We spent two weeks in the north of Portugal.
Porto, a Juventude, Praça da Liberdade
Cobblestone streets in Porto
Claudia
Cordoaria, Porto
Cordoaria, Porto
Cordoaria, Porto
Livraria Lello & Irmão, Porto
Livraria Lello & Irmão, Porto
Livraria Lello & Irmão, Porto
Livraria Lello & Irmão, Porto
Clérigos, Porto
Clérigos, Porto
Café Majestic, Porto
Café Majestic, Porto
Claudia
Café Majestic, Porto
São Bento, Porto
São Bento, Porto
Santo Ildefonso, Porto
Young seagull
Rua de Cândido dos Reis, Porto
Hospital Ordem São Francisco, Porto
São Nicolau, Porto
São Nicolau, Porto
São Nicolau, Porto
Rua de São Francisco, Porto
Igreja da Ordem de São Francisco, Porto
Infante, Porto
Old tram
Infante, Porto
Lots of tourists queueing
Cais da Alfândega, Porto
Running out to the beaches
Passeio Alegre, Porto
Where the tram ends and the beaches begin
I love the colour of these rock
Beach, Porto
It's always windy in Portugal
Miragaia, Porto
Walking back...
Miragaia, Porto
... because the tram wouldn't stop and no bus would come
Guindais, Porto
From the bridge above
Ponte Dom Luis I, Porte
Sunset
Guindais, Porto
From the bridge above
Guindais, Porto
From the bridge above
Ponte Pênsil, Porto
And Ponte Dom Luis I above, of course
Ponte Dom Luis I by night, Porto
and Vila Nova de Gaia on the other side
Praça da Riberia, Porto
Full of tourists
Capela das Almas, Porto
Azuleijos are everywhere
Parque Municipal das Virtudes, Porto
Claudia
Parque Municipal das Virtudes, Porto
Parque Municipal das Virtudes, Porto
Rua da Reboleira, Porto
Rua da Reboleira, Porto
Porto
Looking back from Vila Nova de Gaia
Claudia
Experimenting with black and white photography
Alex
Suspecting something...
I KNEW IT!!
Jardim do Morro, Vila Nova de Gaia
Looking at the Douro river
Jardim do Morro, Vila Nova de Gaia
Looking at Ponte Dom Luis I
Jardim do Morro, Vila Nova de Gaia
Looking at Mosteiro da Serra do Pilar
Teleférico de Gaia, Vila Nova de Gaia
Looking at Ponte Dom Luis I and Porto
Miradouro do Largo de Aviz
Panorma of Vila Nova de Gaia, Douro, and Porto
Miradouro do Largo de Aviz
Douro and Porto
Batalha, Porto
More Azuleijos
Alex at the beach, Esposende
And we're going north!
Claudia at the beach, Esposende
Claudia at the beach, Esposende
Alex walking on the beach of Esposende
I really love the beach
Claudia & Alex
Protecting the harbour of Esposende
Lighthouse and ruins, Esposende
Santuário do Sagrado Coração de Jesus
Monte de Santa Luzia, Viana do Castelo
Santuário do Sagrado Coração de Jesus
Religiosity remains a major theme
Viana do Castelo
Seen from the Monte de Santa Luzia
Old town, Viana do Castelo
Claudia
More experiments in black & white photography
Tosta de queijo, our favourite snack
Usually breakfast was big and so we never ate a real lunch
Feeling at home in Gemieira, Ponte de Lima
The Swiss love their Brutalism, and so does this hotel
Claudia, eating breakfast
As I said, breakfast was usually very, very big
Running from Gemieira to Ponte de Lima
Running from Gemieira to Ponte de Lima
Vineyards are everywhere
Running from Gemieira to Ponte de Lima
Vineyards are everywhere
Running from Gemieira to Ponte de Lima
Vineyards are everywhere
Not sure if irony or fascism?
“No transit for vehicles transporting ill-educated, disobedient and unwashed people”
Running from Gemieira to Ponte de Lima
We liked the shade on the Ecovia
Old bridge at Ponte de Lima
The big market of Ponte de Lima started today!
The town was founded in 1125...
