Through Galicia to Portugal: Part 2-Portugal

The highways through Spain and Portugal were great. The biggest problem was that each highway seems to have 3 or 4 names or numbers which can be very confusing. It helps if the navigator and driver are separate individuals and the navi-guesser has the Google maps iPhone app. Worth every euro of roaming charges! There was 1 road where the toll was 25 euros, gulp. Good thing that both countries use the same currency.
We passed through miles of orchards of some mysterious espaliered small tree with glistening smooth bark and contorted limbs that was (and still is!) unknown to me. Didn't seem to be a filbert or a chestnut and wasn't any other common fruit or nut. Drat-no pictures.
Portugal was different almost immediately. We passed some beautiful beaches and took a road break. The water wasn't frigid; Tom said he would have gone swimming except for...[insert pertinent excuse]

 We had an excellent lunch which was about half the price of a comparable lunch in Spain. Difference #1: Portugal is less expensive than Spain. We drove on to Braga, where we spent the night and then on to Oporto. Here's a map of Portugal:
http://www.golisbon.com/maps/portugal-map.html
Braga was mildly interesting. There's a cathedral which is more austere than most Spanish cathedrals, and a recently discovered Roman bath that is still under excavation. The explanation of how the Romans used the baths was interesting. There were wood burning furnaces under the ceramic floors and hot air circulated through underground chambers.

We soon noted other differences between Spain and Portugal: Difference #2: Rather than stucco or wood, the houses are covered in beautiful ceramic tiles!

We also noticed that in northern Portugal, there were more single family homes, with large gardens, rather than the high rise apartments we usually see in Spain. We were also able to eat a full dinner as early as 7:30 p.m. AMAZING. Differences #3 and #4.
I thought the city of Oporto was fun, probably because we happened upon a wine and port tasting room/restaurant where we spent a couple of enjoyable hours eating and drinking with kind and knowledgeable people. Who knew there were so many types of port to try? Not to mention the white and red wines from the Douro River Valley. The city covers some steep hills, reminding me of San Francisco and there were definitely some dodgy areas similar to the Tenderloin. The cathedral was a big heap of grey stone with an interior that looked like an art history text book illustrating different architectural styles. This wall gothic, that asp renaissance, some baroque over there, etc.

We didn't spend the night in Oporto, though. We drove through the twilight into the Douro Valley to a winery/hotel Tom found. Even in the dark, we could sense the elegance of the hotel. Maybe a little too elegant for the likes of us! They make wines and port, although the process is very different from the California wine making processes. They still smash some of the grapes by foot-I job that I feel uniquely qualified for.

We really enjoyed the countryside around the hotel. The river is magnificent. Wide, clean and, of course, at this time of year flowing swiftly. It's one the largest rivers in the Iberian peninsula, flowing 897 kilometers from Soria Spain to Oporto, Portugal.


.Near  full of small vineyards alternating with olives, almonds and citrus. I think it must be spectacular during the summer and fall. What do you think?

The orchards around the hotel were particularly nice. We had fresh orange juice every morning and I ate a few almonds that were left on the trees.

This post seems to go on and on. We were only in Portugal 5 days, Ellen. Next stop, Salamanca.