Just days before the madness of covid-19 rocked our world, we took a road trip that we had booked weeks earlier with four good friends. During the first week of March, we rented a 9-passenger vehicle we fondly referred to as “the bus” and drove from Porto to the far eastern edge of Portugal along the Spanish border. Wayne was our driver for this crazy trip to the areas called the Upper Douro and the Côa Valley (stopping along the Douro River on the way.) He handled the stick shift and narrow roads with great skill. The main purpose of the trip was to see the almond trees in bloom. It turned out that we missed the peak of the flowers by a week or two  because of wind and rain the week before, but, we saw some.

It was a great trip. That part of the country is stunning. We stayed in a 5-bedroom villa in a tiny town with tons of space and a pool table and a ping pong table. The men enjoyed animated “sports” competitions. Three nights was just 140 euros per couple. Much wine was consumed and laughter flowed. During the days, we drove some white-knuckle narrow roads and climbed high for great views.  We took a guided tour of the ancient etchings in the Côa Valley with an archeologist.  We saw some of the oldest man-made drawings known to exist anywhere at this fascinating Unesco site. The site has drawings dating back as much as 25,000 years. We saw charming villages, ancient castle ruins, shepherds herding sheep down the road, a festival, wineries, and much more. We found great restaurants for lunches and made dinners at the villa out of bread, fruit, and cheese.