Pedras Rubras

3 am airports never vary.... People sleeping in contorted strange positions, sorting and repacking bits, tired looking returnees , much more alert departing vacationers. I'm waiting for our gate to be announced for our 5 am flight, and pondering my budgetary choices 😅. Actually we saved a lot on this flight, it was worth it.

Our last day in Portugal was an absolute delight, I think we saw the best of the best. We got the first morning rabelo boat tour, about 8 of us on a peacefully gliding Duoro River trip. Rabelos are the boats used in the past to transport casks of port down to Porto, now they are used for tourism. These pretty, small wooden boats are a much more authentic experience than a crowded cruise boat day trip. Although the real river cruise boat we saw looked very tempting!

Then the plan is to head for Sabrosa, the town 16km away that I've just read it's the birthplace of Ferdinand Magellan. As I explain it to Brad, if Magellan could attempt to circumnavigate the globe in the 1520s, then surely we could drive that short distance to visit! The only difficulty is that there is a price to be paid for breathtaking views, and that price is often a white knuckle drive. Incredibly gorgeous scenery does distract a bit from hair raising switchback elevation gains though, and we're soon enough in Sabrosa.

A last picnic lunch in a park under trees, and a short walk through the old town leads us to Magellans birth home. We pay our quick respects there. I can't imagine the vision and drive of a person born in 1480, to believe the impossible could be done, and set out to do it. It's really sad he didn't quite make it, dying en route.

We visit the nearby Sabrosa wine cooperative, where we have an excellent personal tour with a young local. For 4 euro each, this includes tastings. And it's a wonderful layout, the cooperative has kept much of the old equipment to display. An old copper still, which is no longer permitted to be used, manual filling and corking machines, we can see the effort required in the old days compared to the gleaming efficiency of the new. A bit less poetic, of course.

And far less dangerous, as we are shown enormous vats where the grapes have their initial press. Once the liquid is siphoned out for the next step, even to this day, someone physically must crawl through a tiny door and scrape the mast out!

A fascinating visit, not at all what we expected. So, down a routine highway, into a routine hotel, and here we are entering that vast complex system of transport. To be thrown out the other end many hours from now, jet lagged, achy, desperate for fresh air....and happy to be back on home ground!Read more