And so, with the weather set
for more rain, we set off along the Douro valley from Vila Chã, half hoping
that the weather would improve and we’d fetch up on a lovely ‘quinta’ (wine
producer) with a restaurant where we could eat and then sleep over in the
camper until the next morning…
It didn’t quite work out
like that though, and although the scenery was amazing (steep valley sides
covered by hundreds of quintas, fabulous river views and interesting little villages)
the rain only lifted briefly, and just long enough, to squeeze in a pic of this
Douro cliché through the van’s side window…
And the decision to track
the river bank from Porto all the way was a mistake – pretty yes, but
tortuously slow and all the best bits are closer to the Spanish end of the
river. So, by the time we had reached Peso de Régua, we decided to take up one
of Maria from Camping Vila Chá’s suggestions and visit the Palácio de Mateus and
quinta at Vila Real, once the home of the (in)famous Mateus Rosé and now a
producer of some repute – and housed in an amazing 18C building, apparently worthy
of a visit in its own right.
We arrived in Vila Real in sunshine
(at last!) and after a very pleasant night at the municipal campsite (€15)
itself adjacent to a large and pretty impressive outdoor pool, we set off for
the Palácio Mateus – just a few kilometres away.
The sun of the previous
evening had given way to a return of dull weather, a real shame, as the
magnificent Palácio with its impressive Gothic exterior would have looked much
more photogenic than these pics show.
The entry price of €11 each started
to look a bit steep by the time we learned that no photographs at all could be
taken of the sumptuous interior (even without flash) and that the wine tasting
would cost another €1.50 each – so we shared a tasting (brilliant rosé –
Alvarelhão– not at all like those round Mateus Rosé bottles/candle holders some
of us can remember from the 70s!) but we weren’t taken by the red or white, and
so left with just one bottle of Alvarelhão rosé and some bonus pictures of the
large and well manicured French influenced ‘fantasy’ gardens. Of course the
quirky collection of Vatican endorsed ‘authentic’ relics went some way to
compensate, but if only we’d found those saintly eyeballs the Palácio was once
famous for, perhaps we’d have felt we’d had better value for money…
It’s an odd venue this – not
well signposted, no carpark big enough to get a campervan in (we parked nearby with
the coaches and walked), an informative presentation in English (and other
languages) by staff that could have been students waiting to be told to get
into their corporate uniform but someone had forgotten to tell them (OK, we
were spoiled by the slick tour at Ramos Pinto in Porto), and nowhere to have
lunch that we were by now so hungry for. So we thought we were pleased to see a
café/restaurant opposite – especially when they said they could do a ‘Bifana’ which
we had enjoyed in Saõ Martinho not so long ago. However, the lacklustre vibe of
the Palácio was replaced by a ‘sting the tourist’ one here, and our memory of a
great value, freshly cooked bit of pork in a fresh roll, and an enthusiastic
explanation of the need to add mayo and piri-piri sauce to have an authentic
Portuguese experience, was sadly replaced by bit of re-heated pork in a chewy roll
and having to ask for the sauces – and at twice the price.
And so, with the dull
weather adding to our darkening mood, we cut our losses and hit the road for
Spain. We’ve mentioned already the pain that non-motorway driving in Portugal can
be, and the final leg was no different, with ambiguous (or totally absent)
signage adding frustratingly to the journey time once we had run out of the
detail on the Google map tile.
By the time we crossed the
border at the charmingly named Feces de Abaixo and were within minutes on a
fast, well maintained and free double carriageway to Vigo, the sense of relief
was palpable. Although we’ve really enjoyed bits of our time in Portugal, we’d
made a rod for our own backs by not signing up for the motorway network and
we’d probably not do ‘just the back roads’ approach again! And to add to our
sense of relief, as we sped through the beautiful Galician countryside towards
the coast, the sun came out as if to give us a special welcome home!
With smiles all round and a hankering
for a new adventure in a part of Spain that we’ve never visited together, we
set our sights on a coastal campsite on one of Galicia’s famous west coast Rías
(think Norwegian fjords meet Cornwall) with nothing more specific planned than,
‘let’s see what it’s like and how the weather goes…’
And so we arrived, late on a
Friday night at Camping Paxeriñas on the western tip of the Ría Pontevedra…
S.
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