Category Archives: Portugal

Day 42 – Off the record

When we got up in the morning, it became clear: The trailer right behind us wasn’t abandoned. Oh no, we had camped right in someone’s “frontyard”. No wonder the voices seemed so close and also so amused last night. So far, nothing moved inside. We decided to pack up and have breakfast somewhere else, feeling very uncomfortable with staying in the spot we were in.

It took us until 8.15am to get ready to go…when we were halted by a closed gate, a closed reception and no one around. Flo suggested to leave 10€ as payment and then just go but the gate turned out to be locked. We couldn’t get the car out. A door for pedestrians was open however so we decided to wander around, looking for a café to have breakfast in. “Pastelaria da Ponte” was exactly the kind of thing we were looking for. It provided much needed coffee, treats and some space to get over the embarrassment that we invaded someone else’s sphere with camping last night.

We were back at 9am, sure that now we definitely could leave. The reception was still closed but miraculously, the gate was now open. Plus, a lady arrived at the same time as we did and she offered to take our payment. So we left. Having at least paid someone.

It was our last day in Portugal. Flo had picked a route through the mountains of the National park as our last bit of route and a pastelaria at the end as well. The drive was scenic and full of surprises. Suddenly everything seemed wetter, lots of green plants and waterfalls around. Number 3 slept through all of it so we just enjoyed the ride.

He woke up when we stopped at the pastelaria. I think, he’s got a motion sensor in his bum or something stupid like that. As soon as we stop, he wakes up. Flo had made sure that it was a decent bakery where we would buy our last pastel de nata but everything looked so good that we ended up buying a little extra as well as bread for our picnic lunch.

It felt like lunch time already so we had an eye out for a good spot. Flo then found a sign pointing to a picnic area. Following the road which turned into a dirt road and then into a rugged dirt road…we decided we must have taken a wrong turn somewhere. But the landscape was beautiful just maybe a bit of shade would be nice for our break. Finally, we arrived at the picnic area which was by a stream with patches of birch trees and…cows. Well, young steers. Luckily, they were a bit away from the benches. I am not sure how interested they’d gotten into our lunch otherwise. We thoroughly enjoyed lunch, ending with an orange as dessert. Number 3 had a language update and does now repeat words. Oranges in particular seem to be to his liking so he often asks for them. For some reason he has decided that they are called “ayah” and cannot be dissuaded despite Flo’s and my best efforts of telling Baby that this is an orange.

Soon after, we crossed the border back into Spain. The border was ridiculous. Just a tiny, single lane bridge with the letter “E” carved into it. We are officially on our way back. It feels weird and also appropriate at the same time. Seriously going to miss pastel de nata though.

The camp ground of choice was close to a National park, not too far from Santiago de Compostela which we want to visit tomorrow. We arrived there at 3pm and looked forward to some planning of what to do on our way back. The camp ground was closed down. Not closed just now, not for the season, no just permanently closed down. The forest was very pretty though and a little river ran next to the road. We shortly discussed what to do and looked up the city camp ground in Santiago de Compostela which was the only other reasonable option. So we drove on for another 50 meters and then Flo turned around. It was 3.30pm now, the optimal time for coffee and tea and we even still had the last pastel de nata with us. So we stopped and had the best coffee break in a prime location just for ourselves. An hour passed, then nearly two. We kept finding reasons why we needed to stay a bit longer: It was so nice here, Number 3 needed to run around and explore a bit longer, the city camp ground was probably ugly and loud so it is better to spend some time here…

Finally, I stated the obvious thing. If we ever wanted to wild camp on this trip, this was probably it. We wouldn’t find a more convenient place or time to do it. It was one of Flo’s not so secret wishes that he wanted to wild camp as we had done on Home to Home. Here was the chance. Probably the only one I would grant him, so he leaped on it.

While exploring the track with Number 3, he came upon the picture perfect camp spot, next to a little waterfall. Other people had used it as a camp spot in the past as there was a little fire pit made of stones and a tiny play hut made out of dry branches.

