane to the airport
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Comments

Leanne
2018-05-19

I'm playing catch up today! Stunning accommodation, food and views. Wow!

2025-02-10

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