June 18th: Happy Father's Day!
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| Missing you. You both taught me how to have a good time! |
Happy FDay to all the Dads. We are going wine tasting today. Feeling gratitude to be hanging with my new friends Maria and Luis as well as my Golden Oldies Dave and Steph. Not with Julia and Reid today, but thinking of you and I'll be drinking the fruit of the vine, celebrating you, with some of my favorite people. Yes. I’m a very lucky Dad.
Our tour guide for the day is Carlos. My first impression is that he has a striking resemblance to someone familiar. Hmm... I can't quite put my finger on it.
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| Don't Pass Go? |
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| Yep. Community Chest Guy = Carlos |
Daniel is our driver. I like him also. Hands in the 10/2 position right from the start.
Our first stop was a church. Carlos showed us a room with a tomb. Different from a room with a view. Apparently, this is where local girls bring flowers in the hopes of being de-flowered (if you know what I mean).
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| #PortuGuyPlease |
Carlos also wanted to show us a famous Portuguese bread. He said it’s a very hard bread. Stiff-like.
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| Oh. Dough. Boy. |
Carlos fits in well. Our next stop the Pacheco winery. We are fortunate because Luis is a winemaker and is in charge of harvesting over 1,300 different grape makers. He knows his wine. I like that. It was fun learning about the process. Especially, being in his home country.
Tasted white, red, and port. Overall, wine was on the like, not love side. Port was on the sweeeeeet side. Ambiance and company was on the fuck yeah side. Time for siesta side.
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| Dave inside catching Z's |
Luis explained that wine is a very personal experience. It’s your pallet, your place and time. It doesn’t matter the price or the winemaker. It’s whatever you like. I like his perspective. Wine is complicated to the average consumer (type, price, taste, time…). There are so many different variables. Luis likes to simplify it. What does the wine say to you? What expression?
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We likey winey
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We decided to have a small lunch at the winery. Luis and Maria treated us all. So thoughtful. Living is giving (and sipping) |
| Luis looking for his wallet and not happy Maria paid |
Seriously, thank you Luis and Maria. What a treat. After lunch Carlos and Daniel drove us to the Douro region. There are all these vineyards right on the river.
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| Douro. Douro. Douro. |
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| Luis less lunch money |
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| Hurray for Duoro! Hurray for Duoro! Wake up Davo! |
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| Don't pass Go. Don't collect $200 |
Something about a boat, down by the river.
On the ride home we learned about Duoro. It's a region producing wine for over 2,000 years. It's known for its port wine. Can't get enough of the views of all the grapes growing on the hillsides.
Or Dave working hard to get another Get Out of Jail Free card.
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| Hey there Carlos... |
Had a nice scenic ride back to Porto and said our goodbyes to Luis and Maria.
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| Hope to see you two soon |
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| Hope not to see Sandeman soon |
A correction from yesterday's blog. Apparently our guide was Fabio, not Flavio. Fab gave us a nice Italian recommendation for dinner. Il Pizziola. It was solid with burrata, tomato soup, lasagna, pizza and a table side sangria mixologist.
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| Mr. Mixer |
After dinner we walked across the bridge into a park where everyone watches the sunset. Berp. Berp. No sunset because of the clouds. But when in doubt find the Fire Girl.
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| Bye Porto. You were HOT! |
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