Touring the Douro - Day 3

After a great breakfast at the hotel, Francisco met us there, and we walked a block to the Origem Museum of Olive Oil. We had an informative tour of the olive oil and wine-producing facility, full of old machinery and equipment used in both products. Nothing is actually made there anymore because of the environmental impact to their small community. We got to taste both the olive oil and a few different wines (at 10:30 in the morning), and also to enjoy the amazing view from the terrace. It was even better than our little hotel down just one block. It was warm and sunny again today, but only got up into the high 70s, instead of the 80s, like yesterday.

View of the Douro River and valley from the Origem Museum of Olive Oil

Grinding wheel used in wine production, I think!

Woven mats used in the pressing of olives to get the oil

An old grape harvesting basket hangs on the wall

Signs in different languages. The English one says:
Gluten free, dairy free, fat free, I love this wine diet!

From there we started our hike, back past the hotel, and out of the village. On the way out we saw a woman with a basket of vegetables on her head, chatting with another woman at her gate. We were impressed by the balancing act we saw, but she'd probably been doing it all her life!






We stopped at a cork tree, and Francisco explained the production of cork in Portugal, one of the world's top producers. You won't find any plastic corks used here! The bark from the cork trees is cut off when it's thick enough, and corks are cut out with a cylindrical cutter. The bark grows back, taking about 10 years, and then can be harvested again.







We hiked through the vineyards for quite a while, either on gravel or dirt roads, or between the vines. We saw crews harvesting the grapes, and it turned out that today was their last day of harvesting after 28 days of constant work. They all seemed to be cheerful in spite of that, and in spite of the warm sunshine they were working in.










We stopped at Quinta do Bomfim for our picnic lunch, and this time helped Francisco set the table. The same caterer as yesterday had prepared the lunch, but today we had 3 bottles of white wine to go with it. Once again, we all enjoyed it.









Then, we headed into the tasting room and had more wine.

We had a bit more walking to do to get to our last winery, Quinta da Roeda, and tasted more great wine there.




This area is peppered with wineries, and I'm sure we're visiting the best of them with this tour. Yes, it's hard to judge one great wine against another!




Francisco drove us to the train station to get our tickets for tomorrow's departure, and then delivered us back to the hotel. We had enjoyed the two days with him, and the day with Sandro and Antonio too.

One of the big wineries in the area, Quinta das Carvalhas, across the river near the town of Pinhao

Our great guide, Francisco, with 4 of the 5 in our group

Then, back at the hotel for one last dangling of our feet in the icy pool. Our walk was only 5k, but our feet were tired! We've met so many different people here each night, and all are having a great time, once they find this place! It seems the mapping programs aren't always directing them to the right place, so some arrive pretty frazzled. One British woman chastised her husband for describing the roads around here as, "these bloody country lanes!" I assured her that we weren't offended since "bloody" isn't a swear word in America!
Dinner was soup, salad and roast beef with roasted potatoes, and we brought some of our leftover wine to drink with it, instead of buying it from the hotel. Dessert was another good cake. The main course and dessert are always served around the table by a staff member, and though they sometimes bring out another platter of the main course, the cake always seems to feed everyone equally. I think there have been either 14 or 16 at dinner each night.
Tonight the hotel manager gave us a tour of some of the private family rooms of this 17th century manor house-turned-hotel. My favorite part is the small chapel adjoining the office or study. We were told the statue is 400 years old.

Little chapel in a closet in the study at our hotel