Sunday, October 14th was a very long day! We left Coimbra at 9am, in the rain, with intentions of making a little side trip to see Piodao which is a small village that was supposed to be 'neat', according to the tourist info person in Coimbra. It didn't look very far out of our way to the Douro valley in northern Portugal, HOWEVER...what they don't show on the map is that 'not far' had at least 1,000 curves, turns and switchbacks while we drove through rain and clouds. We were so high up that we were in the clouds and couldn't see a thing! AND, did I mention that I can get terribly car sick even in the front seat. The village was neat to see but so not worth the drive and the really bad news was that we had to drive out of there! So at least 2,000 curves, turns and switchbacks later we still had a long way to go to get out of the mountains. We skipped the Douro valley and went straight to Porto not arriving until 6pm and miraculously finding our hotel. I was car sick for 8 hours! Bob did a fantastic job driving. We are both wiped out, however we were surprised and pleased at how unique our hotel/castle room is. We are staying in the tower room of a old castle built centuries ago in the hills of Porto. It's pretty neat. We are glad we are not driving any where for a few days.
Piadio
The town is built of slate
Castle Catinera- our room is at the top of the tower
I am feeling you pain mom. There is nothing worse than car sickness, well almost nothing! The castle is beautiful. What a great spot you found!
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