Category Archives: Douro Region

Day Four of Walking

Posted on by
3

The morning began with computer stuff (still on my Wordle streak), and then off to breakfast we went. We also picked up our lunch bags. It’s always interesting to see what a place will give you … some things are a surprise until we unwrap them at lunchtime! Today was a chicken sandwich. By that I mean chicken between two pieces of bread without any condiments. This happened with our last two days as well, although then it was ham and cheese with no condiments. We also had a salad, with packets of olive oil and wine vinegar today, so I took some of the dressed salad, including cucumber, and put those in to the sandwich. Then there was a nice piece of cake which maybe was spice cake. And, finally, an apple. Which is sitting in my hotel room as I type.

Then it was time to do our circular walk. We went out and quickly decided that we should put on our rain jackets. It was just misty enough …

From there we left the village and (don’t be shocked!) went past a lot of vineyards. Looking back you could see Alijo.

And of course not just vineyards, but olive trees, a house with lovely flowers, and then we saw some beautiful lupine.

Then it was time to do downhill, knowing full well what that meant. (I didn’t think walking and taking this video would be wise, so I told Dan I’d catch up after filming.)

We could hear workers, and although I didn’t take a photo, saw bags hanging on poles which I assume held their lunches. I looked back again to see Alijo still in view.

Some vineyards had clover growing between each row. The sky continued to look ominous, but so far we were staying dry.

We reached a cobblestone road continuing upwards, and I was glad for no rain since those can be more slippery when wet.

And then … poppies. I do believe they were California poppies, in fact.

At one point we heard someone call out … it was our Swiss friends, Patrizia (sp?) and Rudy! They would, of course, pass us as we are slower between being slow hikers and taking photos. It was fun to see them on the trail, though.

We entered the village of São Mamede de Ribatua after 4.97 miles. First was the statue garden …

and then more poppies … of the papaver sort this time. (More common to see these here.)

We continued our walk in the village until we reached an overlook where you could see a reservoir.

Close to the overview we sat and ate our lunch while a sad dog gazed at us, hoping, I’m sure, for a treat. Poor doggie … we were hungry!

Sometimes you see one place in near ruins right next to a home that has been fixed up. It’s not as easy to see in this picture, but the left part of this is what appears to be an abandoned place.

Continuing through the town …

and then it was time for the big climb. Up, up, up … for .99 miles. Gotta love that it’s .99 and not 1 mile, eh? One fun thing about a climb is seeing how far above a village you get. So of course I had to take some photos to prove I was making progress on the climb.

We reached the top and then it was smooth sailing for a good amount of the walk.

That being said (okay, written) it looked like maybe rain was falling elsewhere, and the sky still had that ominous look.

Sometimes we come across the sign for the Camino (I’m not sure which one), but when we’d see a sign like the one in this photo it means “don’t go this way!”

Now we aren’t actually on the Camino, but we often share the same paths. So far I think the only people we’ve seen on our walks have been people doing the same walk.

Shortly after the last shot you see above the rain began. We quickly packed up our cameras and pulled out our rain jackets (we had removed them partway through the walk). And that was the end of even iPhone photos. It was more rain than we’d had before, and by the time we got back to our hotel our pants were even quite wet. (We just didn’t put on rain pants because we were so close to the hotel.)

After getting things hung up in the shower to dry, we went downstairs for a little drink and snack. First we wanted to get dinner reservations, and ended up talking to two couples from Arizona who are a day behind us on the walk. They had stopped in about the middle of their walk today to do wine tasting. I’m not sure I’d be able to do that! But then they have vineyards so I suspect they are used to doing tastings. When we tried to get a reservation for 7:30 (the first time available for dinner here) we were told it would have to be 8:00. Ah well … I don’t sleep at all well even with a 7:30 dinner, but so be it!

We ordered our drinks and some chips. Alas, no chips, but she brought out something else for us. Guess that’ll do. Then we spent a lot of time discussing how we were going to get to our destination once this walk ends completely because — ta-da! — the train very well might not be running still. The strike continues through our move day, and at the train site I could see which trains were definitely running (very few) which didn’t include ours. However there was also a note that said there might be more that are running on the fourteenth, which is when we travel. To be on the safe side we bought bus tickets again. It’s somewhat inexpensive insurance and I think it’s better safe than sorry.

