Domingueiros, Dominguieras (Sunday Drivers)

Sundays without plans are a perfect opportunity for a drive south of the border; and northern Portugal still has many gems to explore. We usually take the ¨long way,¨ opting for quiet country roads instead of paying for the speed of the turnpike.

Arcos de Valdevez
Our first stop, and the ¨biggest city¨ on the agenda (population: around 20,000), Arcos de Valdevez was a quiet town on a river. Quiet, perhaps, because it was Sunday morning and people were at mass. It has twin churches at different ends of one plaza. A third church can be seen in the same line, but it's an odd shape for a church: a rounded square. In this town we tested out two different cafés and noticed some differences between Galicia and Portugal. The grocery stores were open, which on a Sunday in Spain is unfathomable.

Soajo

Espigueiros in Soajo

A short drive away, this tiny town is famous for its group of hórreos. Well, what Galicians call hórreos, the Portuguese call espigueiros. They are one in the same though: elevated stone or wooden granaries to store and dry grains above ground where mice couldn't get into them. In Galicia they are a common site in many yards in the countryside, with designs often depending on the region. In Portugal it would seem that the tradition was to have all the espigueiros gathered together, since the only ones I've seen in Portugal were in conglomerations. In Soajo, there are more than 20 grouped together on a huge slab of rock. They aren't used any more, but sure make for a pretty picture amongst the green and mountains.

Part of our adventure in Soajo included listening to google maps, which actually doesn't always know best. It sent us towards the village's fastest exit, which included hills, difficult turns, and not to mention incredibly narrow streets. We saw villagers' cars parked in their driveways, so we persevered, knowing it was possible to get through with a car. At one point the car scraped between two buildings. Glad it wasn't me driving! We ended up turning around anyways, because we were being led down a steep hill with a difficult turn at the end. Luckily a villager was passing by and helped direct the car towards the main road.

Lindoso

Lindoso Castle in background

Further into the Peneda Gerês National Park, which straddles the eastern part of the Galician-Portuguese border, is the hamlet of Lindoso. Here there were even fewer houses, but just as many espigueiros. Except rather than being on top of a rock, they were in the backyard of a castle. Delightful! The inside of the castle was closed, but we were able to walk along its outer wall and look out at the espigueiros. It was easy to imagine them full of corn to keep my castle and kingdom fed for the winter.

View from the castle

Between stops we came across some cows with HUGE horns, just chilling.

Sistelo
After lunch we headed to Sistelo, a hamlet surrounded by lush green hills. They took advantage of the hills by leveling off the land so that they could have gardens and place for animals to graze. To take in all the views, we went on a super quick hike to the church, down a steep set of stone stairs, over a river, and back up the stairs again. Not much to say here, the photos speak for themselves. Although they don't even do the green hillside justice.

Sistelo from the other side of the hill