Blogs from Northern, Portugal, Europe - page 15

19, 20 & 21 March 2017 Arrived in Porto at around 4pm. There is a time difference of an hour between here and Spain, so we were able to get out and wander. What an amazing city. It is a Sunday afternoon and it seems everyone is out enjoying the beautiful weather and the markets on the banks of the Duoro river. The area of Porto is known mainly for being the original Port Wine developers. We went into a “cave” (we might call it a wine store) and there I discovered that Port wine comes in white, ruby and tawny. It all tasted pretty good to me. There are many Port Wine caves and we are told some are better than others. In Porto the people really enjoy cod I am told, so that evening ... read more

Bom Dia, I like wine. All wine. It is delicious. So when I had the opportunity to visit the Alto Douro, the world's oldest continuously demarcated win region, having been demarcated in 1756! I did not want to take the train, so I joined with a tour that was going by minivan as this would give me an opportunity to see more of the Alto Douro. The first stop was the gorgeous town of Amarante, with its stone buildings and medieval bridge. There was not a lot of things to see or do in town, and it was a brief stop, but it was very peaceful and incredibly picturesque! We continued to drive along the road through the hills and valleys of northern Portugal, over a bridge that was very similar to the Millau Viaduct in ... read more

17 September 2016, Saturday, Viana do Castelo to Vila Praia de Ancora, Day 19, 16.25 miles. Advertised by Follow the Camino as a 11 mile day. Correction: well, after seeing a bigger picture of the beautiful flower bush of yesterday I can assure you it is not a belladonna plant! Belladonnas were everywhere. I think it might be in the fuschia family-- Viana is a shopper's paradise. Fortunately for our bulging bags and much thinner wallets it is early in the morning and the shops are closed. I am particularly intrigued with the outstanding textile handicrafts. The window displays of regional dress just explode with color. The other side of the street faces the river and fronting the riverbank are a series of very modern style buildings. Viana is distinguishing itself as a center for modern ... read more

16 September 2016, day 18, Friday. Esposende to Viana do Castelo. 16.79 miles. This will be another day trying to follow the arrows as we have no detailed notes or Brierley guide. Fortunately, Moira has a more current edition with some coastal route maps. We pass a cafe with a cat enjoying the sun. Then a black lab dog walking a 2 inch wide wall with its owner watching closely from the porch. We see the kiwi that grow in northern Portugal like grapes from trellises. And the taxi post man poses by his motorcycle as he makes his rounds delivering the mail. We pass along a forest path where we find a monument from the region of Esposende to the Coastal Portuguese Camino. It has a shape like the country of Portugal with Lisbon and ... read more

We waren alweer vrij vroeg klaar met inpakken, een redelijk stijle helling leidde ons terug naar de meer toegankelijke wegen om kronkelend door het glooiende landschap ons een weg te banen naar de snelweg. De afstand was redelijk kort, een 250 km, naar onze volgende camping in het hart van het Noordelijke Portugal. We passeerden nog het stadje Chivaz op weg naar de camping, wat toch aangeduid stond als de poort van het Noorden, toch kozen we snel het hazenpad. Het was er echt guur, ik was nog niet gewend aan de Portugese rijstijl en de bewoners precies niet aan toeristen met een caravan achter hun auto. De camping stond in de ACSI-boek aangeduid met advertentie als Nederlandstalige uitbaters, dit was een bewuste keuze in de hoop dat onze kindjes ditmaal niet alleen in gebaren, maar ... read more