Day 31 - Monday 22nd May 2023

They were forecasting more fine weather today and a maximum of 25C. When we woke up, it was 11C.

We went down for breakfast at 7:30. After the fruit, I had the minute steak again because I enjoyed it so much a few days ago.

The excursion this morning was to visit a town called Provesende. They'd organised three buses at ten minute intervals to take people on this excursion and we were on the second bus that left at about 8:35.

As usual, the road wound its way up the side of the valley giving great views of the vineyards, houses and villages below. After about 20 minutes, the bus stopped at a lookout for a photo opportunity. The views were spectacular.

We reached Provesende soon after 9am. Like most towns, it is located at the top of the mountain on a relatively flat plateau. Because the streets in the town are narrow, the buses dropped us near the top of the town and then Renata, our guide, took us on a tour down the gentle hill towards the town.

Like other towns we've visited, the streets are cobblestone and narrow. The house are made from granite (which is hard to work with) and schist (which is not as hard and is easier to work with).

She took us to the fire station which also houses the ambulances. The main attraction there was a very old fire engine.

We had to be careful of cars coming up or down the street. Unlike most other villages we've visited, there were cars coming at regular intervals and they often didn't slow down too much. It almost seemed as though they wouldn't mind skittling a few tourists.

Renata took us inside a church and as we entered the organist started playing for us. Like most churches, it was tall and ornately decorated.

Next we went inside a bakery. At the front counter, the baker was serving customers and out the back the room was still warm from the heat of the oven from this morning's batch.

The next step was to visit a winemaker's house. The owner, Manuel, showed us into a back room lined with barrels of wine and old winemaking equipment and sat us down at a large timber table. He served us a glass of white port and a piece of fresh cake from the local baker.

Renata then took us on a tour of the family house. It was an elegant manor house with various living rooms, bedrooms, bathrooms, etc. Then she took us out the back door which overlooks the vineyard and many of the houses in the town. It was another photo opportunity.

The final destination, as always, was the gift shop. By that time, it was about 11am and we had free time to explore the town provided we were back on the bus by 12 noon. Naturally the girls went shopping whereas Chris and I enjoyed the sunshine and the ambience of this pretty village.

When we'd arrived, it had been cool but by now it was getting warm and the temperature had risen to 20C.

The bus got us back to the cruise ship at about 12:30 and so it was time for lunch. On the way back down the hill, there were plenty more photo opportunities.

Originally, we'd planned to go an excursion this afternoon for a wine tasting at a farm about 20 minutes away. Instead we decided to explore Pinhao where the ship was moored.

It's a picturesque setting with the town next to the river. Just like Porto, there were tourist vessels taking sightseers up and down the river. It was quite busy with individual tourists and tour groups. There were so many photo opportunities. Like Janet said: "Take a photo, take three steps, take a photo, repeat.. "

One of the highlights of the town is the railway station which has large tile artworks on the outside walls. It's a pretty building.

After visiting the railway station, Suzy went to look at the shops while Chris, Janet and I walked down to the riverside and walked back towards the ship taking lots more photos as we went. By now it was quite warm - about 25C.

Just as we reached the ship, the afternoon excursion was leaving for the wine tasting.

At about 5pm, a strange event occurred - it started raining. However, it turned out to be just a passing shower. We found out later that the people who went on the wine tasting excursion this afternoon got caught by the rain of the passing shower when they were walking through the vineyard.

Soon after 6pm, we went to the lounge for a predinner drink and to listen to the port talk. Dinner was another special occasion - this time it was the captain's dinner in the Crystal Dining Room. During dinner, the four of us sat with the couple from Edinburgh.

After dinner, we went upstairs to the lounge for coffee. We were lucky this time with the seats we chose because we were in the right place to witness the crew entertainment for the evening - just near the piano and the dance floor.

Carolina organised music and dancing by the crew. I was in the perfect location to take photos. It's always hard to get good photos in low light situations and so I experimented with various different settings on my camera.

The crew are generally quite young and so they were able to put on an energetic display of singing and dancing for us. The star, as always, was Carolina. At the end of the evening, they invited us to join them on the dance floor. It was a fabulous night.

We were in bed at about 11pm which is a late night for us nowadays.