Today was the day I was looking forward to arguably the most on this trip: spending a day going through the Douro Valley and sampling wine! I’m by no means a wine drinker, but getting a chance to try the famous Portuguese wines straight from the source was an opportunity I wasn’t going to pass up! Fortunately, my distinctly non-drinker mom was on board with this, and as things would turn out, enjoyed the day too. It helped that we had a schedule boat trip along the river, but going to this part of the country was something unanimously listed as the top non-Porto attraction.

We walked about ten minutes down to the little tourist organization that organized the excursion. We had a bit of time to kill, so we chatted to the nice Canadian couple that would also be partaking in this excursion. As it turns out, they had booked a trip to the Caribbean, but due to the weather in Toronto, their flights got cancelled which was the sign for them to visit Portugal instead. Time passed easily, and the last two people in our small group joined us. Our driver João was highly charismatic, and from the get-go he made us feel at ease. The drive up to the location of our boat tour took roughly ninety minutes, but it never felt that long. To kill time, we played a little icebreaker, which was to introduce ourselves, name two hobbies of ours unrelated to the stereotypical “traveling” answer, as well as list a dead musician we wished to bring back. For the last one, I answered Jimi Hendrix, but Carlos, the Brazilian guy with us, said Michael Jackson as he actually saw him live in London back in the 2000’s. On that note, it turned out that Carlos was the only person who didn’t speak English; his partner Giovanna did, and she helped translate for him. It was neat hearing both Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese being spoken, since I’ve been self-studying the language, especially with the accent and pronunciation!

After the ninety or so minutes, we finally made it to the top of the valley, where we first pulled over to take pictures. Despite it being very foggy up there, we still were able to admire the scenery. I never took Portugal for being that mountainous, and while it was obviously a change in scenery, it never felt like we were in a radically different place. The day’s weather was also a bit chillier so up there it felt like “proper” fall weather in the mid 40’s, compared to about ten degrees warmer in the cities. By this point our little photo break was over, so back in the van to go all the way down to the riverside quay we went. The little boat we were on was able to fit maybe 18 or so people, but our little group meant that we had more space to fill. We were on the water for about an hour, but a few minutes in the first mate zipped up the plastic sheets to ensure that we wouldn’t be exposed to the blustery wind; this made all the difference, but I still had a blanket on my lap the entire time. Another neat thing was that it happened to be Giovanna’s birthday, so the first mate again was busy by providing all of us with some free champagne.  

Now, it was time for the main part of the excursion! João, since he took the van to drive around to meet us at our stopping point, was waiting for us. Going up and around the mountain to more fertile land was phenomenal, and we were treated to some picturesque views! I was also interested in seeing how many houses were nestled on these hills, since it felt fairly isolated. Hey, I guess that for some people it was their perfect location. As the Douro River was to our right, João pointed out a few things for us. The first of which was how the train tracks we saw were first laid as a means of getting to/from this area, but the construction of the roads meant these were soon outdated; they are now used primarily as a tourist trap. The second point was how the dams we saw really helped control the river and helped give the valley its fertility. Neat stuff, and it really just showed the divide between the more populated western side of the country compared to the center/eastern sides. As we were going up over the top, we suddenly stopped along the road since João saw some edible fruit hanging there. Naturally, he picked some for all of us, and while I don’t know and remember what exactly it was, it was just right! The taste was sweet without being overly so, and I honestly could’ve eaten a ton more! Finally though, we made it up the winding, narrow road to reach the winery: Quinta de Santa Eufémia.

Before we went inside, João showed us the equipment for the bottling, and just seeing that gave me a far better appreciation for how in-depth wine making was. In the van he’d mentioned how he grew up at a winery, so he saw firsthand how pricey it could be, so that also reiterated just how well this particular one clearly was doing. We were then greeted by the English-speaking guide, who showed us first the dining room (where we’d be eating lunch at) before the vats where they stored and aged their wine. I’ve been to breweries before, so it wasn’t inherently new information I was receiving here, but I did enjoy hearing about the aging process of wine. Soon, we were back in the dining room for our meal, but before we had our food we enjoyed some more tales and drinks. We had five types of drinks from the winery, so we weren’t lacking in samples! We had the house port as well as rosé and other types of wine, but the port was the winner. Sadly I was too busy chowing down so I didn’t take pictures of what we drank, but the five types of wine (which I forget exactly what they were) were top-notch! By now we had our meal, which was chicken and rice. The beauty of being here meant that it was absolutely fresh, and the meal of course was excellent. More jokes and tales were bandied around until we all were adequately stuffed. João, at the very start of the excursion, had promised us a surprise, and this was when he showed us what it was: a performance. You see, he had studied to become a clown, so he was well versed in the performing arts. His guitar was well tuned and thus led him to beginning his few fado (of joy!) songs. This capped off an excellent time on the excursion, and it was time for us to head all the way back to Porto.

Once back in the city, it was time to grab dinner. We wanted to go back to A Regaleira to have more of the francesinha, but the restaurant was closed by then. This wasn’t anything to panic over, as we had another recommended restaurant to go to: Conga. Since 1976 the place has been serving bifanas, Portugal’s legendary pork sandwich, and it was a well-oiled machine there. Honestly, the premises felt like a McDonald’s in the sense that it occupied two floors and felt like a fast food restaurant. Of course, a regular fast food place wouldn’t have plenty of waiters, beer on tap, and TVs showing the local Porto soccer match. The service was super quick, as we found a seat and were able to order straight away; they had menus in English, so tourists won’t feel like they’re guessing to order things. On top of our bafanas, we ordered two different types of soup, which honestly hit the spot as a complement to the sandwiches. As we were hungry, we didn’t linger once finished, but rest assured this place is worthy of its status as a purveyor of pork sandwiches! We did take our time to walk off the meal we’d just eaten, so we enjoyed seeing the main square at night. Once we returned back to our hotel, that was it for us. However, we’d be flying out to the Algarve region in the morning, so it would be a day of travel yet again!