On a Saturday morning with went up the River Douro by boat. Well, we started out (way too early) by train from Porto to Peso da Régua. There, is about where Port Country starts. We traveled all the way to Barca d’Alva, just a bit from the place where the Douro becomes international, the physical separation between Portugal and Spain. We could write all day about Port, the Douro and maybe we will do that on a future post(s).

I would recommend to anyone to take this trip and enjoy the landscape and learn about the history behind. (Go up on a small boat and stay away from the “cruisers” filled to the brim). The landscape on both sides of the river is extraordinary. When you realize that all those steps up every hillside were carved from a rocky terrain with very little top soil. These historic walled terraces rise up the rocky slopes as the result of incalculable labor in the last three or four centuries by people as rugged as the soil. This effort, was always present in the back of my mind as I soaked in the view of hill after hill, after hill. The beauty always enriched by the effort placed in their creation. Now classified as World Heritage, they form one of the world’s most dramatic and inspiring vineyard landscapes. 

From the soft hills punctuated with modest white buildings and to the rugged rocky, almost vertical sides, without signs of human presence, the beauty is breathtaking. Keep an eye out for a series of old stone bridges at the mouth of most affluents rivers that create the fabric of this valley.

Below is a series of images taking during this trip that do not give enough credit that this experience warrants.