Porto

Porto- bustling and beautiful -Buildings with majesty and character. It is holy week, Easter is on Sunday, lots of people are on holiday. Not many rooms available, finally we got a large room with three single beds. Great location, light, airy, Hotel Imperial. I took an early morning walk, watched the sunrise over the Douro. We toured Sandeman port house. I'm learning more all the time, aguardente, fine water. Then we headed off for Pinhao. A small quinta,farm/winery. What was supposed to be a four hour ride turned into 8. The first six hours were beautiful, the last two were work. The marvel of crossing the Douro grew then. There were some highlights. We watched the moonrise. When we arrived in town, I stopped to call the quinta for directions. It was Good Friday. Suddenly coming toward us was a procession led by priests. The car was surrounded by people as Sheila and I sat inside. They passed by. Later, after a bite to eat, they were still going and bowed in front of our car, one of the stations of the cross. We arrived at the quinta for a warm welcome and cozy room by the river. The next morning, I toured the winery/port house and we headed out, back to the ocean.