Douro Valley

The train down the Douro Valley from Porto is supposed to be one of the best rail journeys in Portugal. So it had to be on our list. Unfortunately while the views are said to best towards the end, the town at the end point, Pocinho, has little of merit to entertain the visitor. So our plan was get there, have lunch and return on next train back to Porto.

Yes the views were lovely

And we were able to get off the train and take a few photos. But not because it was part of the plan. No, because the train developed a fault. So, we had to decamp and catch another one. Which in turn turfed us all off a bit further down the line. By now Mike was suggesting we set deadline for train arriving before we gave up, fearing for his lunch.

Of course the train duly did arrive, and it turned out to be the one we had started with, but now duly fixed. So on we went with more lovely views as advanced down the valley.

Only problem was that we arrived at Pocinho about 2:30. And this might be described as a one horse town that had lost its horse. Fortunately I had looked up "Best restaurant in Pocinho" and we found it. It looked open but the front door was shut. As we edged round the side the proprietor came out asking what we wanted. Lunch we said, slightly despairingly. He didn't seem convinced. But fortunately by this stage a second couple from our train arrived. And then a third followed. Now he seemed to be taking us seriously. From his slightly broken English I think he thought the next train back was at 3pm, in which case we only had a few minutes. But we all convinced him it was 5pm. So we could indeed eat his set menu.

And that said set menu was very nice and very reasonably priced, although the place looked like an extension of his front room, and all the other diners were locals and probably friends. Certainly this was no tourist trap. When Mike looked at the wine list and didn't recognise much, he asked the guy for recommendations. At every other restaurant we would then enter into a conversation over what sort of wine we liked and a recommendation would follow. Not here. The bloke shrugged and said, "there is the list and those are the prices." So Mike returned to the list, picked as likely a red as he could, just to get the inevitable response. They didn't have it!

But now the bloke had a price range so showed us one that he did have at the same price and away we went. Very decent bottle too. I sort of admired the nonchalance of our host. In Lisbon waiters would be out on the street trying to haul you in. He showed reluctance to have us at all.

So after a very good, if very late lunch, we now had to fill up time until our train. We did a bit of a walk, but apart from views of the river (and the power station), there really was nothing at all. Moral of the story, when next I come, I will get off the train a little earlier, at Pinhao or Tua and maybe get a boat for a little trip. Yes would forego some views, but this truly was all about the journey, not the destination!