Crinkly's Portugal trip day 5: Going into the Duoro Valley and Lamego (2/13/19)

We pack our bags after waking up and head out to the bus depot as we are heading to Lamego over in the Duoro Valley region. We leave the hostel and walk across the city towards the general area where the bus depot was located, stopping at a little cafe close by the shuttle to get some breakfast (wanted to make sure we wouldnt miss our bus so we waited till we knew we were close enough and had time to stop and eat before committing to a sit down breakfast). Get to the station (which was a little hidden from the main road but we just saw buses leaving so we put 2 and 2 together and figured it out). Once in the station we were walking back and forth trying to figure out which bus it was as the signs and information in the station were not very accurate or helpful. Finally find our bus and after a few stops in a few cities, we finally get into Lamego. We get our bearings and start walking towards our hostel (Huga Home) through the town. Quickly realize this is a smaller town but has lots of hills around it and is quite peaceful/beautiful. Arrive at the hostel and our host meets us and gives us some port as a welcome drink. As we sit there and talk it was awesome having Steph around for this particular interaction as it was a scene out of boondock saints where they were going between French, broken Portuguese, and I think one other language to get their points across and made sure we felt welcome. Not quite sure how that would have gone without her being there haha. We put our bags down and decide to go up to the church on top of the hill in the center of town.

View of Lamego from the bus stop. I think I am going to enjoy being out here.

Church in the center of town.

Statue in the town's promenade with the staircase/church we are heading to in the background.

Crinkly getting excited as we get closer to the staircase but enjoying the statues and fountains that were mostly dried up along the way.

A drained fountain in the main square of the town as we head towards the stair case thatll take us up the mountain

Alright we have made it to base camp, time to start heading up.

One of the many different landings on the way up. 

Crinkly was thirsty so we stopped and let him get some of the water flowing from mountainside. 

Crinkly admiring more tile art as we climb up.

Grotto off to the side of one of the landings but this too was a fountain that just wasnt working prob due to it being low season.

As we get to the base of the mountain we realize how high it really is and there are so many stairs to climb; but alas we are doing this. We finally get to the top, having stopped at many of the landings to enjoy the view as we get higher and looking at all the art and fountains that exist along the way. At the top there is this beautiful cathedral (Santuario de Nossa Senhora dos Remedios) that we go in and look around.

Crinkly looking down to where we came from.

Tons of huge statues line this landing just before getting to the church itself. 

Crinkly enjoying the view of the church after the long climb up.

Near the top, enjoying the view and cooling off a little bit

Beautiful church at the top of the staircase

Steph watching me get a pic of Crinkly with the church

Sitting on the handrail enjoying the view of the church and the climb we just finished.

Insanely beautiful ceiling art of the church.

Small church but incredibly beautiful and peaceful (we were the only people there)

Once up there we realize that not too far away there is a wine tasting place that is open. So we figure out on a map how to walk there and head out. We walk along the main road and eventually see a sign for the drive way so we start walking up to the main building and eventually find our way to the tasting room of Caves da Raposeira sa and do a sparkling wine flight tasting where you can pick different types of their sparkling wine and then sip on it while enjoying the view of the city down below.

Crinkly is thirsty so its good we finally made it to our destination

Crinkly with all his local friends in the tasting room.

Crinkly looking over the menu to figure out what he wants to drink.

Steph took a really nice pic with her white wine looking over the city from their perched patio.

Same view with a red sparkling wine and Crinkly taking it all in. 

We were one of a few people that came and went that day which was nice as the people that worked there were very helpful and friendly in explaining the different wines we were trying and telling us about their business; I would imagine if it was busier they wouldnt have had that kind of time.We walk back to the city along the main road and wind up at the Lamego Castle just in time (was closing in like 30-45mins) so we go in and walk around and get some different views of the city and enjoy the sunset.

Random door that looked really cool as we walked the narrow streets around the castle

Just exploring these tiny streets that wrap around the castle.

Finally made it to the castle.

Crinkly is ready to explore his first castle

View from the castle looking back on the valley we walked down from the wine tasting to get here. The church and staircase we walked up earlier is on the left side of the pic jumbled in the green hill side.

View of the old town area where our hostel is and the church/staircase from earlier straight ahead.

Enjoying the view but you can tell he is up to no good. 

Steph and I taking a quck pic infront of the Castle before walking back into town to cap a really nice day walking around beautiful Lamego.

Upon leaving the castle, we grab a local bottle of wine for us to drink later and drop it off at the hostel and look at what our food options are and decide to go around the corner to the Restaurante Pizzaria O Grotto Il which had some great reviews. Go in and have some good house wine and a delicious cheese pizza; as we were sitting there tons of families came in and packed the place so clearly we chose a popular place. After finishing our meal, we head back to the hostel to drink the bottle of wine we bought earlier and plan the rest of the trip before getting ready for bed.