Typical of practically every other border we’ve crossed in Europe, the transition from Spain to Portugal occurred, literally, in the blink of an eye – one passes a big blue  “Portugal” sign, followed by one describing various speed limits within the country, and suddenly you are here. No stops, no passport presentation, no questions – that’s the benefit of “Schengen” (we all know the ugly side of it, so I won’t labour the point again here). Our goal on night one was simply to get to the historic Portuguese town of Braganca and we made that OK. One thing did stand out was that the roads appeared to be much, much better than they were 40 years ago when we first came here. Of course, since then, Portugal has joined the European Union and it appears that a ton of money has been put into infrastructure in the country. First impression was that it all just seems a lot more modern now than the first time we came.

Based on tips from some good friends who recently travelled here, we made straight for the Douro valley, a part of Portugal that has for centuries been a centre of winemaking. We headed straight for Quinta Padrela, situated on a plateau high above the Douro river. A family run business for many decades, the owners recently opened it up for overnight camping and it has since become very popular with motorhome owners. The wine tour was excellent, as were the wines themselves, the olive oil and the cheese they produce. The place was absolutely packed with RVs. A wonderful place to relax, the facilities were excellent, including a nice pool.

Heading west, we made straight for Portugal’s famous northern city of Porto, our route taking us substantially along the very same Douro river after which the aforementioned Douro valley is named. Extremely scenic for the first part of the drive (along the river), while the latter half had us travelling on Portugal’s very smooth A4. Foolishly, and very uncharacteristically, we had not done our research on the toll road system in Portugal (the rules and practices differ all over Europe, no two countries seem to have the same system ) and found ourselves inadvertently caught on a toll road that we had entered without first picking up a ticket (the entry gates were all wide open). On the approach to Porto, we then came across a row of toll booths that we could not exit without first inserting said ticket (which of course we didn’t have !). Cutting a long story short, and after holding up a line of beeping traffic for about 10 minutes while we sorted out the mess, the rather unfriendly Portuguese toll officer hit  us with a €59 ( $95 Cdn ) penalty for driving on a toll road without a ticket !  Note to self – stay well away from Portuguese toll roads !!!

That nasty little episode aside, everyone else we have met so far in this wonderful country has been absolutely delightful and could not be friendlier.  The warm reception continued during our stay in Porto and we enjoyed the couple of days we spent there. Not a big city, but one that is steeped in history and whose small size made it easy to navigate, whether in our own vehicle, or in the many Ubers we took to get us all over the city. Met some of the most interesting Uber drivers !

We would make one more stay in what is considered the north of the country, a beach-side stay it in a cozy little campground just south of Aveiro.  Nice to be on the coast again, the dunes making a scenic backdrop to the campground, the little beachside bar creating some added ambience and the soothing sound of Atlantic waves lulling us to bed at night. Bliss !

Till next week…..!

VIDEO ( Instagram link )

https://www.instagram.com/reel/De3emFGitWV/?exln=MTc0OHVjcnhyYmJhbQ==