Life has taken it upon itself to remind us, over and over again, that we should never return to the places where we were once happy. However, we couldn’t disagree more.

There are destinations that don’t just wait for us. They simply remain serene in their truth, whereas we are the ones who change until we are able to rediscover them. Returning is, ultimately, an exercise in acknowledgement. We think we are looking for something and discover, almost without realising it, that we had been on a ceaseless quest for a part of ourselves that remained suspended there, among the vineyards and the tranquil rhythm with which the Douro winds its way through the landscape.

Casa do Rio, at Quinta do Vallado, has never needed to announce itself; its identity is built on discretion and the strength of the values that gave rise to it.

Eleven years have gone by since we first visited it. And nature has done to it what it does best to its most beautiful creations: it has embraced it. It has allowed the trees to grow, intensified the shadows and opened up new paths in the daylight. The gardens have found ways of embracing the architecture, while the wood has acquired the patina of time. Along the paths, the cypresses, once understated, now assert themselves with an almost sculptural verticality, lending the place a touch of stately nobility. The place has acquired a charm that is almost beyond description.

The essence, however, has remained intact: the sense of retreat, the seclusion, the serenity and that feeling – such a rarity now – that the world can just keep turning without us feeling obliged to keep moving at the same pace.