Hot in the Douro

Our plan was to spend two full days exploring the various wine routes in the Douro valley to make the most of our time. However, it's hot here. Okay, maybe not the +40' temperatures Portugal had for three or four straight weeks this past summer but temps in the low to mid-thirties are too much for us. So, we decided adjusted our plan a bit to shorten our days and avoid the intense heat between roughly 3 and 6 pm. No wonder they have siestas!

Porto Antigo is a 5 minute drive to the train station in Mosteiro and from there you can get to Pinhao in 2 hours by train. The gal at the hotel's front desk recommended doing this because the track runs along the river so the journey is very scenic.  I had read a couple reviews of Pinhao. One said it was a charming stop on the river - the river cruise companies must concur as there was a ship docked there when we arrived. Another review, Lonely Planet I think, said it was nothing special but a good location from which to explore the region. After our visit, we sided with the latter description!  (As some of the photos following were taken from the train, they aren't of the best quality.  Sorry.)

One of Pinhao's claims to fame are the pretty blue and white tiles on the walls of the train station depicting the grape harvest. Yes, they were pretty. 

As we wandered along the very dusty cobble-stoned street in front of the station, we went into one store and Nawal asked where the centre of the village was. We were told we were in it!  So, we walked down a hill to see if there were restaurants and cafes on the riverfront but, except for a couple we spotted way in the distance with red plastic chairs on patios in the blazing heat, there wasn't much. 

To be fair, there was a 5 star hotel between the train station and the river but we didn't check it out.  We did find a little cafe/restaurant called Writer's Place which had a terrace overlooking the river.  We didn't last long outside, however, because of the heat.  We moved inside where it was much cooler.  We enjoyed sharing a board with a selection of local cheeses and some melon in white port.  The woman who ran the place was from Paris so that made communicating a bit easier.  That said, we haven't had too much of a language problem because most of the people we have encountered have at least basic English, which is more that I can say of my Portuguese!

We had planned, on our return journey, to stop at the bigger town of Regua but decided that it would make more sense to just return to our hotel to get out of the heat and cool off.  Regardless of the heat, the scenery along the river is fabulous.

I am not sure what I was expecting before I arrived here but, while the valley is incredibly pretty from a landscape point of view, I am a bit disappointed in the villages we have seen.  They don't seem to have much character or charm.  However, we have only visited or driven through a few of them and tomorrow we will be exploring a bit further so maybe my impression will change.