DDK - Die Deutschen Klassiker

Had a busy week at work so not had time to contribute to the pics so I’m catching up a bit.

At the top of the cable car it was a bit of a luna landscape and the worlds worst boy band convened for the album cover pic




I can confirm the cage at the top (built for photo opportunities) was scary as shite



But sometimes you feel the fear and do it anyway


The view from up there was utterly spectacular though



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So the next day it was initially rainy and brightened up. Looking through my photos I found this one and initially wondered why I took it as it’s just some mountains. But when you look closer the botttom half of the mountains are reflections - some beautiful and unexpected lakes round here



So the second parador we stayed at was pretty spectacular - I had special feature in my room - one of the original monks toilets


That took some wiping, let me tell you…

It also had an impressive looking library room


And weirdly empty but labelled picture frames on the wall



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I’m not sure what day we are on but the drive on the next day had some special roads - I think James was singing its praises earlier. Couple of shots from me



And


I really only grabbed pictures when something about the view surprised you or took your breath away - the rest of the time I was too focussed on the driving which was totally epic.


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As was stated above the next night’s parador was stunning - this one


Couple of view from me


And a nice view for breakfast


Although I somehow ended up with a room built for a disabled hobbit - but it felt churlish to complain...

So this is where we were that night


And this was the hotel from where we had ‘the walk’. I’m not into walking but at the last minutes I decided to join in. “It’s only 6K” said Rich, the acting OberWalkenFuhrer. He might have neglected to mention this was 3K straight down and 3K straight back up.

This was the peak of the walk for me as it involved sitting down. It all went downhill from here as it went steeply uphill.


There was lots of “countryside” around the walk which apparently was “really nice”. It was actually very pretty, just quite a bit steeper than anticipated.


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DAY 7

So day 7 ! … I’d only told the wife I was away for a long weekend

Today was the day I wasn’t really looking forward to as we had to get from the previous days scenic region into Portugal and down to the Douro river , east of Porto. The problem was trying to find an interesting route rather than just motorways. I did work out a route that sort of zigzagged a bit but either way today was going to be a long slog and didn’t really know what to expect.

First thing we noticed before even starting off was it was going to be hot! A long drive plus hot can be a tiring day .



So we made an early petrol stop to fill up, then headed off through a city and onto some built up roads before eventually pulling off the big roads and onto some narrow twistier stuff. The roads turned out to be quite good and we headed up high to a road with some stunning views.












A dog walking its cows with no farmer to be seen!






Coffee stop time and stumbled across a little cafe in a village in the middle of knowhere . The locals were very appreciative of the cars we’d randomly parked and the coffee was great . 9 euros for 7 coffees though ! Not sure how she made any money . Oddly met an American couple at the cafe who were having trouble communicating with the locals





We left the village and the roads kept getting better












We headed back towards civilization and then the next twisty road in particular was interesting that crossed from Spain into Portugal . This road was narrow and twisty so very few chances of overtaking .. and the cars that were on it were doing the slow tourist thing ( might have been a national park ) . I was lucky ? And a couple of cars pulled over to let me pass so I eventually had a fantastic run up to the border and down the other side to the lake … the rest of the lads got stuck behind a car so I had a long wait for them to rejoin .





Cobbles



It was getting hotter and someone mentioned lunch ( i had told them lunch technically was the coffee stop ) … so easy option was a supermarket we’d just passed. Air conditioning in the cafe was very welcome. The lads idea of a snack was different to mine though



Timezones … we forgot Portugal was gmt, so an hour gained was nice .


So on to our hotel on the banks of the Douro river.



For a change for us , this was a modern spa hotel in a stunning location with a roof top pool area.

View from my room





As we now had an hour spare, Richard and me did a quick walk whilst the rest got stuck into some beers by the pool , although the pool did strike me as posing pool rather than a swimming pool … or at least that seemed to be the cliental here it was one of those long pools you could float about in looking at the river go by. Can’t say the food lived up to expectations, it was our worst meal of the trip but we did get 2 meals knocked off the bill and 7 deserts free of charge so at least they cared. The Douro valley has some stunning hotels so I’d probably say this one is ok, but look elsewhere if you’re travelling with your partner . For us it had lots of rooms and secure parking.

Safely tucked up from the night before:

Another tank of 98

Remote area of Portugal, but quite stunning


Found a horse…


Prepping for Day 8 of the long weekend

DAY 8

If you’ve not been to Douro valley, it’s a stunning wine region with terraced vineyards . It’s very popular place to do those Viking river cruises. In addition, the N222 has been voted the most beautiful road in the world so we knew today would be more of a tour due to potential tourists in hire cars. The plan was to follow n222 most of the way, then head into the very rustic hills and then back into Spain finishing at Salamanca.

Long day today and the heat was building even early in the morning. After a good breakfast we all emptied out of the underground car park , crossed the river to the south bank and headed onto the infamous n222.



As expected, early on there was quite a bit of traffic, but the further inland we went the roads got quieter. Quick early petrol stop and the views got more impressive. I can’t really agree with the roads label, but it is nice.





Did I mention it was hot !

After the usual coffee stop, we left the n222 and headed up into the hills where it felt like we’d stepped back in time 50 years. These were fun rally stage roads .




If you look closely in this pic, you might see a little old lady wearing all black, sat on her doorstep making lace.







We were heading for the Spanish border and somehow managed to lose Gary and JP! …..so stopped at the planned viewpoint famous for its condor vultures circling over head. There was some big views here. The lads did manage to turn up after a while with some excuses










Onwards on some more fast twisty roads ( although with the heat and all the previous days driving we had today settled into a more relaxed pace ) and then the long straightish uneventful run to Salamanca.








Salamanca is a stunning city with a very long history. If you like old architecture and plenty of culture this is the place for you. Our paradore was located out of the old town ( because parking is difficult in the town ) but only a 15min walk .

Spent a nice evening drinking and eating and soaking up the views.

You are covering some distance and I think I can say this, because the long weekend is already over, no car problems!

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To be fair Neil, you do better than us mileage wise

I’m currently quite a few beers in at a random pub in lincs so next update will have to wait

Nice road for sure, best? Nah. Pretty cool though

Loved Salamanca, definitely on the list for a return.

Incredible trip and fantastic write up chaps, thanks so much for sharing

Reminds me of DDK

Lovely stuff ! Nice to see some familiar faces.....Love a DDK roadtrip

Great write up, super pics, nice mix of cars, motley crew of mavericks… Spirit of DDK!

Yes Salamanca was quite the place