Got a bit behind again! Here is the story of the missing days leading up to my birthday……
15-19 July 2012, Horatio 92 miles, Kymi 78km, hot hot hot! And a bit windy at times.
On Sunday we chilled most of the day at the campsite after the long day before. Late afternoon we thought we would “pop over” to the Douro valley and look for a campsite or at least a first stop as “somewhere in the Douro valley” is where I fancied having my birthday.
We set off and immediately got lost. The Vila Nova de Gaia area is a maze of tiny roads, many of them cobbled – not great on a scooter. We consulted the (rubbish) map and a guy came over to see if he could help. No problem, I will lead you to where you can cross the river into the valley – so he goes and gets out his own scooter so we can follow him! About 20 somewhat terrifying minutes later he pointed to the bridges and left us to it. Lovely guy but he and B delighted in scooting down the middle of the road to jump the traffic jams as all of Porto returned home from their weekend on the beach. I was less delighted by the ride – little did I know what was to come the next day….
Then we got caught in a fiesta, went over the wrong bridge and couldn’t get down to the riverside. Very tired and frustrated we finally gave up and went back to the campsite. Did get some nice pix of Porto from the opposite bank and it did help us figure out how to move on with Horatio when we left.
On the Monday we had decided to take the local bus to Porto – as recommended by the campsite – rather than go on Kymi again.
As the bus hurtled down cobbled, narrow streets with no more than 3 inches to spare each side we thought it might not be such a good, or survivable, idea. At one point B spotted some stone steps on the side of a building which we were surely going to hit and suddenly moved his legs inwards away from the impending accident… We subsequently narrowly missed several pedestrians and buses coming the other way. We were both still shaking 20 minutes after getting off in Porto. And of course we had to catch one back later!
Porto is again full of bizarre contradictions. Beautiful monuments with dilapidated town houses right next door. Views across miles of terracotta tiled roofs. Winding hilly roads leading to the broad expanse of the mouth of the Douro river. And ceramic tiles coating the outside walls of the traditional housing there – very pretty and totally unlike anywhere else I have ever been. We loved it.
We did the tourist thing and hopped on a riverboat trip – called the 6 Bridges – no prizes for guessing why. The ticket included a tour with tasting at one of the port warehouses back over the river. Port as in the drink for which Porto is famous. Rude not too (and we did have the bus ride back to face). We ended up at Croft – I thought they were a sherry company – apparently the oldest of the port producers and owned by 2 English families. We got to try a white and a ruby and B bought a bottle of the ruby Reserva. We loved that too.
Back on the bus and the driver was severely restricted from excessive roller coaster manoeuvres by the huge number of people on the bus. Not even standing room. More sauna than fairground, except at the end when most had finally got off and he reverted to standard F1 status. We also got the compulsory nutter who just started ranting – we think about public transport – to no-one in particular but loud enough the whole bus could hear. Must have been good as most of them were laughing!
The following day we packed up and left for the Douro Valley. 7 hot, sweaty hours later we rolled into the campsite at Amarante, having experienced a sensory overload of fabulous views, combined with 40 degrees in the cab, quite a few testicle moments of sheer drops and hurtling lorries, and 92 of the most tortuous winding roads so far. Amazing, frustrating and ultimately rewarding. Cheers B – I could not have done that….ever.
3 of the 6 bridges
Typical Porto tiled front town houses
View of Porto from the River Douro boat trip
The Douro valley