Up in the hills

You could not get a greater contrast from the beach up here in the hills in northern Portugal. We are in the Duoro valley, about one hour east of Porto. Think of the Yarra Valley and add the winding, circuitous roads of the Dandenongs. And as I walk around the gorgeous hill top villages with their tiny, cobled streets all I can think of is, when they have to buy a new fridge how do they get it delivered?

The house we are staying in this week is perched up the hill overlooking the river that snakes through the Douro valley which is famous for port wine production. Our villa is so remote, to locate it we were not given an address, rather we were provided with GPS coordinates. Luckily our English travel companions came from the UK in their car and picked us at Porto airport as I doubt any taxi would have brought us out here.

The steps from the road to the house.

Lugging the shopping in down the stone steps.

The view from the villa over the Douro river.

The villa may be remote, but it does have its own pool.

The villa also has its own citrus grove.

Our meanderings have taken us around the valley and through tiny village streets so small I often wonder if Dave's car will fit through, and then I realise that these are two way streets and we often have to drag the car into the rough to let cars going in the opposite direction to pass by. Car Bitch has been doing a brilliant job of getting us around though I find it hard to take her seriously when she sends us down one of the many cobbled streets which she says is a main road. Many a time her instruction to veer left takes us down a roadway so small and obscure that I am sure Dave has ploughed us into a private driveway.

This roadway is positively generous compared to some we have ventured down.

Even in the towns access to the steep houses and apartments is ridiculous - explain to me how a fridge gets delivered to these homes !