The Return Trip Begins

We pushed off from Pocinho a few minutes after 7.

I sat outside on our balcony after breakfast and enjoyed the river view.

We wanted to be on the sundeck to watch the ship go through the lock at Valeria Dam, but the area was closed for our safety, so we watched from the forward deck instead.

This lock has a bit more than a 100-foot drop – it looked a lot farther than that!

One of the other passengers pointed out that we were tied up to bollards that were being lowered along with us.

And then we were down, looking up at the sky far above.

Guess what? We saw a winery right away!

We’ll be docking at Pinhão soon for an after-lunch visit to Quinta da Roêda with a port wine tasting; later today, we will be going to Mateus Palace and Gardens for a tour and then dinner at Quinta de Avessada with more wine tasting.

I’m posting now because it’s going to be pretty late when we return from the tours – I’m glad I’m not driving!