Today is our re-location day as we fly from Barcelona to Porto. To get to the airport we needed to take the Aero Buse from the plaza about 4 blocks from where we stayed. Wes and I walked the 10 minutes even though Wes is still not feeling well at all. After a very comfortable bus ride to the airport we had lots of time to relax, get our lunch and deal with security to get boarded.
We realized that Portugal is the same time zone as England so we had to set our clocks back one hour.
At Porto we arranged to pick up the rental cars and discovered that there had been some confusion about insurance coverage. We had to add to our costs to get complete coverage which was a bit of a surprise since we could have had coverage with our credit cards had we realized that complete coverage was not included in the original fees.
As we set out from Porto it was decided that Helen would follow me and that I would lead. We also agreed that if we got separated that we both had maps and would meet at the hotel. Following the maps, our GPS and the road signs we felt would not be difficult. However as we got onto the freeway the speed limit was 120 so I watched the car behind me thinking it was Helen and drove the speed limit. The car stayed up with me but as it turns out it was no Helen and she was not comfortable driving that speed.
At one point we came to an off ramp which was one that I should have taken, but we missed it. I watched the car behind me take the ramp and thought that Helen had not missed the turn off so we went to the next ramp and returned. What I did not realize was that the car behind me was not Helen and in fact she was a bit behind. She could see us but was not close enough see us take the off ramp to return to the missed junction. She did know we had missed it but thought that we had discovered a better route to Regua and so followed us but then lost us. I failed as a navigator, pilot car since we from that point were traveling independently.
Helen and Lynne are really good travellers so once we realized we had got separated we decided to continue our trip to the hotel and trust them to get there as well. Our second set of concern was to realize that we were looking at signs indicating that the highway was an electronic toll road. We have no device but our GPS (Karen) is set to take us on a route to avoid tolls so that is what we did. We took a beautiful drive through the countryside through narrow, windy roads that connected several villages. We actually had a wonderful time looking over the countryside and enjoyed many views of vineyards, valleys and hillsides.
The villages are really interesting since many are old enough that the streets are little more than cobbled lanes with high walls on each side. In a few places the lane gets so narrow that you can not pass any oncoming cars so we would have to watch carefully and even stop to let traffic through. In other cases, even though the lanes are wide enough, cars are parked on the side so again alternating traffic is all that can be permitted.
When we came down into the valley bottoms the roads really were of the same design we would be used to on logging roads, narrow and lots of sharp switchbacks. This was fine for me, but Mary, who was travelling with us, started to feel a bit car sick, so we had to stop at one point so she and Wes could change places. Wes is not feeling well at all either as he is still dealing with his cold and lung congestion.
Regardless we finally managed to get to the Hotel in Regua Douro to discover that the town is gearing up for a Marathon on Sunday so streets are closed and sidewalks are packed. We get to the hotel that is overlooking the river to find no place to park to get checked in. I simply pulled onto the sidewalk and went into the hotel to get directions for parking. Since their parking lot is full, they get me to park right by the front door. The wedding that is taking place today at the hotel has used up all parking slots.
The hotel room is fantastic with a large balcony overlooking the river below. On the other side of the balcony are views of the vineyards that are terraced up the side of the hills. There is virtually no place left where vines could be grown where there are not vines. Houses are scattered around the hillsides spread out along the roads. This is one of the best hotels we have stayed in for along time and we are looking forward to our week. Unfortunately internet is only available at an extra cost so we are not sure how much access we will be able to access.
We are a bit concerned when we realize that Helen and her car are not here yet. We believed that they were ahead of us and were taking the direct route rather than the scenic route that we took to avoid tolls.
However it is only 30 minutes after we arrived that they get here and we hear their story. They were behind me and did not take the off ramp that I missed. Instead they followed me from a distance and lost me when I turned around to return to the ramp missed and carried on. Eventually they realized they could not see me so decided to work their own way to the hotel which they did very successfully.
Since we are here with a Holiday Fellowship tour the hotel, breakfast and dinner are all included in the tour so we check out the arrival time of the guides and other members. Most of the tour guests are flying by charter from England with the guides. Since we travelled independently we arrived earlier than they did – in fact it turns out they do not arrive until after 9 pm. However arrangements were made for our dinner at 7:30 so we manage to have our tea and happy hour before heading for a really tasty dinner.
Now I should point out that this is a 4 Star hotel and the dinner is of that level. As we sat down at the table we have about 4 knives, 4 forks, dessert spoon, butter knife, a couple of glasses etc. Wine is poured freely (with our glasses never allowed to be empty) and a tapas arrives to start dinner along with a bun. Then we are given our choice of a salad or soup, the entrée (choice of one of two), dessert is offered and finally we can have a coffee or tea. This is going to be our dinner for the entire week.
The rest of the tour group arrived as planned around 9 and we had a quick chat about our trek options for tomorrow. Then we called it a day and headed off to bed. Wes will not be going on any hikes since he really is not feeling well and the travel by plane today really wiped him out. He needs to take time to give his body a chance to recover.
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