Egg tarts and Flowers. Portugal plus Chelsea.

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So the room at the Vintage hotel.





And the view from the balcony at night.


So for my first welcome drink I had a white port with tonic. I liked it.

 

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Dinner the first night. The menu which was the same for the 2 nights.




We started with an amused Boucher.


Based on carpaccio. Quite nice. Most of the decorations were actually inside the glass.

 

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For starters Mrsdrron had the salmon and I had the octopus.



For main she had the mushroom risotto and I the pork tenderloin.



For dessert Mrsdrron had the rice pudding and I the cheese platter with a glass of vintage port from the 70s.



Every single dish was very good and a most enjoyable experience.

 

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The next morning I went down to the car to bring our suitcase up to the room as I hadn’t felt like dragging it over the cobblestone at night. The view was spectacular.





The entrance to the hotel.

 

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The breakfast spread.

 

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The rest of breakfast.

 

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After breakfast we walked around the little garden courtyard. It is undergoing some renovations with cobblestones being replaced. The wisteria was blooming.

 

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I then went for a walk around town. a few businesses closed. Most places in need of some attention. The authorities are building a bus station. Even that day which is very much low season there were 6 coaches parked in the middle of town.



Birds were nesting under the eaves of the most dilapidated buildings. In the first picture there is dead chick hanging from one.

 

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The bridge we came over into Pinhao.

 

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I now walked down to the river and old Port area.



The train bridge.









Those are for the storage of wine.

 

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The old wharf.








Obviously one of the bus tours as there were 5 of these boats.

 

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Another old winery.


The next 3 pictures are of the Vintage hotel. It was also an old winery..

 

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Some little tributes to the hotel's past.



They also sell wine,mainly port. Note the pre mixed port drinks in a can.

 

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There were guards at the gate to the dock.

In the afternoon we went on a 2 hour river cruise. In the morning it was a blue sky and temp ~ 22C. However by the ime of our cruise it was overcast with a cold wind. Fortunately it did not rain.





The train trip would be very scenic.

 

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So a pictorial of our cruise. Wineries some other buildings -some grand and some neglected. Lots of vines,olives and gum trees.

 

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We picked up 2 extra passengers.




Interesting rocks all along the river.

 

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