Blogs from Northern, Portugal, Europe - page 6

The Douro (pronounced Douroo) Valley is such a magical area and the Quinta de la Rosa, where we stayed, overlooks the fork of the Douro and Pinhao rivers where quite a few river boat cruise ships stop at the nearby town of Pinhao. The Douro is known for Port wine and like other regions in the world, such as Champagne, Cognac, Bordeau etc, there are strict regulations on making Port and a DOC designation is used for approved products. For example, irrigation is prohibited on Port vines and is actually against the law. Reducing the water forces the vine roots to penetrate the shale soil by as much as 30-40ft. The basic difference between Port and regular table wine is the addition of brandy which slows the fermentation process leaving a higher sugar content, therefore a ... read more

Over a year since we have been overseas and it was going to be our last opportunity before the little one arrives. We also had to be careful as to not catch Covid and prevent us from getting to Porto, in the end we made it. We booked an airbnb close to the river front and most importantly opposite our daily Pasties de Nata shop! We arrived the Friday to warm sunny weather which stayed with us until we left on Monday. It definitely made the trip more enjoyable especially given it was mid winter! Our first day we enjoyed exploring along the riverfront on both sides. Starting along the Cais de Ribeira where you can sit in the sun, as it's south facing, and order a drink or some food whilst enjoying the river front ... read more

Hier in Porto konnte ich heute sogar bis 11:00 frühstücken und das war auch sehr angenehm. Danach startete ich meinen Spaziergang durch diese traditionsreiche Stadt. Ich ging vorbei an zwei Kirchen und dann etwas ins Tal hinunter, als ich endlich vom Ufer des Douro die berühmte Brücke sah (Ponte Dom Luis I). Sie ist schon sehr beindruckend und ist als Metallbrücke vielleicht mit der Harbour Bridge in Sydney vergleichbar, über die ich 2002 gelaufen bin. Von dort stieg ich wieder bergauf an einigen anderen Sehenswürdigkeiten vorbei. Eine davon ist eine sehr bekannte Buchhandlung, aber da war eine ganze Schlange an Besuchern davor, so dass ich nicht hinein ging. Statt dessen setzte ich mich in ein Starbucks und trank einen Frappuccino und füllte meine Getränkevorräte auf. Anschließend kehrte ich ins Hotel zurück. Hier sah ich auf Sky ... read more

Fueled by my blue pancakes, I was ready to get the day under way. Our next excursion was the town of Pinhao. This is the first year of doing the Duoro River cruise, so they are still fine tuning the activities. We walked up to a train station were given vouchers for free gifts at various shops throughout the town. I spent most of the day with Alex, a Tauck tour guide from Ecuador who was on this trip as part vacation, part training. We had talked frequently, so it was nice to stroll the town while chatting. We had delicious local sausage at a shop called the Mercearia do Viking, a sad tiny hot dog on a giant bun at another, coffee and a sublime lemon cake at a third, but my favorite was the ... read more

Ok, determined to keep the pace slow, and enjoy what we see. After 2 more beautiful days along the coast we decided to take a day and enjoy the town of Barcelos. Plus do laundry, (it has been surprisingly hot and humid). And transfer to the Central route. Yesterday we did 15 miles, and although a bit sore, we're very happy with the day. And, both of us thoroughly enjoying the walk. Even Ed! I had not planned to post another blog, but I uploaded some pics (and to my chagrin, almost all are taken by our phones...) so, these are some of our sights. ... read more