Douro Vineyards

The colorful saga continues, but this time I’ll start with a slightly wider view. The first three images are from Quinta da Ervamoira – Ramos Pinto where the grapes for one of Portugal’s top Port Wines grow.

Vineyard Leaf
Canon 5DII, Canon 180 f3.5 Macro L 180mm - 1/500s - f8 - ISO 500

Douro grapes
Canon 5DII, Canon 180 f3.5 Macro L 180mm - 1/1250s - f4 - ISO 200

The landscape hills and valleys with its colored leaves make a beautiful sight to chill-out in the company of a fine wine.

Quinta da Ervamoira
Canon 5DII, Canon 70-200 f2.8 II IS L 70mm - 1/320s - f8 - ISO 100

But the Douro region is not all about vineyards. A chat or two with the local people can also make your day happier. This nice lady was trying to sell us dry figs. With all her sympathy she eventually managed to empty her bag a little bit.

Fig seller
Canon 5DII, Canon 70-200 f2.8 II IS L 182mm - 1/1600s - f2.8 - ISO 250

Hands of a lifetime
Canon 5DII, Canon 70-200 f2.8 II IS L 200mm - 1/500s - f3.2 - ISO 250

Besides the internationally acclaimed wines, what made this region famous was the Paleolithic Art in Foz Côa. The following engraved figures of horses, bovines and other animals were drawn around 18000 years ago!

Foz Côa animal engravings
Canon 5DII, Canon 70-200 f2.8 II IS L 90mm - 4s - f13 - ISO 200

Foz Côa animal engravings
Canon 5DII, Canon 70-200 f2.8 II IS L 200mm - 5s - f11 - ISO 200

Foz Côa animal engravings
Canon 5DII, Canon 70-200 f2.8 II IS L 80mm - 13s - f11 - ISO 200

Standing near Côa river by night enjoying the drawings can be a great experience for your mind as it can wander some good thousands years back and imagine life at those times.

Posted on Thursday, July 21st, 2011 at 9:42 pm. Filed under: Macro, People, Portugal Tags: douro, Foz Coz, macro, nature, paleolithic, people, Portugal, travel, vineyards RSS 2.0 feed.