A Portuguese Mountain Visit

A Portuguese Mountain Visit
March 14, 2015

We awoke well rested and feeling ready to get out in the light.  Although the temperature outside was still a little cool, once you were in the sun it was great.  We went downstairs and our Air BnB hosts had left out coffee and some fresh breads for us with their own homemade preserves.  Just enough to get us ready to get out and start checking out some wineries.  We had left a message about a tour the night before at a larger winery, but never received a response, so today we were just winging it driving around the hills.

Meeting Place - Sameiro Church Penafiel

And there are plenty of hills here.  I understand that for protection in the old days they all built their castles and churches up on the highest points to be able to see danger and the oncoming armies.  That doesn't help when you are twisting and turning around corners almost doing a complete 360 on switchbacks up and down hills that are extremely steep and don't have much of a guardrail on the side.  It's nice when there isn't a guardrail because you can see the steep valleys and rivers down below.  However, it isn't nice when you see the steep valleys and rivers down below as you're driving.

Quinta d'Atem Grounds

We stumbled upon a winery that wasn't open for tasting, but they did let us in to wander around.  The owner was the Mayor of Penafiel for around 15+ years and he was now retired and running his winery along with a destination event space, Quinta d'Atem.  They were preparing for a church fundraiser that night, and we were invited.  If I figured I could drive back in the dark to our place, I would have signed us up.  Instead we decided to decline the offer and just tour the grounds.  The owner had multiple types of foul on the grounds; Peacocks, Pheasants, Chickens, Turkeys, Ducks, and Swans.  Quinta d'Atem is a really beautiful spot that is surrounded by old vines and their tall wired support guides through the fields.

St. Margarite Church - Lousada Portugal

We left there and went a little north and found another pretty sleepy town, Lousada.  We wanted to get out and walk around since we spent most of the last day driving.  It was getting close to 1:00 PM and people were just starting to move about.  We found a pizza place and had a very filling lunch with a lot of pizza and a huge mixed salad.  We decided that after that we should walk a bit more, and then we could drive down the Roman Road trail and see the countryside by Penafiel.  The light was beautiful as you can tell in the pictures - not a cloud in the sky for most of the day.

As the day was getting along, we decided to head back to Penafiel because Virgilio, the BnB owner, said that the town of Penafiel is very quaint and we should check out the old sections.  Coming in at sunset the day before we were both anxious to just find our meeting spot and didn't pay much attention to the town.  Upon returning to the city in the daylight, we realized how beautiful it was as a destination.

The churches in the town were typical of the 1700s and 1800s with stoic styles and then with ornate tile work on the outside.  In the afternoon light, it was resplendent and made statements from different angles.   Some churches only had their front facade tiled, while others were surrounded in the work.  Other buildings close to the center had the same tile work, but in different colors and patterns.  We stumbled upon their main street and found that as it moved down the hillside there were all kinds of storefronts with beautiful decorations and ornate doors and arches.  We spent about 4 hours walking around and stopping for coffee and taking in the sunshine.

Church converted to Museum - Penafiel Portugal

View going into Penafiel Portugal

We returned just after dark and decided to skip dinner since we were still full of pizza.  We just sat out on the private back porch of the BnB and opened a bottle of red and enjoyed the cooling down of the weather and the night.  Tomorrow we would return to Spain and go to Galicia for the first time.  We had booked a hotel in Santiago de La Compostela this evening at San Francisco Hotel Monument and it looks like a very nice spot.

Church in Penafiel

Even though we are travelling off season, there are plenty of things to do and we enjoy the cooler weather.  Not having to worry about air conditioning and being hot as you hike around the streets and hills is a real plus for us.  Not to mention that most of the places we have stayed have been under $100 a night and several being closer to $75, along with a couple at $52.   All of them very pleasant and clean with comfortable beds and attentive hosts.

Church in Penafiel