When you close your eyes, you can smell the crisp freshness in the air and when you open them, you can be a witness to how Mother Earth appears,
when she changes in green, from top to toe. That is the vibe that the
enchanting valley of the river Duoro, in Portugal, emanates in you.
The travel enthusiast decides where she wants to go and then,
she makes it happen. Such is the case of my visit to the Duoro valley. I came
across its natural beauty, while looking up the wine producing regions of the
world, a few years back. Since then I have watched few traveler videos and had
it on the top of my wish-list, of places to visit. Not wanting to visit big
cities like Porto and Lisbon, I decided to combine Duoro valley, on the trip to
Catalonia and Castille in Spain.
It was a long day, with an early morning train from Barcelona
to Madrid and then a drive via Segovia in Spain (another place on my to-go list)
to the valley. While driving onward from Segovia, the road is endlessly
semi-arid, and in some stretches, almost desert-like. As the Portugal border was approaching, the
scenery got even worse, probably a product of wild fires. There wasn’t much
distance left, for the destination. My mind was in trepidation, about where we
would end up, all at my direction.
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| First Glimpses of the Duoro Valley |
However, no sooner was the Portuguese border crossed, the
landscape suddenly changed. It was like entering Pennsylvania, from no matter
which direction. The roads suddenly become winding and hilly and beautiful,
like they know one has entered the state. It was the same experience. Many rios
(rivers) started making their appearance and greenery kept wiping out the
aridness, until the turn into to valley approached. It was then, that Mother
Earth had changed, completely into green.
For miles on end, the Duoro Valley is covered in undulating
hills, which in turn are covered by vineyards dotted with olive groves. It was
interesting to see how the terraced cultivation is patterned with both
horizontal and vertical lines, in order to prevent soil erosion. The olive trees
too serve towards that end, other than adding to the delectable cuisine.
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| View from Quinta De La Rosa |
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| Quinta De La Rosa, Pinhao - Portugal |
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| Lamego from a hill top |
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| View of Pinhao from Quinta De La Rosa |
Through this rural landscape, graciously flows the beautiful
Duoro river, sustaining all the greenery. The area is spotted by three small white-washed
Portuguese towns, Regua, Lamego and Pinhao. The vineyards are owned by
different wine estates called Quintas, which also offer accommodation to the
tourists, who visit the region. Each has a board in the hills, marking its
cultivation. Most of the tourists who visit, come from Porto, via river
cruises. These are folks looking for respite from the conundrum of the cities,
for a date with nature, for as long as their lives can afford.
We stayed at Quinta De La Rosa in Pinhao and visited the
other town named Lamego. Here there is an old church named Santuario Nossa
Senhora dos Remedios or Sanctuary of Our Lady of Remedies. Erected in 1705, the
church has a climb of 686 steps through a hill, to get to the shrine. It is a
local belief that the virgin Mary seated there, provides a cure for ailments
and pilgrims make the climb to get her blessings. We climbed most of the stairs
and so did the four-year old Mahika, without complaining and having fun. For
two flights we did take the detour that was available only on them, with a
walking path on the side. It was worth the climb to visit the shrine, which was
having mass then and it sounded like the voice of Enigma. The views of the city
of Lamego from the shrine, were formidable.
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| Shrine of Nossa Senhora Dos Remedios |
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| View of Lamego from the shrine |
Needless to say, the Duoro Valley, more than lived up to its
expectations and I left with a profound experience and a complacent heart!
