Road Trip in Portugal

It's been over a week since my last post and I've been busy bouncing around.  Now I need to start catching up here and posting some photos of goings-on!  First off, I took a road trip with a good friend through the Portuguese countryside, up the eastern border and through the Douro River Valley.

With all of the rain in Portugal lately, the hills were nice and green and flowers were blooming everywhere.  I guess April showers really do bring May flowers.

One of the nicest spots that we stopped in was Monsanto, a hard-scrabble little village built among giant boulders.

People seem to live here as they have for centuries.

And all of the old men wear these cool hats.

This woman opted for a hat made of flowers.

There was some sort of ceremony going on at the church.  A wedding perhaps?  I asked someone but got a blank stare in return.

One thing is for sure, in these villages it's all about life in the slow lane.

Internet?  High Definition TV?  Forget about it.  Some of them don't even have cars yet.

Next up I'll post some photos of Porto, a very atmospheric city on the Douro River, where it seems that 70 percent of the buildings in the downtown area are completely abandoned and falling apart.  And this is the second largest city in the country!  A bit like the twilight zone, really, but it has a charm all it's own.