Shortly after Busaba and Cathy arrived, we headed to the Douro. The Douro is “the world’s largest area of mountain vineyard and a Unesco World Heritage site” according to Bomfim 1896 (more on Bomfin later). And, it is breathtaking. The steeply terraced hillsides are a marvel. All around, it’s a magical place to sit and contemplate life for a while with, of course, some wine or port in hand.

I booked us into a fabulous old home with 3 bedrooms and 3 baths that was decorated in my Portuguese great-great-grandmother’s style (if I had a Portuguese great-great-grandmother). The interior was homey and hilarious. The vistas were bar-none the best we’ve had from anywhere we’ve stayed. And, a bonus of being above the house where the owners lived is that daddy-o played some vintage music that we danced to on the balcony.

We had an enormous porch with sweeping views of the Douro River, perched above the train town called Pinhão. I wanted to be able to walk into town and to dinner. The roads in and out of the valley are crazy, winding and narrow. C did a tremendous job navigating them in our 7 passenger vehicle so he needed a break from driving for a half day (no rest for the wicked!).

Dinner was at Bomfim 1896, which is a Quinta at one end of town. There is a fun family history here. C and I ate at the newly opened restaurant at Bomfim last October and we loved it. They start you out with a white port, tonic, fresh thyme and grapefruit drink. Think: best port spritzer you ever tasted. It was so good again this year that when the server came to take my glass with 1 sip left in it, I took it back from her and slammed it. All class I am! C just shook his head, as usual.

The gluttony continued with champagne (just because) and this smoked eel starter that I want to eat every day. I’m not necessarily a huge eel fan but the way this was prepared knocked my socks off. I’m guessing the eel was sous vide and then lightly smoked in the open fire kitchen. Delectable. The others had the paté which I typically don’t appreciate, so it was more for them. The novel presentation almost made it interesting enough for me to want to try, almost…

The cod with mussels was well prepared. But, again, my pallet doesn’t appreciate cod the way the Portuguese pallets do. For me, other than my husband doing the Footloose dance after he won in cards later that evening, the stars of the night were the cauliflower and the lamb. The beluga lentils with mushrooms and the duck were also outstanding. I don’t usually order or eat duck but we wanted to order things that were coming out of the fire. Delectable – all of them. The surprise for me was the sparkling white wine. Usually, I’m a snob about champagne and sparkling whites. This was was excellent.

We stumbled “home”, played some cards until late, and watched C do his victory dance before we all fell fast asleep dreaming of Day 2 of the Douro. What could possibly top this day?