So we stayed there. For one night off the record.

our gate crashing site
one of the two briges from here
just a great day
green all around, with springs to boot
down there, we camped
a great road as well
one of many waterfalls on the way
we actually crossed the border three times today – portugal – spain – portugal – spain.
more granite formations
reminds me of menhirs
views on the hilltops around, back in portughal
great road through the high mountains
final village in portugal
off road commuter car? Go go Blue George!
Nina loves cows 😉
no time to waste
everybody enjoying our lunch spot
right, finished
Number 3 testing his new skills
Who? Why .. this is for kids?!
I love europe. This is how we leave Portugal
perfect spot for a break, right?
first, some hot beverages
where might this track lead to?
the perfect camp spot!!
With our own private waterfall for the night!
almost cover shot material? It was a great spot, anyway!

Day 41 – Onward to the beginning

We did not find out the particular reason why this beautiful campsite was quite so abandoned. The flow of people confuses us. The price was ok – 22 € with power, so in line with other rustiek sites. Maybe it is our lack of preparation, so that we don’t quite now “where to be” and what to skip. I think we like it better that way – good things are better when they are a surprise.

There are a few more city destinations in this very northwest corner of Portugal that we can tick off, with the first one probably the highest on our list. The plan is to go to up to three of them in order and turn off east to a national park bordering Spain when it gets time to find a place to sleep.

With that, we set our sights on Guimarães – the first capital of Portugal. The way this works is pretty straight forward – Reconquista went north to south, so every 50 years or so the Don de Jour would move his seat of power a bit further down. But this is it – this is where the independent Kingdom of Portugal was sort of born. We liked it right away. In perfect weather, the medieval old town and 15^th century ducal palace were a delight. From afar as in close quarters.

We started with an overview, quite literally this time: There is another one of these steep granite hills just south of the city, with a cable lift and a road to the very top. From here, armed with ice cream, we had a great view of the city and the hills around. We took aim, both for the ducal palace and for a lunch place once we got a handle on Guimarães.

The lunch place was a revelation, maybe the coolest and most child friendly location in Portugal so far. That says something. And it was a vegetarian place to boot! Cor de Tangerine was set in a big beautiful merchant house dominated by granite features and creaky wooden floors right next to the ducal palace. The terrace had a view out over the palace and a park. The food was great, but the whole atmosphere of the location and friendly staff nudged it over the top. Number 3 got a blanket and some books draped under one of the trees on the terrace, in good view. After lunch, he even got a private tour of the kitchen!

The after lunch stroll through the old town was just the thing to round it off. The subtle difference in architecture made for an interesting change, especially with the dominance of the ageless grey granite on many buildings. After a round back to the car park (again, why would I not use them: 1.20€ for a safe and shady spot right in town) we were good to head to our next destination.

Braga, Portugal’s third largest city, had a very different vibe going, modern and lively. We timed it right for once and fell into an inner city set up for the Braga Romana festival: all the girls and some of the ladies were wearing flower circlets on their heads. Many wandering around in more or mostly less authentic roman drab. We, given that it was our tea time stop, were headed for another ice cream shop. A Lonely Planet recommendation, the ice cream was good and Nina did not complain about her chocolate cupcake either. We enjoyed the hustle and bustle around us for a bit, with more (Portuguese) kids than we had seen anywhere else so far around us.

We were good after that, decided to skip city number 3 and head for the hills. A good day was had with the drive towards a campsite at the Cavado river (which is actually a lake, due to the dam built further downstream) not disappointing either.

Things only started to turn weird when I decided to improvise at the last second. Instead of following the GPS to the campground I had picked from google, we turned into the first one at our destination. It had lake views, so why not? Well, it should have ticked us off that no one was at the reception, but rather the team doing some modernisation indicating us to “set right up, register later”. Well, we did, double checking the indicated spot with them: The site was 100 % full with permanent campers, but had a bit of space in front of a rather abandoned looking one. Yes, here … OK. I mean, the spot was nice and all, just weirdly right in front of this old caravan. Then the team started up again, dragging old caravans off their lots to a half-done area. Call for registration never came. Oh well, we’ll pay and leave in the morning then.

