Today is my last day in Porto and the activity that I had planned was via Airbnb Experiences Douro Valley: 2 Boutique Wineries and 1 hr Cruise (and lunch was included). Douro Valley is supposed to be a major producer of wine here in Portugal so I was excited for the opportunity to visit 2 wineries vs 1 (and getting lunch because that is always a plus even though I am still not eating cheese since lent is still going on). I was asked twice if I could do the tour sooner or later but informed them that I had other tours scheduled and that I’d be leaving tomorrow. Somehow they worked whatever they needed to out because it was myself as well as 6 others on today’s tour.

Phillipe was our guide and he was quite funny. He arrived a little later than expected (due to no fault of his own) so he was speed racing to the 1st winery to make up time (but it was fine we survived). Along the way he pointed out things and gave us some overall facts about Portugal (here are a few):

•Portugal has 11 million people, 5 million in •Lisbon and 3 million in Porto with the rest being scattered amongst the other areas
•Portugal per capita is the biggest consumer of wine in the world
•Portugal is the 10th biggest maker of wine in the world
•Portugal is the biggest producer of cork in the world

The activity we did 1st was the hour cruise along the Douro River (which is the 2nd longest in Portugal, the longest is in Lisbon). We were greeted with sparkling white wine and sat and enjoyed the ride and view. The wine was very good and over the course of the cruise I had either 4 or 5 glasses. We passed ducks in the water and homes/vineyards on the sides. Everyone got their photos and videos of the gorgeous view.
Phillipe asked me if I wanted to steer the boat so I said, “Sure why not?” He showed me what to do but when I took the reigns the boat began to turn directions versus going straight. Apparently boats and helicopters are not my call in steering/piloting. After the river cruise it was just a quick trip to the Casa da Quinta Santa de Eufémia in the Douro Valley region. There we tried several different wines (I believe 5 total) and I think I’m a port wine girl (as that was my favorite).

We had quite an array of snacks from smoked meat, cheese (not me because of lent-my substitute though was marmalada and it tasted like a healthy fruit rollup. Along with that were mini spring rolls, bread, salad, soup, this very tasty duck and rice dish and creme brulee for dessert. Everything was delicious and we ate it all so much so that there was an entire extra tray that they brought out of the duck dish which no one touched because by now we were all full. I definitely asked if I could get that to go and they did in fact pack it up and give it to me. That would definitely end up being dinner later.

A few people brought bottles and if I were checking a bag probably would’ve brought the white port wine. Some fun facts about wine are:

•Douro means golden
•Vino verde wine is made in vineyards closer to the water
•Authentic Port wine is only produced in the Douro Valley
•It’s called port wine because they need to age the wine in basements in Porto
•Port wine you can age for centuries

It was explained to us that a bug the Grape phylloxera which came from the US damaged 98% of the Douro Valley years go (Americans were immune to this bug). The bug loses resin to the American vine and grafting had to be implemented to protect vineyards in the valley (the green plastic represents that).

Last but not least was our 2nd vineyard Quinta do Fôjo where we tried 3 different wines, a red, white and port. Again I enjoyed the port then the red as a 2nd choice. We paired our tastings with bread, cheese (not me), jams, sauces, olives and olive oil. Elizabeth then shared with us more interesting things like:

•There are about 250 vineyards over the span of 40,000 acres in the Dorou Valley
•60% of the wine produced is port wine and 40% is table wine
•There are more than 343 grapes in the country of Portugal and more than 100 of them are in the Douro Valley

We took photos around her home and vineyard and savored the experience together. Everyone in our group was from the US though 4 no longer lived there. States they were from were Iowa, Denver, Tennesse and Utah. Of the 4 1 couple lives in the UK and the other couple in the Netherlands. It was a good group and I had fun getting to know them and figuring out my wine pallet.

It was time to go now and we stopped to walk over the Eiffel bridge designed by the same person that did the Eiffel Tower. Phillipe met us on the other side to pick us up after we walked over. Then it was a good ride back (at least an hour and a half) and I slept the entire way (with all the wine and food I knew I would be tired). I woke up as we entered Porto’s city center again and Phillipe dropped some of us off near the metro. I hoped on and went to my Airbnb to drop the food off and went back out to try to see this garden I kept hearing about but they were about to close so I had to hurry.

Once there it seemed underwhelming but I likely got there too late. I snapped a few photos and left to go back to the room. On the way I stopped by the candy store I got something from yesterday and went back to my Airbnb. I was in for the night and very tired as I tried doing my write-up I had to stop because I was just too tired after today. I laid down, took a nap and now I’m up wrapping today’s events up. I still need to pack, remember I leave tomorrow heading to Lisbon.