The new market, the big one, got started in 1825
That's why it's the "new" one
Sé Catedral de Braga
A stop on the way east
Sé Catedral de Braga
Religiosity...
Sé Catedral de Braga
Gold...
Sé Catedral de Braga
Altars...
Sé Catedral de Braga
An organ!
Braga
Braga
Braga
Pousada de Santa Maria do Bouro
Also known as Pousada Mosteiro de Amares
Pousada de Santa Maria do Bouro
Behind the imposing walls are gardens and an orange orchard
Pousada de Santa Maria do Bouro
It used to be yet another monastery
Looking at Rio Cavado and Rio Caldo
From our hotel high up in Caniçada
Sunset on the Rio Cavado
Beginning our hike in the Serra do Gerês
These structures are traditional, rodent-proof corn storage
Hiking in the Serra do Gerês
Hiking in the Serra do Gerês
Hiking in the Serra do Gerês
Hiking in the Serra do Gerês
Claudia
Hiking in the Serra do Gerês
Hiking in the Serra do Gerês
Hiking in the Serra do Gerês
Claudia
Alex
Claudia
Hiking in the Serra do Gerês
Alex
Rio Homem
Alex
Still hiking in the Serra do Gerês
The trail is called Águia do Sarilhão
Still hiking in the Serra do Gerês
Fraga do Sarilhão must be nearby...
Alex pointing at things...
Claudia & Alex
Rio Homem in the background
Alex
Alex & Claudia
Alex at Rio Homem
Still hiking in the Serra do Gerês
Still on the Trilho da Águia do Sarilhão
Still hiking in the Serra do Gerês
Happy for the shade!
Claudia on the Geira (an old Roman road)
It linked Bracara Augusta (Braga) and Astúrica Augusta (Astorga)
Details on the old Roman road
Still on the Trilho da Águia do Sarilhão
Loving the shade!
The road goes on and on
Looking at Rio Homem again
The dam is called Barragem de Vilarinhos das Furnas
The old Roman road
No shade, now
Claudia on the old Roman road
Alex
An old Roman milestone
I love the flowers
Looking west at the dam itself
Barragem de Vilarinho das Furnas
Turning away from the river
Back to Campo do Gerês
Entering Campo do Gerês
Campo do Gerês seemed to have no café
Later that day, writing on the hotel terrace
Driving south we made a stop in Guimarães
Improvised extensions in Guimarães
As soon as you are a bit further away from the main square
Guimarães
Largo do Toural
Guimarães
Old town
Alex in Guimarães
Largo da Oliveira
Guimarães
Praça de São Tiago
Castelo de Guimarães
Alex in front of the Castelo de Guimarães
Convento do Carmo in Guimarães
More convents...
Back in Guimarães
Looking for coffee...
Guimarães
No coffee...
Guimarães
Azuleijos on the walls to keep the heat out
Guimarães
We like it
Largo Condessa do Juncal in Guimarães
Also the PCP office in the background (the communist party)
We love flowers...
More churches or convents or both...
Largo do Toural, Guimarães
On the way back to the car
Claudia taking pictures
Notice the typical cobblestones
Guimarães
Parking with a Brutalist attitude
Casa de Mateus
Famous for their rosé
Claudia in Casa de Mateus
These people have made big money
Casa de Mateus has a very nice garden
The price is outrageous, however
The roses of Casa de Mateus
They are very beautiful
Claudia
Vineyards of Casa de Mateus
We didn't even stop in Vila Real...
Vineyards of Casa Mateus
We had heard about the garden...
Casa de Mateus
And we wanted to see some green stuff
Casa de Mateus
Big green stuff...
Alex & Claudia
More green stuff...
We did a second tour through the garden
More roses!
The garden is very nice at Casa Mateus
We need higher taxes and better wealth distribution
It was late in the evening but we loved it
Plants are our best friends
Rose
As you can see the sun is still strong
More roses
More flowering plants
And another rose
But soon, time to leave...
Arriving in the Douro valley
The vineyards are strong, here
Settlements down by the river
And tons of vineyards
The hills are very steep
Breakfast at the hotel in Pinhão was good
And so we went for our walk
Tanks for the wine
Looking at the other river bank
Up into the vineyards
Alex still feeling fresh
Love those greens
Love those terraces
Love these grapes
Just look at the earth
Olive trees, too
Claudia
Up and up we go
Looking at a Quinta on the other side of the river
The river simply meanders through this landscape
The bridge of Pinhão in the distance
Cork oak is harvested every 7 to 10 years
Somebody went over the landscape with a comb
Close to the summit!