Now I’ll be brief: we had dinner, I ate too much, and I’m tired!

Boa noite!

Another Day, A New Village

Posted on by
Reply

Distance: 16.4 km | 10.2 miles
Elevation: +626 m | -569 m
Altitude: 238 m to 696 m
Climb: 2053 feet

We had to be packed and ready to go by 9:00 today: our driver was to pick us up then and drop us off at “the big tree” where we begin our walk of the day. The provided mileage implied this would be our longest walk.

But first, breakfast and collecting our lunches … and wouldn’t you know our driver was actually early?!

Starting at the big tree, we went past a shrine and down a cobblestone street, eventually ending up on a dirt road.

For a while it was mostly downhill which means … you know, right? Uphill is coming.

As always the walk is a jumble in my mind now, but I can tell you it was beautiful.

But about the not so beautiful: people leave toilet paper right on the side of the path. Now it’s true we have to create our own outdoor bathrooms, but a little attention to clean up would be nice. (And no, there are no bathrooms provided on these walks unless you opt to go into a town and eat somewhere. I’ve learned to deal, but mostly I have the ability to wait until we arrive at our next lodging!)

But back to the walk …

The first village was Sabrosa and some suggest it was where Magellan was born. Before quite reaching the center of the village we saw what I now learned is the communal laundry tank. Then it was up to the village itself.

We were walking between two stone walls much of the time. I love the wall gardens you see on them. The plant life is really fascinating. The views over those walls are spectacular.

We saw some baby grapes.

Eventually after a painful downhill (reminder to self: tighten your laces!) we reached a road, went over a bridge, and went back up the other side. I knew it was coming, of course, because of the steep downhill.

Eventually we sat down to eat lunch, right below a winery (closed due to it being Sunday).

Then more climbing. It sort of felt like it wouldn’t ever end.

But with painful climbs come beautiful panoramas.

A few more photos …

And when we reached the village of Favaios I knew we were getting closer to our final destination! By that time my feet were tired. Really tired.

From there I guess I ran out of steam with the iPhone because here are the next photos I took!

Yes, we reached our final destination! We arrived in the village of Alijó, and we are staying at Pousada Barão de Forrester.

After getting out our chargers and attempting to log in to the WiFi here (hmm. Maybe not?!) we showered and then went down to have a relaxing drink and dinner.

Now I’m beat and the pillow is calling my name.

Day Two — Miles To Do!

Posted on by
2

According to the booklet:
Distance 13.1 km | 8.1 miles
Elevation: +400 m | -405 m
Altitude: 584 m to 788 m
Climb: 1,315 ft

Breakfast at Quinta Manhãs D’Ouro wasn’t available until 8:30. It appears breakfasts might be later on this trip. Since we have no luggage transfer today we didn’t have to rush to get things packed, and we could sit around for a bit. (I’ve managed to play my Wordle game every day so my streak continues. The other games aren’t always getting played, but I do like keeping the streak going. News you can use … or maybe not.)

I realized (too late!) that I forgot to take a room photo when we arrived. Honestly, it’s nothing worth seeing, but I still like to do these so when I go back through our trips I can remember the places. This Quinta is nothing fancy, the room is small, and quite basic. (And the tile floor in the bathroom is mighty slippery after a shower!) But it’s a very quiet location, and those running it are friendly.

But oh the view!

Breakfast, dinner, and, if we opt for them, drinks, are on the main floor.

So after breakfast we got ourselves ready, including our rain coats because, surprise, surprise, it was raining. I opted to leave my rain pants at the Quinta though, since my weather app said the rain would subside and it wasn’t going to reappear until much later.

Our app with instructions for the walk said it was to start back in the village just below us, so off we went.

We tried to find the start point (where the pillory is … hmmm … not finding it!). We went one way. We went another. Pillory? What pillory?!

We finally just opted to start walking since the app will show us where we are in comparison to where we should be. But, well, um, wouldn’t you know we ended up right back by where we are staying!? We could have started from there, and would have if only we’d started the app sooner. Ah well. Reaching “our” place, though, the rain had increased enough that I decided to go back to our room (up a steep hill, mind you) to get my rain pants.

In case you don’t know, this is the rule: if you don’t bring it, you will need it, and if you do bring it, you won’t. Better to choose the latter, I believe. (And no, I never did use them!)

