From Salamanca to Lumbrales, I crossed some very flat land with the road straight as an arrow for miles. It was not completely without interest however; I had been puzzling for a while why the oak trees were all relatively short, rarely more than 20 feet high I would guess but with large spreads of double that. This morning I saw some that had just been pruned. Effectively the centre of the tree is removed leaving just the lower lateral branches to grow. Considering the vast number of trees I have seen, there is an enormous amount of husbandry going on to keep the trees in shape. I suppose the shape will provide shade for livestock - not that I have seen that much, and perhaps simplify acorn collection if that is what the trees are being grown for.
From Lumbrales, the road became more interesting as I crossed a small natural park with plenty of steep sided hills with nice twisties and which afforded lovely views. The occasional hamlet provided interest too. Their streets were usually cobbled and it was often difficult to know what constituted the main road, and what a track into a farmyard - of which I saw a couple "by accident". Late morning, I stopped in a small village for a coffee. Walking into the dark interior of a small cafe, I realised that all conversation had stopped and the half dozen, weatherbeaten locals inside were all staring at me. I felt like a character in a western who experiences the same thing before someone tries to shoot him. I asked in English if anyone spoke English - no-one did, they just stared blankly at me, I asked in Spanish if anyone spoke Spanish - same blank stare. There was nobody actually behind the bar but when I said loudly "Café" a young bloke ventured forth and made me an espresso. He knew enough Spanish however to tell me the price - €1.00 which doesn't sound too bad these days but yesterday evening I went into a "student bar" in Salamanca where a beer and your tapa of choice was only €1.70.
Further on, the road started to run first along contours on the hillsides above, then dropped to run alongside the River Douro. The hills were all terraced for vines mainly, with a few olives here and there. It must have been an immense labour over many generations to create all the terraces. This is the area from which Port wine chiefly comes and indeed I saw a large Sandeman sign on one fancy looking estate entrance. The Douro is a large river and I saw a couple of boats of a similar type to those advertised by Viking River Cruises on television in the UK.
Now in yet another Parador, enjoying as do most, a wonderful position with commanding views over the surrounding countryside and on one side, a terrific old fort on an adjacent hilltop.
First sight of the Douro
Where no-one spoke..
Terraces for vines
You are here..
Not Millau but one of several such bridges I saw today
A nice little river, not the Douro!
The fort next to the Parador
A rough video to show the terraced vines
Alto Douro from Christopher Knight on Vimeo.
Another interesting day. The video helps to picture it all too of course because there's always more perspective than in a still photo. As you said, the land seems much flatter from the photos at least. Love the 'bar' story :)
ReplyDeleteCheers Chris, you keep adding to my places to visit list. Good to see a video too. Douro wine is pretty near the top of my favourites list too.
ReplyDeleteThe sights are really gorgeous in your journey. And the story about the bar where no-one spoke is so funny. I guess it is the typical place or bar where there are the same people all time and a new visitor is an strange person whom observe. There is some of these bars where I was born. It had been interesting to take an inside photograph: I guess there were a lot of bottles cover with dust and the slice of toast would be very big. I am absolutely convinced the inside smell was the typical smell of this kind of places: not bad but very common. You have to visit Cathedral of Santiago: it is marvellous. Be careful and have a good trip.
ReplyDeleteYes, I am sorry I didn't take a photo inside the bar - I wonder what they would have thought/said/done? You are right about the cathedral Juan David, it is spectacular although I am sorry to say I didn't go inside!
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