Sorry the blog took a little break here, we were away for the weekend in Sardinia! Stay tuned for the post on our trip there! Upon leaving Porto, we headed west to the Douro valley, which is the oldest recognised wine region in the world, with documentation regulating the production of wine here since the 1700's (note that doesn't mean its the oldest wine region in the world as they have been making wine since early Greek times (or even earlier). As you get more towards the heart of the valley, the terrain starts looking like it does below, with countless levels of vineyards on each bank of the Douro river.
Our first stop was Quinta de Cotto (
http://www.quintadocotto.pt/), a beautiful area that produces Douro reds and whites. One of the wine makers gave us a tour of the property (Rosa), who was very friendly and had a wealth of knowledge about the process. She took us around the property (the manor house behind is where guests can stay and is beautiful), into the wine making area where they were labeling bottles for a nearby vineyard, and on to the stainless steel tanks and oak barrels (Portuguese oak) that the wine ages in.
We moved on and grabbed lunch at a little local spot in Regua, one of the main towns in the region. When we walked by the owner asked us to come in and eat; we replied that we'd love to eat, but we don't speak Portuguese if its okay; he poked his head in the restaurant where a bunch of locals were eating and said something like "they don't speak Portuguese, they speak English, should we let them in?" The place roared with laughter and we ended up having a great lunch!
Following lunch the view became even more spectacular and with the river snaking through the hills and the vineyards more pronounced. Our second stop was Quinta do Pacheca (
http://www.wonderfulland.com/pacheca/), a beautiful Quinta with an amazing cellar. The tour guide was really nice and friendly and let us try as much wine and port as our hearts desired (too much). The Quinta was beautiful and the owner was there and she made a point to come introduce herself to us. The wine maker was in the process of bottling the most recent vintage as you can see from the pic below.
We also were shown the area where the Quinta still crushes its grapes by foot on an annual basis. While the bigger Quinta's and port houses have reverted to machines, these guys still have the annual crush where families, neighbors, and tourists participate in the crush.
Following the second tour, we continued down the river to the town on Pinhao to Quinta de la Rosa (
http://www.quintadelarosa.com/), where we had our last tour of the day! The wine and port here was amazing and we got a couple bottles that made it all the way home without breaking!
We yet again had a great tour guide and especially liked the old barrel room with its crooked beams and musty smell. It was an absolute fantastic day of wine tasting, definitely the best we've ever had!
On the way to our casa we stopped for some pics!
After only one (long) wrong turn, we made it to Casa Cimeira (
http://www.casacimeira-douro.com/), where Paulo and his parents charm their guests! When we arrived they led us to their cool bar to try their homemade port (1999 vintage) and snack on some goodies. Let's just say Erin and I should've sat this one out and taken a break before dinner....but you know what they say, "When in the Douro!" Our aperitif was followed by an extraordinary dinner family-style on their big dining room table (with homemade wine) that was delicious! Dinner was followed by going to the patio and drinking some of the casa's 70 year-old port...definitely the oldest I have had and it was great! Before leaving the following morning Paulo sent us a parting gift of a bottle of small barrel aged port that had almost no red due to the amount of contact with the barrel. Hopefully Lissa and Jeremy haven't drank it all yet!
After leaving the Douro (sadly), we stopped at Conombriga, an old Roman town that has perhaps the best preserved Roman mosaics outside of Rome. We toured around the amazing ruins, picturing how life was back then!
We hiked the mile and then up to a nearby hill with monuments and a great view of the city.
After our hike up the hill (Canton I think?), we went on the Mary King Close tour that showed us part of the underground city that was formally inhabited in the 1800's. Following the tour we went to the castle and had a nice tour with a guide who had great information and hated bagpipes! Below is the main square of the castle.
Following the castle I plotted out our Scottish pub tour (I take my job very seriously)...
We had an amazing dinner of mussels and fish and then set out on the crawl, hitting seven bars that night that started at Bow Bar as seen below. They had a really nice IPA on tap that was countered by the maltiness of the Scottish beer, one of the best I have ever had.
The next bar was the Blue Blazer, very local, good pints, nice people. Good times!
We went to a couple more and ended the night at Kay's bar, which is an old pub with great character that has old casks stacked on one side of the bar. Highly recommended as well!
The next morning (after a couple more bars and some pizza) we set out for some serious hiking, starting with Arthur's Seat, which was a nice (and strenuous hike) right outside the city center. 
We walked all over town and to the harbor to this restaurant for lunch!
Afterwards, we made our way back to the city and up a really old tower-thingy that had commanding (the best views over the city). The old building are beautiful, especially with the different levels with the sunset hitting the different angles!
View of Edinburgh castle from the tower-thingy! [Writing this post at midnight as we leave for France tomorrow and I want to be caught up!]
After the tower we went back towards our hotel and stumbled upon a market at the nearby square (Grassmarket). The burgers were too good to pass up (before our tasty pulled pork sandwich from Oink (anyone in Edinburgh MUST go there, it is sooooo good!)!!! 
After we picked up our luggage, we made one last pass down the royal mile, I think this is a great shot as there are virtually no cars and people in the shot.
...so we stuck to the water and found a nice rock to jump off. Please take note there was no photo-editing on this, just a filter to minimize the glare on the water. Pretty beautiful!
Staying cool in the blue water. I didn't realize my colorful trunks would be drowned out by the amazingly blue water. This was without question the most beautiful beach I have ever been to, with just the white pebbles, the crystal electric blue water, with the natural rock arch and rock peak defining the landscape, we were very close to heaven. The beach itself was worth a flight to Alghero and drive across the island. 
The next morning we were ready to do it all over again but the weather wasn't cooperating with us, with the overcast not creating the shimmering waters of the day before. So we hit the road and went to a couple small villages more inland. Below are the streets of Oliena, a cute town that has a wine coop where locals bring their grapes and make their own wine. Unfortunately it wasn't open on Sunday (not much was!). We then went on to Nouro, let's just advise not to go to Nouro, the town that is basically on a mountain has nice scenery, don't get us wrong, but driving in the town is more of a death wish than a relaxing excursion. 
We quickly went back to the hotel and had a good pizza before hanging out on the hotel terrace all day reading with an occasional coffee or gelato. Around 6pm we started our evening with a nice bottle of Prosecco.
The following day was a little nicer than the first, but after breakfast we said goodbye to Cala Gonone and made our way past Oresei and to Bidderosa beach, a welcoming beach that reminded us of a more beautiful Asseteague (Maryland) with beautiful white sands with dunes and rugged landscape setting the backdrop. We had about an hour of sunshine at the beach so Erin and I took advantage and did some body surfing in the cool waters.
We left the beach when the dark clouds rolled in and made our way to Alghero, a medieval fortified town that was really nice to walk in around and through. We had a last pizza dinner and walked around before saying goodbye to Sardinia, a trip we will never forget!
After that we did our favorite thing to do in Europe, walk the old town streets. Lisbon are some of the best we've experienced, with tiny alleys and whitewashed walls winding throughout the main hill in the town. It was great being able to observe the women in the district drying clothes between the buildings while talking to their neighbors about current events, the weather (always sunny), or maybe the tourists wandering in their backyard. These remarkable old women really added to the flavor in the district.
