Porto – Day 3 (WOW)

Since this IS a vacation, a slower day seemed in order. We were both feeling something less than energetic, so we lazed about until the last possible minute before going to the hotel dining room for breakfast. Then, Donna hit the treadmill (after waiting for breakfast…brunch…to settle). Finally, around 3:30pm we sauntered out of the Legendary Porto Hotel and headed toward WOW (World of Wines). We purchased a 3-museum pass and thought we would hit the wine museum and enjoy either a wine tasting or just a glass of wine in Vila Nova de Gaia.

WOW (The World of Wine) is comprised of 7 museums in the Cultural District. Museum choices include: Porto Region Across the Ages, The Wine Experience (which is the one we checked out today), Planet Cork, The Chocolate Story, The Bridge Collection, Porto Fashion & Fabric Museum, and (for a limited time) The Francis Bacon Experience. WOW also offers a wine school, several restaurants and bars, and gift shops. (https://wow.pt)

After stopping along the way for lunch at a cafe on the river, we settled on The Wine Experience for today…and it was fun! The museum covered everything from growing grapes to wine regions in Portugal to making wine to wine barrels and wine bottles, labels and corks. There were several interactive exhibits that were pretty cool (what type of wine are you, difference between, taste and flavor, etc). The museum tour concluded with a tutorial on how to taste wine correctly. We thoroughly enjoyed the experience!

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After concluding our museum visit (which, surprisingly, took an hour and a half), we sauntered along the Douro River and found a small bar/restaurant with outside seating, where we enjoyed a delicious small snack of portobello with goat cheese & honey with a glass of wine. Timing was perfect for us to enjoy sunset as we headed back to the hotel for the evening via the upper deck of the Luis I Bridge. Ahhh…..another successful vacation day!

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