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Into The Douro Valley: Porto To Pinhāo And Back
“Philip, Michaela, welcome”, calls the beaming guy on the narrow pavement, all broad smiles and outstretched hand, “I am Luis, welcome to Pinhāo”. The fact that the owner of the hotel is out in the street to meet us, in this picturesque riverside town dwarfed by vine clad hillsides, ready with information about his town scribbled on a Post-It note, is the most perfect of welcomes. “Pinhāo, the authentic heart of the Douro Valley” reads a sign by the water. “The birthplace of port wine”, boasts a weathered awning above a shop window. Pinhāo sits tucked into the offside of a sweeping bend in the Douro where a tributary enters…
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Philippines: Time To Reflect
It was a journey in which we set foot on 21 different islands, passed through many of the country’s 82 provinces, slept in 18 beds in 15 different locations and enjoyed a host of experiences. On the long journey home we find ourselves debating whether this has been our most varied single country trip so far. It probably has. There was without doubt one constant, something which never changed – the Filipino people. It’s hard to relate the harsh lives in the rice terrace villages of northern Luzon with the tourist trade workers of the holiday islands, yet, whatever their background, whatever their lives, Filipinos are consistently amiable, happy and…
