Vilarinho de São Romão to Pinhão (30.5km, 492m of climbing): the most fun day of riding yet started with a bit of climbing and some nice views of the valley, followed by a 17km descent to the Duoro and Pinhão. The views were stunning, lots of terraced vineyards and neat towns and glimpses of the river. We got to our hotel at Quinta de la Rosa in time for a late lunch, then went to a port tasting at another port house. The vegetarians and i split off to find an interesting vegetarian dinner option, and eventually wound up having quite a nice meal at yet another port house.
sunrise from our hotel window |
more sunrise and mountains |
vineyard behind the hotel pool at sunrise |
one last hotel balcony/sunrise shot |
a wooden desk in our hotel room |
pastel de nada at breakfast |
Dana walking a bike past our hotel window |
Sarah walking a bike past our hotel window |
art of the vineyards of the Duoro, in our hotel room |
hotel window showing actual vineyards of the Duoro |
stone window planter at hotel |
porch behind the hotel |
David and van driver Sonia walking down stone steps behind the hotel |
fields behind the hotel |
the steps are very attractive, but we are not even a little tempted to carry our bikes up them |
Gina taking the fewer-stone-steps route, pushing her bike up a hill |
Helen and Gina found a fig tree |
Tom and David, rolling |
some terraced vineyards, and a town in the distance |
the road behind |
trees left, houses right |
riders ahead |
valley behind |
church with a nice roof |
church and houses in the valley |
David and Gina, resting |
Bill, climbing |
donkey |
cemetary gate |
these geese were very angry about being photographed, so i am definitely including this photo even though it didn't come out well |
Gina, walking past some houses with nice roofs |
Bill, heading into the forest |
ferns and trees in partial sun |
clearing, forest, valley |
my bike, on the road ahead |
town in a valley, terraced fields behind |
yellow grasses in front of a valley |
we found a chestnut |
the road ahead |
more evidence of this fire that happened |
mountains and terraces, but also, our first view of the Duoro! |
David and Tom, enjoying the view |
Helen, enjoying the view |
our road ahead up into the mountains |
let's take one more look at that view first |
okay, off we go |
Gina, David, Tom, and Helen, on the curve ahead |
this valley is nice, right? |
David obligingly took several pictures of me and Gina on top of this hill, and we ruined it by making horrible faces |
in our defense, we were staring into the sun, but still; ignore us and look at that panorama |
valley with a segment of burned trees |
farmhouse in front of many terraces |
Gina, no longer staring into the sun |
Tom and David are also staring into the sun, but manage to pull it off; i don't know what to tell you |
terraces and trees |
several nice roofs |
terraces, valleys, and a bit more of the Duoro |
a town in the valley |
a cypress tree next to some houses |
a bunch of prickly pear on the side of the road |
Tom and David across a field, riding |
landscape with houses |
vineyards at various angles |
terraces at various angles |
mountains from above |
Gina, biking past olive trees and vineyards |
my favorite round terraced hilltop |
strawberry tree fruit! |
it is not a strawberry, it grows on these bushes, it was served to us in restaurants, and now you know as much as i do |
terraced vineyard view with bonus giant tree |
Scott, about to round a corner |
Helen, about to round a different corner |
vineyards and valleys |
landscape seen while taking a break under some trees |
the road behind |
a ferry on the Duoro, passing vineyards and hills on either side |
a house among the terraces |
approaching the town of Covas do Douro |
a cemetary, from above |
Scott, approaching |
Helen and Scott, riding towards Covas do Duoro |
houses on a mountainside in Covas do Duoro |
Helen and Scott, descending through the town |
we're headed the right way |
looking up a hill at a line of olive trees |
a house in front of a terraced hill |
looking back towards hills and ruined buildings |
the Duoro, between an olive tree and a citrus tree |
okay, what is up with this citrus tree, though? |
one tree growing lemons and limes? |
opinions welcome; we never figured this out |
here are some olives; they seem fine |
a building with a rounded stone wall, among terraces |
Gina, approaching a giant cypress on the road ahead |
my one-photo ad campaign for the Duoro valley |
the gates of the Quinta de la Rosa hotel along the Duoro |
the road on the south side of the Duoro |
the town of Pinhão, seen from our hotel |
boats in front of a Pinhão town park |
Gina, on a patio in the hotel grounds |
Quinta de la Rosa is a vineyard |
another box of grape mash, in front of a view |
river and terraces seen from the hotel cafe |
more river from the cafe, where we got lunch while waiting for our rooms to be ready |
these fried cod cakes were excellent |
Gina and Bill are enjoying sitting down at lunch |
power lines running down a terrace |
Tom, in front of the river view of Pinhão |
David, in front of the river |
a ruined building in the lower part of the hotel's land |
weeds in the river |
the view west along the river |
terraces and olive trees across the river |
a cruise boat on the river |
ruins and terraces across the river from Pinhão |
view upriver from the bridge in Pinhão |
we're crossing the bridge to get to our port tasting at Quinta das Carvalhas |
the bridge |
a sign about a wine grape biodiversity project this vineyard apparently participated in |
wines and ports we tasted |
different ages of ports we tasted |
different varieties of ports we tasted |
white port, rose port, and two reserves |
stamps and dies on display at the port tasting room |
a die for a port label |
a die which might be a scene from Pinhão |
display of quartz and dies |
we did not taste any 100-year-old ports on this trip |
view upriver from the port tasting place |
view downriver, back to the bridge and Pinhão |
Joe, Emily, and Bill, with tasting glasses |
olives on a tree by the river |
a substation across the river |
sign about a 1913 decree, found outside Quinta das Carvalhas |
buildings with tidy-looking tile roofs, across the river |
building in Pinhão |
damaged building in Pinhão |
tile art on the side of the train station building: valley |
tile art on the side of the train station building: terraces |
Gina outside the gate of the train station |
people singing and dancing on the Pinhão station platform: who, what, and why unknown |
a train leaving Pinhão |
in theory, we're supposed to ride this train with our bikes to leave Pinhão in two days |
but it looks crowded and not large, and we're dubious about this plan |
steep alley between houses in Pinhão |
Gina approaches an abandoned building |
through holes in the building's door, we see many plants |
we encountered a number of things named Our Lady of the Conception |
view from above of an abandoned building full of plants |
pigeons roosting in the beam holes |
missing roof, many trees |
terraces across the river |
Sarah and Gina on the street in Pinhão |
a wall made of stones |
more ruined buildings full of trees |
a park by the canal |
limes by the canal |
random exercise equipment in the canal-side park |
signage seemed to refer to this as the Roman Bridge |
plants and flowers through a fence |
a building above the park |
a building above the park with moss and some nice shingles |
view across the canal |
a cruise ship with only-slightly-disturbing art |
a climbing wall in Pinhão |
view down the Duoro |
a slate wall, showing its slate |
view across the canal of buildings in Pinhão |
Gina and i found these only-slightly-dubious looking stairs down to the canal |
prickly pears |
Duoro with cruise ship |
wall art on the outside of the restaurant where we planned to have dinner, but didn't because they had run out of all vegetarian ingredients |
back to the town to look for another restaurant |
Sarah and Dana at Quinta do Bomfim, where we did have dinner |
dining room at Quinta do Bomfim |
cold tomato soup with little tomatoes and tomato ice cream |
eggplant two ways, with chickpeas |
port cabinet at Quinta do Bomfim |
poorly-lit and unwelcoming-looking exterior of Quinta do Bomfim, but the restaurant was in fact excellent |