We left promptly at 9:10 am to catch a train from Pinhao to Pocinho. It was an old style train that travelled along the Douro river. The views were spectacular.
We then drove to Castelo Melhor where we walked for about an hour into the Coa Valley and by the Douro. The walk was mainly downhill, but it was long as it was pretty hot out. There was a jeep that followed us the first half to make sure everyone was ok and took 4 individuals down to the river.
When we got to the river, there was a beautiful spread set out for us to have lunch. They had the port tonic, which I started to drink as I thought it was water with fruit, but quickly realized and stopped drinking it. Too hot to start drinking! We had a lovely charcuterie board and then a salad with a quiche type pie. For dessert there was almond cake with a strawberry and some cherries. After lunch they took us to the Archaeological Park Coa to see ancient rock engravings. Our guide said some of the engravings were 30,000 years old. I didn’t always see the animals he said were being depicted and saw something different.
It was then back to the bus for a 1 1/2 hour ride back to our hotel and a relaxing evening.
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