About 10 minutes after we went to bed, we heard what I thought to be the trash collectors. Odd, after 8 pm. Well …

And as we were about to drift to sleep, we heard cheerful voices of young men. Closing in. They started to laugh, somewhat disbelieving. Not us. Why would they? Now, they were very close, I had the feeling they were right next to us. But sound is deceiving in a tent. They might be one up, I think I saw people there earlier. Right about then, their cackling and chatting woke up Number 3, who let go a primal scream of fright. Things quieted down after that, but Nina and I were left a bit disconcerted after that. The night had just started, though …

What a lovely view to wake up to
Guess I have had my front seat stolen….
It was way steeper than it now looks
Guimaraes hilltop view
Number 3 wasn’t in picture mood
Cor de Tangerine
Cor de Tangerine menu
Number 3 was catered to…next level hospitality
The vegetarian food was good as well
Number 3 making friends
He just hung out there on the second level balcony
Life goes on in Guimaraes even if tourists take pictures
What a cute looking little house!
Guimaraes square
Guimaraes alleyway
Braga garden
This Braga dragon was just watching the crowds of “Romans” pass by
Music for the festival
Braga Romana
I’ve only ever been to medieval markets
Its all about moderation …
… but he is all his mom
see, surgar does not make them more active 😉
chill, relax … what could possibly …
… WOA … catch … ok, too late …. he was fine. bounced right up …
the “river”
why not add to the weirdness?
Mom teaching Number 3 how to use a swing. His first time on a big one

Day 39 – Watching the green grapes grow

To think that one minute earlier or later, we would have driven off again for another campsite. What were we thinking? A proper, do (almost) nothing rest day was the least we could do to appreciate the spectacular site.

This time we were armed with at least a little foresight and had restocked our pantry with fresh goods. Therefore lunch was an old summertime favourite: Potatoes with Tzatziki. I made it from memory, but I must have nailed it the way the rest of my family devoured it 😉

With that much time, there were, of course, some chores, but only the washing was much bother. We even had convenient washing lines already set up in the form of the supports for the vines all around us. We also got back up to date with the blog.

The day just flowed – with perfect temperatures and our prime spot on our terrace shaded by the huge awning for our Skycamp. If there were highlights, it would be the set of lovely encounters we had in the afternoon. We went up for drinks (and to sample the vino verde from this very vineyard) and as is sort of custom on these Dutch run sites had a good chat with first the owner and later with other guests. Number 3 got a good amount of dog training in with Moos and Monte, the two excellently trained dogs of the house. We learned a bit about the “green wine”, which is made from unripe or green grapes and reminded me a lot of Weißweinschorle. A dry white with a bit of sparkle. Just that here the carbon dioxide came not from sparkling water added but from natural fermentation – a bit like flat bubbly.

We also got to talk a bit to Tom – probably one of the top 5 nicest Australian I have met so far (dear Tom, be in a good mood when you read some of our Australia blogs). Since I still had a good half bottle of vino verde to finish, I invited him and his German partner back to our tent after Number 3 was put to bed. They came down, his partner Celine joining Tom. We had a good long chat, only slightly marred by Number 3 waking up around 10 pm and insisting on hanging out with us until we came to bed. He was pretty good when he was out, so we gave it a try. If he is anything like me, there will come the day when it will be pointless trying to put him to bed when company is around anyway.

Late and tired, but with some satisfaction we went to bed that night, wishing both Celine and Tom farewell (we were all leaving the next morning). Encounters like this, meeting what feels like good people (including the lovely owners) is right at the heart of why I travel. This is how we met so many of those we now call friends. First and foremost Peter and Leonie. We are really looking forward to those two in two weeks’ time as well.

