After a slight delay in getting an Uber this morning, the three of us arrived safely at Tangerine Car Rentals, on the edge of Porto city, where the traffic was not as scary as in the historic centre.

Included with the car, of course at a cost, was the Via Verde, which gave us the option of using toll roads, without having to stop. So for the first leg of our trip, to Amarante, we used the motorway, passing through three toll gates. This cut our journey time by more than a half.

I had taken a close look at where we could park in Amarante when we were there for lunch on Friday, so it proved quite easy.

The three of us then strolled along the quaint main street and found a cafe for lunch. We used the menu translated into English to place our order, and I chose a pork sandwich – not realising until it appeared that it was a Bifana. However, it was smaller and nicer than the one I had tried to eat on our last night in Porto.

I had parked the car near the main church (Igreja de São Gonçalo) that we had tried to visit on Friday. But we had arrived at the same time as a bride, with her groom and all the guests waiting inside for her. So, the tour group just looked around the outside of the church,

Our tour leader had wanted us to see the 18th Century pipe organ.

Suzanne decided to take a closer look at some of the detail.

The church was built between the 16th and 18th centuries ‘on the site of an earlier hermitage honoring the town’s patron saint’.

The complex also included a monastery.

As we walked to the parked car, there were a few market stalls set up in the shade. One our tour guide told us about belonged to a womean who sold the phallic pastries this town is famous for.

For the next leg of our trip to Peso da Régua, we took the roads without tolls. The 33 km took us an hour and there were lots of turns and small towns to pass through. But we made it only 2 minutes late and were met by our host’s nephew who showed us around. The apartment is huge with 2 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, an eat-in kitchen as well as a formal dining room and lounge room area. But the pièce de résistance is the balcony overlooking the Douro River.

Why are we going to spend 4 nights here?

Peso da Régua, which is often just called Régua, is supposedly the gateway to the Douro Valley’s Port wine region. It is also the gateway to some spectacular scenery.

Becasue the accommodation is so good, we will be eating at home for the two nights we are here together.