Can't even see the river from up here
There are cruise ships going up and down the river
The aren't allowed to move after sunset
Alex
"I guess we still aren't there, yet?"
So artificial and still so beautiful
Alex
"It gets even steeper!?"
Vineyards, olives, and wilderness
Patches of wilderness to avoid monoculture?
Dusty feet
We stopped at Casal de Loivos for some water
Hill sides with rocky outcrops
Looking at Pinhão again
The bridge is pretty narrow and full of trucks and buses
Somebody is keeping bees
Claudia in a small gate of the Trancoso city walls
The people of Trancoso like their potted plants
I am reminded of my walks in Nara
Alex on the unsecured city walls of Trancoso
Trancoso was a surprise stop on the way south
We didn't expect to find such glorious city walls
Trancoso
Looking from a tower towards the castle
Trancoso
Old houses falling appart
Trancoso
Walking through the city center towards the castle
Alex in front of a church
Coblestone streets full of hortensia (hydrangea)
We're always excited to find plant lovers
Our balcony might look like this, too!
I love taking pictures of roses
The castle of Trancoso in the background
Sadly, the Trancoso castle was closed
Lots of windmills in Portugal
More driving! We arrive at Belmonte
A cemetary up the beautiful hill (Belmonte)
Belmonte
Another closed castle, another chapel
This old lady of Belmonte really loves plants
As we complimented the old lady on her plants
she gave Claudia a flower of her passion fruit plant
Have you seen passion fruit flowers?
They are amazing!
Streets of Belmonte
In Switzerland, you hardly ever see water towers
We have hills where we keep the water reservoirs
Portugal has a lot of cobblestones
Belmonte
Old town on the hill itself
Finally arriving in the Serra da Estrela
Driving through Manteigas and then up the mountain side
We're in the Serra da Estrela and going for a hike!
This chapel is closed
The hotel suggested some nice hiking trails
The stones of the Serra da Estrela
The house of the first tuberculosis patient to live up here
How blessed we are for having antibiotics!
Alex enjoying the view
Serra da Estrela
Manteigas
Apparently there's skiing here in winter
Claudia
Serra da Estrela
The land is dry
A rock of the Serra da Estrela
And Manteigas in the background below
Manteigas
Alex & Claudia
Alex posing above Manteigas
Panorama!
Alex activating the monkey spirit
The Serra da Estrela does not exceed 2000m
Serra da Estrela
Serra da Estrela
Orange berries growing on a tree
Serra da Estrela
More rocks
Serra da Estrela
Many more rocks
Serra da Estrela
There will be a lot of rocks in your future
Serra da Estrela
In love with rocks
Serra da Estrela
Imagine the rocks being sleeping trolls
Serra da Estrela
Rocks, frozen in time
Serra da Estrela
Tomorrow, we will hike to these two sisters in the background
Serra da Estrela
Today, we will take pictures of rocks
Serra da Estrela
Perfect colors: blue, gray.
Serra da Estrela
Some quartz, too
Serra da Estrela
Once you're up here, it's not steep
Serra da Estrela
These are the "mountains of the star"
Serra da Estrela
A small grove and some shade
Serra da Estrela
Strange flowers growing from the ground
These flowers have no leaves and no stems!?
How can this be, I wonder...
Claudia resting on a rock
Alex standing in front of rocks
As you can see, the air up here is nice and cool
Serra da Estrela
These plants are so different from what I see at home
Serra da Estrela
Alex hiding in hardy plants
Claudia
Claudia
Serra da Estrela
These plants are lovely
Serra da Estrela
Yellow flowers (the gorse season is over)
Serra da Estrela
Beautiful grass
Serra da Estrela
Somewhere down there was a minuscule rivulet
Claudia
Claudia and a lot of rocks
We have reached the Ribeira da Fervença
At the end is the Barragem de Vale do Rossim
Serra da Estrela
Vale do Rossim: you may take a bath, here
Alex looking at the future
Barragem de Vale do Rossim
Also notice the burnt trees to the right
Huuuuuge Panorama
Vale do Rossim
Alex & Claudia
We're having a good time up here
More burnt trees
There was a huge forest fire in 2017
Forest fires in Portugal are common
In 2017 over 60 people died in this fire
Forest fires are often caused by people
Set a fire, then buy the land as the owner goes bankrupt
I prefer living under a rock!
