Saturday, May 2- Coimbra - doing a day trip to the Douro valley today. Started off foggy, but soon cleared and was about 21 degrees. After about 20 minutes of walking and stopping to ask someone, we found the Thrifty car rental in a Hertz rental place. The agent arrived at about 9:02 , so of course we were there waiting not knowing if this was the place. He didn't look at us nor talk to us for about 7-8 minutes. Finally once he felt ready he looked up at us and said yes? Anyway it was the right place so we did all of the administrative stuff, he got us our car. I had booked a VW golf, but of course the small print always says or similar. Well, we have a Nissan Micra which looked quite small when you consider Ron has to get in and drive. Very surprising, but lots of head and leg room. Rémi got to be the co-pilot with me in the back. We were well situated for a quick exit to the highway so off we went at about 9:25.

Perfect little/big rental car. 

We eventually made it to the Douro valley/river. We stopped at a very busy little town called Peso de Regùa. Rèmi got a map with suggestions as to which wineries to visit. The scenery was very picturesque with vineyards all over the hillsides. Quite impressive! 

Lots of homes on the hillside.

Grapes growing everywhere.

Bridge going over the Douro river.

One of the estates that we saw on the hill. 

We chose to visit the Tedo estate. The owner is French and his name is Vincent Bouchard. We thought that he might be Canadian. We couldn't get a tour right away so we did the tasting first, perfect for us! We tried a rosé port first. It is served chilled and is an pre-dinner drink. It was really tasty. The second tasting was a Tawny. It was also very yummy. The last sample was a Ruby. Another great choice was a 2011 reserve. 2011 was the best year for wines and port in the region for one hundred years. 

The Rosé tasting. We bought a bottle and will be drinking it before supper for the next 4 days.

Our guide. Didn't get his name but he funny and very entertaining.

After the tour we headed to Pinhaò. This is a small village on the river and a little touristy. We decided to have lunch there as it was about 2 pm. But before, Rémi decided that it was time for a facial trim and a haircut. 

Sitting at the chair. 

A very happy boy. 

We chose nice meals for lunch and then supper would be a salad or something light. 

Ron and Rémi  had pork feathers ( Portuguese translation for the part of the neck)

I chose salmon. It was good, but lots of bones. 

After lunch we decided to continue the valley drive. Thank goodness it was me in the back seat and not Wendy or Ron. It would have been a messy, smelly ride. I'm not sure how I survived the twisting and winding roads. And to top it off there are very few guard rails so looking down is not always a good idea. 

Street dogs have a sense of survival. He knew exactly where and how to get a drink of water. 

We got back to Coimbra around 7 pm. We decided to cross the river and visit the other side where there is a convent and older buildings.  

Other side of river looking over at our hotel. (Behind the trees on the right) 

Santa Maria convent. 

Old building.

It was now about 8:00 so we decided to have salad.(Rémi and moi) Ron had lasagna. We had room for gelato and then back to the hotel to call it a night.