Awoke to a misty start but I was ready to leave at 10 am on a camp site trip to the Lappa Serra and the Douro river. I was the only Brit on the mini bus but the Dutch and Portugese were very helpful. As we left the camp site the mist cleared and the local Dutch guide explained about the stone crosses beside the road, they are the funeral cortège pauses and pays its respects. The small cabins are granary stores and can be grouped together as a community store. In his area water is heard and seen running com the hills and is channeled into community run offs which were stablished about 200 years ago so everyone gets their fair share. A forest fire had swept through behind the camp site last year, forestry is one of the local industries, and new eucalyptus trees are then planted as they grow at a speedy rate.the smells of this area will remain with me for a long time, the cut eucalyptus trees, the sun on the pine trees, the scent of crushed orange and lemon leaves and the Linden Baumen, which I can't translate into English at the moment.
Our trip continued over moorland and onto a high plain covered with enormous boulders, some of which filled gardens, made parts of houses or at Caria formed the foundations of a church. The had passed over the river Paiva, said to be the cleanest in Western Europe. We reached a high point and then began a long slow, snaking route descending down to the valley of the river Tavora. Each hillside was steeply terraced and covered with rows of vines or on cooler slopes, olive trees. We stopped to admire some cork trees stripped of their bark and numbered, the next harvest would be in 10 years time. Finally at the bottom after a descent of about 550m, we reached the Douro, a much wider and more powerful river. After a few minutes we stopped in Pinhao to admire the beautiful tiled station and lunch. Trains still run up the Douro line and you can pay extra to travel by steam train.the station was built as a model for other stations in Portugal, please refer back to photos of San Beneto in Oporto.

Lunch was tasty with garlic fried ribs and pork, I declined the octopus,followed by almond tart. After lunch we ventured back to the confluence of the Douro and Tavora to a port house, Quinta do Panascal. Here we took a short tour, studied the local grapes, looked at the very schists soil and the steep terraces before cooling ourselves inside and tasting 3 ports. We continued to explore the Douro and stopped near Peso da Regua to admire the dam which helps to make the river navigable and the lock to allow the cruise ships to pass upstream. A Viking Cruise boat was in the very deep lock so we sat and stared at the passengers around the pool until the boat passed upstream.

Our journey continued along the river to Lamego, a lovely town with cathedral, museum and the shrine of Senhora des Remedios. One brave person took the 600 steps but most of us took the bus through the trees and up the hill to a beautiful peaceful church and shrine with tiled panels, fountains and statues. Unfortunately a service was taking place so I only got a peep at the gold and pale blue interior. I asked for a tea stop but we got beer and a snack rather like flattened chick peas before the long climb in the bus out of the valley and back to the camp site. I was late for dinner and retired to bed early, still bearing the cuckoo calling, where I fell immediately asleep.