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Into The Douro Valley: Porto To Pinhāo And Back
“Philip, Michaela, welcome”, calls the beaming guy on the narrow pavement, all broad smiles and outstretched hand, “I am Luis, welcome to Pinhāo”. The fact that the owner of the hotel is out in the street to meet us, in this picturesque riverside town dwarfed by vine clad hillsides, ready with information about his town scribbled on a Post-It note, is the most perfect of welcomes. “Pinhāo, the authentic heart of the Douro Valley” reads a sign by the water. “The birthplace of port wine”, boasts a weathered awning above a shop window. Pinhāo sits tucked into the offside of a sweeping bend in the Douro where a tributary enters…
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Vinos, Caminos & Pintxos: The Small Town Of Haro
Much of the drive from Zaragoza is through nondescript territory, interior Spain at its flattest and most arid with the occasional industrial complex or giant warehouse thrown in for good measure. Then with almost comical precision the vineyards begin at the very moment we pass the “La Rioja” provincial sign and pretty soon we are looking out at picturesque hilltop villages crowned by a soaring church spire and/or the turrets of a castle. This is exactly the scenery we have come here to explore. Ignoring the temptation to dive into other villages too soon, we head straight to our next destination of Haro, arriving too early to check in to…
- Europe, France, History, Independent travel, Photography, Travel Blog, Walking, Wildlife, World food
Carcassonne And On: Wine, Music, Food, Wine…And More Wine
Walt Disney is said to have loved this place so much that he modelled the castle of Sleeping Beauty on it. Up there on on the hill it looks like everyone’s idea of a fairy tale setting, with its perfectly cylindrical turrets pointing upwards so precisely that it’s tempting to look out for Rapunzel letting down her hair or some other damsel in distress calling out for help in the hope that her knight in shining armour appears over the horizon. The damsels, though, are tourists, and so for that matter are those coming over the horizon. Carcassonne is a town of two halves however you look at it. The…
