May 052017 0 Responses

Montesinho – in the Portuguese mountains

Next stop was this mountain town only minutes from the Spanish border.  Montesinho was Portugal’s last chance to shine in the plant hunting department!   Portugal hasn’t been forthcoming with a raft of amazing plants.  Here and there we have scored some good ones but nothing like our trip to Croatia/Slovenia/Italian mountains.

Portugal is very much like Spain but with less plant variety we have found.  That is not to say that the countryside isn’t stunning – we’ve loved every area we’ve visited – but the plant range has been narrow.  There’s only so many mountain ranges of white cistus, purple lavender, white and yellow broom and pink Erica you can be thrilled about.  The extent of the lavender is incredible and during April to mid May it is in full flower and really it is an amazing scene with huge drifts up the road sides.  Pink and white Thrift (Armeria) too have been wonderful.   But precious plants have been few and far between.

Montesinho gave us the cutest little pale daffodil (N. triandrus) growing amongst the rocks at 1,500m, enormous pink Orchids and the rich blue of perennial forget-me-not – Omphalodes beside the streams.  As this is one of my most favourite plants it was a thrill to find.

The remote slate roof villages in this area are well worth the drive.  Many are mentioned in the Lonely Planet as being in a time warp.  Certainly the village that straddles the Portuguese and Spanish borders is one – Rio de Onor – set on a river we saw men scything the grass and ploughing with horses in the large communal vegetable growing area.  Yes – any woman I saw was wearing black.  I’m not sure they were all widows as suggested, but black hasn’t gone out of fashion in Rio de Onor for quite a few centuries!

Montesinho is a village of 45 souls – they share communal vege growing areas and most are well into their 70’s and over.  Set in a high valley (1200m) surrounded by groves of edible Chestnuts and above that wide hillsides covered in sweetly scented white flowering broom.

We had a day driving around similar villages and were treated with the sight of the huge Transmontano dogs guarding and moving the sheep.  Wolves have been reintroduced into these mountainous areas and to stop the villagers from shooting them (as they would obviously eat the sheep) –  These dogs have been reintroduced to many areas in a Government initiative to protect the wolves. After the wolves were reintroduced the Villagers were offered free puppies.  The puppies are brought up with the sheep and consider themselves part of the flock – hence they are happy to stay all day with their mates and protect them from predators.  It’s interesting the bits and pieces you learn of the local way of life as you travel around.

In this old village we stayed with a Dutchman – Robert – who has been here for the last 13 years doing up his hotel A Lagosta Perdida which was a complete ruin.  It is 800 yrs old, so had seen better times.  It now has 6 gorgeous bedrooms and every night you are treated to a beautiful meal cooked by Robert himself.  He also has a few paddocks in nearby Franca where 13 lucky rescue horses are living out happy retirements.  It’s been a joy to take a rest and enjoy our last few days in Portugal in this timeless, peaceful village. Tomorrow we go north to Spain and the Picos mountains.

Facebook Twitter Google Email Email
May 042017 0 Responses

Above Porto and the Douro Valley lies Portugal’s first capital city.  It’s population is only around 10-15,000 depending on which set of statistics you use which makes it an easy base to come and go from.

Guimaraes soon became our favourite town.  A perfect blend of old cobbled streets, tree lined avenues and many shaded Squares.  An abundance of eateries and first class shops, plus a wonderful Palace, castle and multiple churches. We stayed at Guimaraes for four nights which gave us time to shop and go into the National Parks for a couple of days.

On the last day it decided to turn decidedly cool so we hopped on the train and were in Porto in just over an hour. Whilst in Guimaraes we stayed in Hotel Toural which I couldn’t recommend highly enough.  A family business with the most attentive staff.  Most accomodation in Portugal includes breakfast and Toural was no exception.  The Portuguese also offer a light cake for breakfast – we had managed to abstain until Gentil offered us their Orange cake.  Light as a feather with a coconut topping.  Along with this was a beautiful small pastry case filled with an egg cream mixture.  Well I’m sorry, but that was the end of muesli for breakfast for the next few days.

Facebook Twitter Google Email Email
May 042017 0 Responses

The Douro Valley Drive

No trip to Portugal would be complete without a few days in the Douro. As we live in Hawkes Bay and love our wine, the Douro was a definite on the itinerary from the very beginning.  Many friends, and indeed customers at the Green Door had told us how beautiful this part of Portugal is. They were certainly right and we were glad we had given ourselves three nights to enjoy the upper end of the Douro – the Alto Douro. We chose Tabuaco as our base as it is not far from Pinhao but set above the river with great views across to the other side.   How many pictures of the terraces does a person need I thought after the second day.  The terraces of grapes are a bit like the sea.  People who live by the sea often say that no two days are the same.  Well, the same could easily be said about the terraced hillsides of the Douro.  Every hour the scene changes as the sun moves over them placing  shadows at different angles throughout the day. Both sides of the upper Douro are smothered in vines with pockets of olives to help with land stabilisation.  However, as it appears that the vines grow practically in rock! – the land is very stable.  So much more than in NZ.  There’s no way we could terrace hillsides like they have here for hundreds and hundreds of years.  It is indeed quite a sight and a taste or two of 25yr old Porto certainly helps it along.

Facebook Twitter Google Email Email
May 042017 0 Responses

Mini Daffs in the mountains

Lucky us – we found some tiny Daffodils still in flower on the top of the hills en route to Manteigas, Portugal – growing at 1450m in practically pure rock.  Growing with them were tiny alpine bluebells.

It just goes to show that when all the books tell you to put grit underneath your bulbs when planting  – it’s because they really like very good drainage and choose to grow right on PURE grit given the chance!  In NZ the best thing to use in your pots or garden would be small, sharp gravel or pumice.

Facebook Twitter Google Email Email
1 2 3 4 5 6 25