Getting back down the hill the rain had diminished so much we just walked on without wearing the rain pants. Initially we were on the same route we took when we passed the Quinta yesterday, but the we went up a dirt road. There was a good uphill. Not killer, but definitely uphill. We still had some rain at times, and also heard thunder.

We had some lovely views, and there was a flower I don’t think I’ve seen before (anyone? Maybe an allium of some sort?).

More views. A cemetery. A town (Vilarinho de São Romão). The rain had stopped when we neared that town.

Until we decided to stop for lunch! Go figure. This is one of our lunch bags, provided by Green Walks. We hand the bags to someone at wherever we are staying, and they hand them back full of our lunch. Handy, right? So we ate our sandwiches in the rain, and saved the rest for later because we didn’t want to continue to sit there with the rain coming down.

After lunch was another uphill walk, but then a huge downhill. I’m never jazzed about downhills. I know that means an uphill is in my future! We got to the village of Fermentões, and took some time to eat what look like pancakes at this spot with water and a bucket … perhaps a laundry spot? In any case, the pancakes were sweet and a nice thing to enjoy before another big climb.

On the climb we saw sheep, flowers, great views (eventually), and the ever-present broom (bright yellow flowers) that in our neck of the woods is considered an evil invasive species. It is ALL over the mountainsides here and I wonder what people here think of it. It’s really quite lovely, but it does seem to take over everything. Other flowers I’ve seen are lavender, some other yellow plant that I suspect is related to a pea plant (?), lupine (so far all yellow), your typical yellow daisy like flowers, and either heath or heather (I’ve never figured out the difference between those two). We’ve seen pine trees, eucalyptus trees, fruit trees, what we suspect might be nut trees (I was pretty sure I saw chestnut). There are berry plants of some sort (no blossoms or berries at this point), and obviously a ton of grapevines.

But I ramble … here have some photos!

We didn’t follow the app completely — it would have taken us back to the village below where we are staying and having seen it twice now we figured we could skip it, so back to our lodging we went. As we were getting quite close a car drove by and a man said, “Camino!” to us. Yes, there are signs that designate a Camino walks here. We’ve barely seen any walkers at all, though. Our Swiss friends from yesterday were nowhere to be seen. I’m guessing they are just too fast for us.

Getting back to our Quinta we came upstairs to get things taken care of, but eventually went downstairs to enjoy the remainder of a bottle of tinto vinho we bought yesterday. It was lovely to just relax and enjoy the view out the windows — one side showed puffy white clouds and sun and the other very dark clouds. We are learning that weather here is pretty crazy!

Next up was dinner, and it was very good. And relaxing. And I didn’t take a single photo so just trust me: we had a duck rice main after a dinner roll, sausage, olive appetizer. There was also salad, and a chocolate crepe for dessert, along with a decaf espresso. All very fine.

And I am all very tired!

Tomorrow we have our breakfast at 8:30 but our driver arrives at 9:00 to transport us to our starting spot so we will have to eat quickly, I suppose. I’m not sure if he is also the one who transports our luggage as that wasn’t mentioned in our booklet. So we will learn about that in the morning. I think tomorrow’s walk is an easier one, but it’s a long one. But again, we’ll know when we know.

Goodnight for now!

Day One Done

Posted on by
3

Today’s walk: 9.4 km | 5.8 miles
Elevation: 587 m | -137 m
Altitude: 80 m to 636 m
(We climbed 1,926 ft in case anyone is wondering.)
*This doesn’t include the walk to the starting point.

Indeed, breakfast began at 8:00, and we were there nearly on the dot. It was a fairly typical breakfast of eggs, fruit, a pastel de nata, and cappuccino for me, but there were certainly many more choices. We also received our packed lunches which, compared to our Scotland ones, were rather small: a sandwich, an apple, and a small orange. I’m not complaining … we always thought the Scotland lunches included about twice as much food as we needed. I wouldn’t have minded a bit of a treat, but of course I didn’t need one!

As we left the breakfast room I noted the rain coming down. Go figure! And it was coming down quite a bit. I’d already assumed I should carry rain gear with me, but it looked like we’d be wearing at least our jackets from the start.

Going up to our room we finished our packing and took our bags down. Then back up to complete our prep for the walk.

As we went out the rain had diminished a bit and it was quite lovely. The route varied between road, cobblestones, and dirt paths.

