Blogs from Northern, Portugal, Europe - page 22

Wow, Sept 7th came so fast. I set my 2 alarms for 07:17 and was drinking my first IN ROOM coffee of the trip (I found when looking for the hair dryer) and realized I needed to be up a bit earlier. Oops. Typical Ned. So quickly got ready, ran down to have breakfast and saw some of the gang, so said I'm having a quick coffee and seeing what I can steal for lunch. It was an incredible spread of food, had I known I would have gotten up earlier. Truth be told I wasn't that hungry, so grabbed some yoghurt made a couple of cheese sandwiches for the trip, and caught a cab. Tipped the guy almost 2 euro and he nattered away to me in Portuguese and I could tell he was very ... read more

Portugal from Monday 19 to 24 August 2013 We thoroughly loved Portugal, the people, the extensive and effective highway/freeway system, the rugged coastal scenery with sandy coves, the castles and fortresses on the coasts perched up on cliffs, the food, the colourful tiles on walls (with a predominance of blue on white), the white-washed villages, particularly in the southern Algarve region, the mountains, fields of citrus fruit, vineyards, wheat paddocks, sandlewood plantations are all features to love. What we didn’t like was the tolls, both at the booths and overhead cameras (the latter of which we haven’t paid yet as we didn’t get an electronic metre for our car!!!!). We found most people spoke English so it was very easy for us. We spent time driving through the Douro Valley where they grow grapes for port ... read more

Oporto translates to "the port" in English, which is fitting for a city that lives and dies by the water, where everything and everyone comes and goes by the Douro River. This valley is regarded as the capital of port wine, a deep, pungent, yet sweet wine suitable for a heavy meal; port wine originated in this country when the British were at war with France in the 17th century and couldn't gain access to the full-bodied French wine. The Brits managed by brewing their own version, which combined brandy and Portuguese wine, giving birth to what is now considered by many as the most complex and richest wine in the world. With that brief history, it's fair to say that one cannot leave Porto without having tasted or bringing back some of this vino. To ... read more

Have spent a couple of days in the Douro wine region which is famous for its ports and for having produced wine in the region for nearly two thousand years. Yesterday we spent some time in the morning hiking through vineyard trails. We had a 2 hour boat trip along the Upper Douro where we learnt a little about the vineyards. In the photos you will see differences in the terraces as you go up the hill. Originally vineyards were narrow family owned plots, see those close to the river's edge, then the terraces became wider and nowadays on the hilltop, flatter areas vines are grown in rows down the hill rather than across (note the different direction of vines at the hilltop). This leads to great patterns in the scenery. Late afternoon we headed to ... read more

When you're in Porto, you just can't leave the city without go to Vila Nova de Gaia! On the other side of the river, there is "Vila Nova de Gaia", and in fact, it's in here that the Porto is made. It's not from the city called Porto. You can access this city by the famous bridge called "Dom Luis", by down or up the bridge, in fact, you can cross it near the river, or take a funicular to go up and walk the bridge from the up. Once the bridge crossed, you have all the cellar wine, Ferreira, Taylor's, Cavem, Sandeman...If you to go Cavem or Taylor's, the visit cost 3€, it include the guid (speaking the language you chose), and the tasting of 3 wines for each persons, it can be more or ... read more