We slept in this morning and then I did some work before grabbing brunch at Mini Quecas at noon. Mari had the “mini quecas” which were small fluffy pancakes with biscoff and fruit, while Paul and I had avacado toasts with egg. 

After a walk across the upper section of the Ponte Luis 1 bridge, we made it to the southern side of the Duoro River to the Vila Nova de Gaia section of Porto. 

After a brief stroll through the Jardim do Morro, we hopped in a cable car  to carry us down to riverfront level. 

The Gaia side of the river was still filled with tourists and shops selling the same goods we’ve seen throughout Portugal, but it felt a lot less bustling. The Vila Nova de Gaia area is also where over a dozen Port producing houses have their cellars/caves to age their port wine.  

Shortly after 2pm we arrived at Taylor’s Port, where we did their tour, learned about the Douro valley, port wines’ history and production. We  visited their port wine cellar and had an informative tasting of three port wines in their courtyard. 

By 4:30p we arrived at Sandeman, where we also tasted three ports and enjoyed some truffles exclusive to Sandeman. 

Having not eaten since brunch, we went to the Casa Guedes on the southern side of the river (same restaurant as last night near our hotel.)

We then walked back over the bridge, this time at the lower level, then climbed 400 stairs, and by 8p we were back at the hotel for a brief break. 

After enjoying some gelato, Miss M and I called it a night and Paul went back down to the waterfront to enjoy the scene at night.