Portugal. The Douro River. (Hillsides, Vineyards, Orchards, Patterns) (September 2019)
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The Douro Valley hillsides are heavily cultivated, mainly with crops of grapes, olives, and almonds, despite surprisingly unpromising soil. The valley has long been famous for its Port wines, but it now also produces high quality whites and reds. River-cruise passengers find the endless procession of graceful parallel rows of crops aesthetically entertaining. But these graceful graphics are also an impressive reminder of the great effort required to create the contoured rows and maintain the plants and harvest the crops.
Some of the following photos were taken from higher vantage points during road excursions.
Far below, dam and locks:
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After a lifetime of mainly expressing myself with words, my postings here will mainly rely on images. They will speak for themselves to some extent, but I'll usually add a few comments of explanation. I've taken photographs for decades, since the 1950's, inspired in part by my father's photographic skill. Four years of photo assignments and quality darkroom time eventually gave way to decades of casual and family picture-taking. I re-immersed myself when I left film and turned to digital.