Sunday, July 17, 2011

June 16th - Èxploring Pinháo!

Woke up to the beautiful views out our balcony windows, what a site!  Breakfast was served on the Terrace, overlooking the Douro River - this is the Life!!  1st on our agenda today was to tour the facilities here at the Quinta.  We had a nice, small group and believe it or not a couple from Utah had numerous friends who lived in San Miguel, at least part time.  This couple had been to SMA many times.  We didn't know any of their friends but from the Colonia's that they lived in we knew they were way out of our league (financially).  Alina, our guide was very knowledgeable - she gave us the history first, then took us to the area where they do the 'Foot Stompin', its all done this way.  The Stompers get about $10US an hour.  She said its getting harder and harder to find people to do it.  Ideally they should all be the same height and weight but nowadays they are just happy to find anyone.  From here went down to the cellar to see the different sized Oak Barrels.  Of course it ended with tasting the wines and port.




Later we went into the small town to walk around, it was quiet, not many tourist here yet.  The waterfront was very nice, small restaurants/cafe's and many boats of all sized.  We grabbed a small lunch and walked around.  After exploring the town we decided to take one of the recommended hikes,  The hike followed the Pinhao river, up slightly on a paved road then down a dirt road and past some houses.  It was a nice hike, perfect way to spend a leisurely afternoon.  We could see a beautiful, old cemetery across the river but unfortunately there was no way to get over there.



Relaxed back at the Quinta and returned to the waterfront for an early dinner and bedtime!

1 comment:

  1. Looks like a beautiful area! So glad you're continuing to add to your blog and include your last few days in Portugal.

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