Serra da Estrela
A new day, a new hike: our goal in the distance
Serra da Estrela
Progress is much faster today
Serra da Estrela
That also means: less pictures today
Serra da Estrela
Although there still are many rock pictures ahead...
Claudia
Serra da Estrela
Today we're going on a longer hike
Serra da Estrela
In the distance the land is much flatter
Serra da Estrela
We like round rocks
Serra da Estrela
Somebody cut these rocks appart
Alex in a stone giant car seat
Alex
Serra da Estrela
Notice the black pyramid in the background
Serra da Estrela
Black Pyramid
Serra da Estrela
And another pile of rocks
We're going to the left
The back of the pyramid is not as impressive
I still love those colours
Blue, gray, green...
Serra da Estrela
Climbing further up
Serra da Estrela
Vale do Conde, another tiny streamlet
Serra da Estrela
It's pretty flat up here
Claudia
It is quite windy
Alex
These are the markers we've been following
This is what we look like to aliens
Taking pictures of the world
Is this the back of the black pyramid?
I can't tell.
Serra da Estrela
Lovely lovely rocks
Serra da Estrela
I love the quiet up here: we saw maybe six other people
Alex
Below is the Vale do Rossim, the of yesterday's hike
Claudia and the Valley of the Wind
Claudia & Alex
And lots of hair being blown around
Time to leave this land of rocks
Our next goal: the dam
Just a bit further down, the land changes
What causes this change in vegetation, sheep?
Sometimes it looks like the road marks a boundary
Serra da Estrela
Barragem de Vale do Rossim
Barragem de Vale do Rossim
How old is this dam? Wikipedia says 1956.
Driving west along the mountains
Strange how the vegetation is so different, here
Serra da Estrela
Looking at some village
Serra da Estrela
Still astonished at the vegetation
Serra da Estrela
Did all of this burn?
We arrived at Piódão
This is one of the "slate villages"
We used slate here in Switzerland, too
Slate can be used for walls and for the roof
Piódão is small and full of tourists
Piódão in black and white
The texture of the slate buildings and the vegetation is fascinating
Slate walls in Piódão
Black and white Piódão
It seems better suited for the harsh light conditions
Piódão
Yes, beautiful texture
Piódão
A steep rivulet running through the village
You know me
I cannot resist a rose
Piódão
One or two rooms per floor
Piódão
Seen from below
Piódão
Alex on a bridge
Claudia
Piódão
A cold pool on the valley floor
Claudia on the same bridge
Amaryllis
We arrived in Coimbra at last
The hill is dominated by the university
We saw a Eurasian hoopoe (upupa epops)
They are very rare in Switzerland
Coimbra
Coimbra
Approaching the town you start seeing decay
Alex
Alex, Ana and Claudia
We were looking for the entrance to the botanical gardens
Coimbra
#OurStreets as they say these days
Coimbra, Sé Velha
The old cathedral
Coimbra, Sé Velha
Notice the azuleijos
Coimbra, Sé Velha
Yes, more churches...
Coimbra, Sé Velha
Religion is strong
Coimbra, Sé Velha
The cloister attached to the cathedral
We did not go see the Biblioteca Joanina
Too many people, I think!
Coimbra
Claudia on the Pátio das Escolas
Coimbra
Finally, the botanical garden!
Coimbra, Jardim Botânico
Sadly, the walk was short and not very exciting
Coimbra
Back in the old town at the foot of the hill
Coimbra
Looking at the backs of buildings
Coimbra
Rebuilding
Coimbra
Later that day, clouds came up
Coimbra
We went for a walk in the hotel garden
Morning glory (ipomoea)
We have seen a lot of these...
Morning glory (ipomoea)
Indeed... and thus the holiday comes to an end
At the airport
Claudia is not happy
