Walking in wine country (Pinhao ~ Portugal)

 29 August

Walking in wine country - stunning scenery but stinking hot. Start of walk it was mid 20's and by end at lunch time at least  mid 30's. The walk itself was part of the RL20 so was nicely sign posted with yellow and red makes showing the route.

Wasn't till we were heading back down that I took a closer look at these and realised that the bulk of the fence posts were made from solid stone (schist).

The country side is highly reminiscent of Central Otago with schist stone walls, and rocky hillsides. Feeling more than a bit knackered after this day's walk we opted for a lazy afternoon followed by the obligatory trip up river in a Ribaldo (traditional boat used for ferrying wine barrels down stream).

Everywhere you look from  the boat are terraced hillsides covered in either grape vines or olive trees.

Pinhao - a pretty little town, not overly touristy even though it's definitely on the Riverboat Cruise itinerary (two cruise boats were moored here at any one time).

Our accommodation was a bit rough and ready but still quite nice but the star was the fact that it included breakfast. Breakfast was delivered in a small basket dropped by our door every morning and comprised of fresh eggs, bacon, freshly baked bread, cheese, jam and butter. So brekkie was scambled eggs wth bacon.

We arrived here on a Sunday and found out that most restaurants are shut on Sunday so we ended up at a slightly more upmarket place than we normally would have. Even then mains were about low $NZ 20's and a litre of house white was less than $NZ 10, and as you can see portoon size is generous.  I went for Iberian Prok "Plumas". Must admit before ordering it I googled what Plumas was and found out that it's a plume shaped cut of meat from the pigs necks (and not something else that comes from a pig and is plum shaped).

Next step is to hire a car for the next ten days and get up to the northern parts of Portugal. Hiring a car as buses are few and far between (if at all).