To Pinhão!

8/1: The morning started with a great Apple Fitness workout in the hotel gym. Unfortunately, at the end of my post workout stretching, I heard a pop in my already strained right hamstring. I was worried I wasn’t going to be able to walk - but thankfully I could. Hopefully with a little rest and stretching it will heal.

We all enjoyed another yummy breakfast before packing up and taking a Uber to pick up our rental car to drive to Pinhão. The Robinsons rented an electric car, while ours was standard gas. Our guy told us, “this takes Petrol.”

Quinn and Simone decided to go with Neve and parents, and we all took off. About 20 minutes later, the rental company called us to say the Robinsons should return to the car rental to pick up an electric charging card that they needed to charge the car. Bob and I thought we could grab the 3 kids from their car, but they didn’t think there was time to spare, so they turned around while Bob and I kept going to Pinhão. We got there no problem, but the Robinsons got very lost. They followed the directions that their electric car gave to them, which put them in some vineyards and on some tricky gravel roads. They eventually made it (fortunately without needing to get their car towed!) and Quinn and Simone told some stories of extreme off-roading adventure! 

Our 1400 boat ride was fortunately able to be moved to 1430 because of the driving misadventures. It was a beautiful afternoon, and lovely for a boat ride through the Douro Valley.

After the boat tour, we made a quick stop at the hotel to change and let the kids get in the pool. The adults headed to the Dows tour and tasting.

We picked up the kids and headed out to find a dinner spot. We were surprised to find a lot of places were closed - but we ended up having a very authentic meal (our fish meals had the heads still on). A shower before bed was amazing as Pinhão was so hot!

8/2: Bob took a hike in the morning, while we enjoyed the hotel breakfast and catching up on blogging/journaling. He got some amazing photos of the Douro Valley!

 We drove to Porto via Rugua, where we stopped for me to do a load of laundry, and for Robo to wash his rental car that was filthy after getting lost in the vineyards! We had lunch at a restaurant that Brandy’s friend Rui recommended. In Porto, we returned our cars and flew to Madeira (2 hrs). We found a taxi to accommodate the 7 of us and checked into our rooms at the Cliff Bay (9:30pm).

We were a bit uncertain how the check-in process would go, as our room was only booked for 3 people. I had called multiple times asking about the availability of a larger room, but the hotel was fully booked (perhaps because there was a car race on the island). While Bob and Quinn went inside, Simone and I waited outside. Eventually I went in and directed Simone to go down the stairs away from the check-in desk. This was not an ideal situation for sure, as Bob and I don’t like sneaking around. But, our room was lovely and right next to the Robinson’s.

In anticipation of Bob or me sleeping on the floor for 4 nights, we had brought a camping Thermarest from Paulo's (they told us there would be 2 single beds pushed together to make a double bed, and then an extra single bed). We were thrilled to walk into the room to find these 2 single beds pushed together to be quite large! These “single” beds were larger than a twin bed, but slightly smaller than a standard/full in the US. So…two of them pushed together was huge! I was happy to sleep in the middle (on the crack ha!) between Simone and Bob. The beds and pillows were super comfortable and we were all psyched no one had to sleep on the floor.

We all headed to the Cliff Bar for a late night drink and snack. It was a gorgeous scene outdoor on the patio close to the ocean, and we were all excited to stay put in this beautiful place for 4 nights!

Let the cards begin! Simone and Quinn taught Neve hearts.

The view from our patio