We woke up at our leisure and had for the last time breakfast with a magnificent view. We packed our bags and sadly said goodbye to the fantastic Casa de São Lourenço where we had spent the past 2 days.
Santuário de Nossa Senhora dos Remédios in Lamego
We drove down the mountain and after about two hours we arrived in Lamego. Here we visited the Santuário de Nossa Senhora dos Remédios. The sanctuary is visited by many pilgrims from all over the world. The entire complex is quite impressive. Especially the staircase with the blue tiles is spectacular. The stairscases were divided over different levels and at each of them we saw (remains of) fountains, monuments and the blue and white tiles. We started from the top and walked down the 686 stairs after which we did a short tour of the square and surroundings.
We then started our climb upwards and saw a wine shop and restaurant along the way. Here we decide to take a break with some tapas and a glass of sparkling wine.
After that we continued our climb in 30 degrees which was very challenging, but we survived it. Koen said : ‘just keep going’… but I had to take a break here and there :-).
Back at the top we visited the church which was very nice from the inside (again with blue and with tiles).
The Douro
We finally set course for Pinhão and drove along the Douro river. From time to time, when we were able, we had a photo stop.
We finally arrived in the little town of Pinhão and looked for a parking space because we wanted to visit the picturesque station. This was not very easy, but we finally managed! We walked up and down the platform, while taking many pictures, and had a quick peek inside the station.
Then we started the drive upwards between the different vineyards to our Quinta, the Quinta Nova Nossa Senhora do Carmo, which was situated in the middle of nowhere …
It was quiet and breathtakingly beautiful here! Our room, the Quinta as well as the surroundings were top. We got a guided visit of the Quinta after the check-in. What a service ! We even had complementary port in the room.
First thing after having installed ourselves in the room was going for a swim. My god, the water was cold… but the pool was so inviting and the view incredible that we had no choice then to enter. After a while another family arrived, so we left the pool to them and we prepared for dinner.
All 11 rooms were occupied, but it did not feel overcrowded.
In the evening we had a culinary splurge in the restaurant ‘Conceitus’ of our Quinta. The food was very delicious, not cheap, but so worth it. Therefore we decided to eat there again the day after.
