A peaceful night was disturbed just before getting up time
by heavy rain, despite it being clear last thing last night. We had managed to
get a weather forecast for the week and in fairness it was expected – showers,
some of them persistent most days until the weekend. So we just got on with it
and with no facilities here, after breakfast we departed. The rain was starting
to show signs of clearing so we continued with our plan.
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| Roundabout Art... |
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| ...in the rain |
Porto, another ex-capital city, was only an hour north
although our Rough Guide did not convince us this was a must-see place.
Nevertheless we had planned a route taking us into the city and then east along
the north bank of the Rio Douro, which was recommended – well a river cruise
actually but the map showed a “scenic route” by road.
As always we tried to avoid using the toll roads, out of
principal more than cost, and this gave us a somewhat interesting trip into
Porto, culminating in us battling it out in the centre of the old town with
trams, taxis and sight-seeing buses! Some inspired guesswork finally got us
down onto the riverside, albeit going in the wrong direction, but this was soon
sorted via a bus link (oops!) and we found ourselves travelling through the
suburbs for what seemed like miles.
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| Porto |
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| Porto |
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| Bridges over Rio Douro at Porto |
But the sun came out and eventually we joined the Rota de
Romanica which basically followed the N108 onto a drive that was more like the
River Rhine in Germany, with elements of the French Alpes. It was so
picturesque – yes lots more photos – and with the spring blossoms just starting
to appear it became one of the highlights of our trip. See for yourselves.
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| Wanna buy a Roman column? |
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| More like The Rhine |
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| Blossom coming out |
We stopped at Entre-os-Rios for provisions and fuel then a
short while later for lunch. The Douro is said to be one of the longest rivers
in Portugal, and in fact rises in Spain so we could have travelled for miles
further but as time started to run out we turned off at Mesao Frio and headed
north-west towards Amarante where our books told us there was a campsite as
well as several aires. Needing servicing we opted for the camp-site which,
though hosting lots of semi-permanent caravans, was all but devoid of visitors!
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