The climb began. Rain sometimes fell enough I contemplated rain pants, but never really thought they were necessary. At some point the jacket came off as well (can’t exactly remember when now), and while it sometimes sprinkled it really wasn’t bad at all.

The navigation system worked well, and if one deviates from the path there is a very audible alert. We knew we were in for some steep ascents, and that was certainly the case (funny, though, that now that I’m in our room I can barely remember them!). There were gorgeous views along the way, and the cloud cover meant we were not too hot, which was nice. We went through a little village, São Cristóvão do Douro where we had an amazing view.

Hey, how about some videos?!

More climbing … and climbing …

(Confession: I’m not exactly sure where all these photos are … they are in order, but perhaps some are before and some are after places I’m mentioning.)

When we reached the village of Provesende we opted to stop for lunch. We saw another (younger) couple who had been sitting behind Dan at breakfast who had also stopped, so we joined them on a bench and chatted a while. They are from Switzerland, but of course can speak English so we could communicate. (Sometimes I’m so embarrassed by my lack of ability with languages!) It turned out that they are on the same Green Walks tour, so I’m assuming we’ll run into them again.

After Provesende we had some climbing, but nothing like earlier. We walked past a place with a name I recognized, Quinta Manhãs D’Ouro, but had no idea why. Continuing on we arrived at the village of Vilarinho de São Romão. I just love seeing these small villages — they are so picturesque, and I can’t help but try and imagine what it must be like to live in one. I’m thinking, too, that those who live there must be so fit, considering the steep hills and all.

Walking past an 18th century parish church, we continued down a cobblestone street.

When we reached the intersection of the cobblestone street and a tarmac road and that was the end of the schedule walk.

At that point Dan called the hotel and they called a car to pick us up “at the big tree” (at the end of that cobblestone road). The driver drove crazy fast (at least in my opinion) and I do marvel at how they all maneuver on these roads, but I never felt unsafe. When he neared our lodging I saw familiar things that we had walked by earlier. And then he turned in to the place I thought I recognized earlier. Turns out it was where we would be spending both tonight and tomorrow night (tomorrow is a circular walk).

Going inside we checked in and made our dinner reservation. We opted for the early time of 7:30. I still am amazed at how late people can eat in these countries and yet still sleep. 7:30 is even late for me. (And of course, being a musician, I have work at 7:30, so it doesn’t work due to that as well, but I’m guessing musicians here eat after work!)

We got into our room, pulled a few things out of our bags (mostly had to start charging phones for tomorrow’s walk), and relaxed a bit. There’s a lovely view from the upstairs patio, but it was too chilly and windy to sit and enjoy it.

Eventually we went downstairs to have a glass of wine. This Quinta makes their own wine, and we each enjoyed a glass of their vinho tinto. (Well look at that, I do speak another language! HAH!) The young man who had earlier let us in the door when we arrived served the wine and gave us so much information about the area and more. As we sat down to enjoy our glasses, he came over to chat a bit more. He’s quite the friendly guy!

Then it was back to our room, so we could shower (hooray, clean hair!) and relax until dinner. (Dinner is part of the package for these two nights of lodging because there is no nearby place to go otherwise).

Now normally we don’t eat pork, but when we are in another country we want to experience the foods they serve and eat, so pork it was, along with potatoes and what I think as Swiss chard. Plus another wine, this time from the town where Magellan (Magalhães) was born, or so they claim here (I read that four places claim him as theirs). We are in wine country, so it doesn’t seem fitting that we have wine (and of course port) here. Then a dessert that he called pudding and was somewhat reminiscent of crème brûlée. Oh … and he served us port, and told us that it was put in the barrel (or barrels?) the year his first son was born.

Dinner was so enjoyable because the server (also the man who earlier served us wine) was so kind and fun. He’s the son of the cook, and I suspect his parents own this place. At the end of our meal he said goodbye, because he goes now back to his home in Porto, where I believe his wife and children are.

Tomorrow we have a circular route, so we don’t have to pack our stuff up, and can sleep a bit longer. The route is longer, but the climb isn’t quite so big. Still, there is some climbing to do, and what with the increased mileage it might be a bit challenging. We’ll see!

Boa noite!

PS We are at Quinta Manhãs D’Ouro in Provesende.