Second, and last, day on the banks of the Douro River in the township of Pinhão. Forecast was for some showers and about 5 pm, we had perhaps five raindrops. On my head. Otherwise, another glorious autumn day and perfect for our artists to get cracking early,

Note: no one in the pool. Too busy painting!

At 11 am some of the group retired to their rooms to watch the funeral of HM The Queen. The hotel, like many places in Portugal, honoured the event with British and Portuguese flags at half mast.

After lunch, we adjourned across the railway tracks to Quinta do Bomfim (a Symington property) to paint among the vines.

Others of us enjoyed a visit to the winery and an opportunity to sample some of the estate’s ports.

Earlier, we checked out the stunning azulejos (tiles) on Pinhão railway station — not surprisingly, the ones here depict the grape harvest, which this year ended early because of the heatwave in July. While production levels are down, they are expecting 2022 to be a great year for Douro reds and perhaps a vintage year for port.

Southward bound tomorrow: Lamego first and then to Óbidos.