Rowkin Rovings Blog

It is a pretty momentous day for us for a few different reasons. Firstly, we were celebrating our 35th Wedding Anniversary and secondly, we were heading on a trip up the Douro Valley on a port tasting excursion.

We had booked the trip online and were not too sure what we had got ourselves in for as they always sound a lot better than they normally end up.

We had to meet a guy at the train station who had the tickets, which we didn’t mind as it gave us another chance to look over the amazing tile work again. We were kind of thinking that this is going to be a bit manky from the start due to where we were leaving from. One of the things we did want to do was to catch the train up the Douro Valley as we had read this is a much better way to go than just by coach.

Once we located our guide and our three other travelling companions, we headed to the train where the guide promptly waved us goodbye and told us which station to get off at, which was about 120km away.

Portugal is only about 200km wide and 800km long with a population of 10 million, so it is all a bit crammed in but doable. The scenery on the train going up was very lush and we in fact saw ferns which are temperate plants. We thought this surprising as this area of Portugal hits temperatures of +50c in summer.

The last third of the train trip was along the shoreline of the Douro River and we got great views of the extensive terracing that occurs due to the vineyards. When we arrived at the allotted train station, we were met by another guide and his small, well-appointed Mercedes van who then drove us through vineyards on very windy steep roads to meet our boat.

Next activity was to enjoy an hour cruise along the river getting some perspective as to just how massive this wine growing region is. We were informed that they are not sure how many producers there are, but they know it is over 30,000. Wow, that is a lot of wine/port being consumed.

Once the cruise was completed it was then onto lunch. We have done a few of these kind of tours before and it is all about churning the numbers through, but this was different.

This was a full-on gastronomic catastrophe. The table was beautifully set including charger plates which you very rarely get even in very high-end restaurants. It was a four-course meal with a myriad of ports/wines and in the middle of the day – oh dear, this might not end well.

It was then into tour mode where they showed us where the grapes are crushed by foot. They pay you to do this which isn’t surprising as it is a five-hour process with toilet stops only. You walk in a line with your arms linked and you do it to a beat to get the rhythm going. Why by foot – it is to do with the temperature of the human body!!! That kind of blew us away. The couple with us had done the trip previously in September and they said they had had the pleasure of treading the grapes.

It was then into the tasting room which by now everybody had had their fill. Everyone was getting a little tipsy and vocal, but you could also notice the shoulders were starting to droop.

It was a very well-run facility and there was no hard sell. The whole time except for the boat ride, it was just the five of us and it was like a small, privatized tour and without the ridiculous price.

It turned out that the two guys in the group were geologists and the lady was an accountant that worked in the mining industry and yes, they knew people we knew. One of the guys recognized Fras from his LinkedIn account – too small a world.

Back into the van to head back to Porto.

After the first 10k it was motorway all the way back, so we did the right thing by catching the train out in the morning as we saw so much more.

Back in Porto we wandered back to our accommodation when on the way we decided to google to see what a 35th wedding anniversary gift should be. For traditional it is coral and for a modern it is jade….hmmm. We stumbled into a jewellers to check out what both looked like and were convincingly put off. You would think for 35 years they would come up with something a bit more inventive because 35 years is equivalent to five life sentences!!! We felt we were wobbed!!!

After we caught our breath, we headed back out to catch some of the evening light as it is also a waxing moon.

We had some very light nibbles to stave off the hunger pains but only partook of some tonic water – we might be old, but we know when to stop consuming 🍷.

Steps 10,217, 🍷 too many (for Fras), 🍱 could have done with less.