One extremely sunny Wednesday my adventurous friends - Iva, Olka, Seher, Sena and I, took few maps, many bottles of water, good moods and went for a road trip.
Our adventure started in the North-West of Vila Real, in
Alvão Natural Park. To be more precise, our first target was Cascata de Galegos da Serra, which is a waterfall!
At first we left our car in one of the villages and followed the route that the map showed us. As it usually happens with most of good looking maps, the map failed us. Luckily, thanks to the shepherd-lady in a Mercedes, that we met on the way, we've reached the waterfall without getting lost.
When the waterfall appeared, it turned out to be bigger than we expected. It seems to be 3 or 4 floors high. We went down along the rocks and couldn't resist having a bath there.
As you may see, we were more or less prepared for it. Thanks to the great Czech-Turkish-Polish cooperation Iva, Sena and I managed to swim in our pants sharing 2 bikini bras. The feeling of swimming in the freezing water after a while of hiking in the sun is the most pleasant thing that could've happen and surely unforgettable!
Afterwards we went back to Vila Real for lunch! Is there any better place for a stop by the road for having lunch and going to the WC than McDonald's? Of course not. After the break we continued the trip but this time took the road to the South, in completely opposite direction than before, to take a ride along
the Douro Valley and its famous vineyard route, which is one of UNESCO's heritage sites.
The views were incredible and we felt like taking more and more pictures of them behind each road serpentine. Iva is a great driver and we wouldn't make it without her.
The most picturesque town by the river Douro is Pinh
ão. That is also where we stopped for a while to visit one of the quintas, which is a portuguese word for "a little field". The one we've picked was Quinta de la Rosa. Thanks to the kindness of the owners we were able to taste some Port wine of different kinds and listen to the story how is it produced.
Last but not least part of the trip was Lamego, an ancient episcopal city. Its most important building is the pilgrimage church of Nossa Senhora dos Remédios, which is reached by a magnificent Baroque-style 600-step staircase. This piece of architecture is very similar to the one I've seen in
Braga few weeks ago but for sure less taken care of. Hooligan's grafitti was visible on most of the walls. We couldn't make the way up in a high speed after all the tiring day, so we've made one or two small stops for having a sandwich.
The trip finished at 20:00. The only part that we've skipped was Regua, a city on the way from Lamego to Vila Real. Well, maybe next time.
Our adventure started in the North-West of Vila Real, in Alvão Natural Park. To be more precise, our first target was Cascata de Galegos da Serra, which is a waterfall!
At first we left our car in one of the villages and followed the route that the map showed us. As it usually happens with most of good looking maps, the map failed us. Luckily, thanks to the shepherd-lady in a Mercedes, that we met on the way, we've reached the waterfall without getting lost.
When the waterfall appeared, it turned out to be bigger than we expected. It seems to be 3 or 4 floors high. We went down along the rocks and couldn't resist having a bath there.
As you may see, we were more or less prepared for it. Thanks to the great Czech-Turkish-Polish cooperation Iva, Sena and I managed to swim in our pants sharing 2 bikini bras. The feeling of swimming in the freezing water after a while of hiking in the sun is the most pleasant thing that could've happen and surely unforgettable!
Afterwards we went back to Vila Real for lunch! Is there any better place for a stop by the road for having lunch and going to the WC than McDonald's? Of course not. After the break we continued the trip but this time took the road to the South, in completely opposite direction than before, to take a ride along the Douro Valley and its famous vineyard route, which is one of UNESCO's heritage sites.
The views were incredible and we felt like taking more and more pictures of them behind each road serpentine. Iva is a great driver and we wouldn't make it without her.
The most picturesque town by the river Douro is Pinhão. That is also where we stopped for a while to visit one of the quintas, which is a portuguese word for "a little field". The one we've picked was Quinta de la Rosa. Thanks to the kindness of the owners we were able to taste some Port wine of different kinds and listen to the story how is it produced.
Last but not least part of the trip was Lamego, an ancient episcopal city. Its most important building is the pilgrimage church of Nossa Senhora dos Remédios, which is reached by a magnificent Baroque-style 600-step staircase. This piece of architecture is very similar to the one I've seen in Braga few weeks ago but for sure less taken care of. Hooligan's grafitti was visible on most of the walls. We couldn't make the way up in a high speed after all the tiring day, so we've made one or two small stops for having a sandwich.
The trip finished at 20:00. The only part that we've skipped was Regua, a city on the way from Lamego to Vila Real. Well, maybe next time.
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