Great light early in the morning
reason enough to open the window …
… and enjoy the view from bed
mist lay in the vally below us
I mentioned we did not a lot … oh, and Number 3 has a chair now
Flowers and Ants were the objects of todays study
.. oh, and dogs
not just the camps dogs …
… also the neighbours when they came over …
… to help out work the vinyard (and get distracted)
number 3 trying his skills

Day 38 – Out of steam

The last two days had been full of activity. We went to bed late last night and also after having had port wine so the morning was sloooooow. With Porto off the list, I ran out of steam. Sure, we still have a couple of days left in Portugal but what to do?

In the end, we decided to hang on to the port wine theme a bit longer. Most of the vineyards for port are in the east of Porto, up the Douro valley. The pictures we had seen yesterday were pretty, we were tired from walking around so much. The solution seemed to be a scenic drive along the Douro today.

With that in mind, we went to the first big supermarket outside of Porto that we could find and stocked up on groceries. Number 3 is not compatible with big supermarkets at the moment: He just walks around three corners and you have to search for him for ages. Thus, he was confined to the seat of the trolley this time and complained about it.

So it was noon when we actually left Porto’s vicinity. Number 3 dutifully fell asleep so we drove for an hour along the river before stopping for lunch. We actually found a picnic area this time with a bit of a view onto the river.

After lunch, the drive wasn’t nearly as pleasant anymore. Baby was not happy with only an hour out of the car and nowhere near falling asleep again. Thus, our nerves started to wear thin. Flo looked for a camp ground already. Just anything to get Baby to shut up.

Finally, finally, we arrived at the next rustic camp ground. It was 1 km over a dirt road to get to a gate that didn’t really look like a camp ground at all. It looked like a vineyard. We stopped, debated if you could stay here for a night. We surly needed electricity after Porto and this didn’t look like the right place for such amenities.

While we were sitting in the car in front of the place, a woman walking two big dogs came up the drive way. She looked at us inquiringly and we felt a bit stupid so Flo got out to talk to her. She said, she had some space for a car with a tent if Flo could check if he could get there with our car? 10 minutes later he was back and super happy. “We’re staying here. It’s the prettiest place we’ve stayed at so far. Right in between the vines!”

It turned out to be the best camp ground we have had so far. Plus, the owners are lovely, Number 3 loves the dogs and the dogs are okay to be manhandled by a baby. We even got an extension cable right into our tent for access to electricity. Set up like that, we spent the evening calling our German friends and playing some games.

Eat banana with fork, what else would you use?
Dad was super concentrated on something important … the bread
View down the Duoro – the main bit only starts about 100 km inland
we noticed now that we only took photos …
… of the steep but easy bits, not the hairpins 😉
well, alt least from positioning into our spot
two tired monkeys in the rooftop cave
No great angle to capture it, but the spot was spectacular
views all round and down to the Douro valley
hmm … I think there was chocolate on those cookies …
spectacular, even after dark

Day 37 – A fine vintage

Sleep was good – I think. Given our itinerary for today, I shall be excused if I get some of the details wrong. I had the presence of mind to make a reservation for our port wine lodge of choice last night, and the confirmation arrived this morning: 4:15 pm at Graham’s Lodge, English guided tour and tasting. We will get to that …

We got off for a really late start – first some catching up on the blog. Then, we had to wait 20 minutes for the bus (going every 15 minute …). At least it was really quick getting into town. Our starting point was right behind the train station. We figured we could use this to explore further out and up, away from the river, compared to our downward stroll of yesterday.

But first, pastries! We passed a set of the cutest shops, one with great mini versions of some of our favourite pastries. Nina went with mini-pastel de nata and mini-éclair de chocolat. Oh, and given the late start we decided to go straight from here to lunch! The stroll was once again pretty captivating – coming from the Sé (cathedral) down through the narrow winding lanes of Ribeira. There is a lot of construction, mostly renovations, going on all around. But decay is still a dominate feature of this part of town. Empty, half torn down houses and dwellings that evoke Cuba and other former colonial subjects. Ten or twenty years ago, this kind of neighbourhood would probably have been considered a slum. The pressure of money is palpable, but so is the spirit of an active neighbourhood resisting. For now it seems that a balance is struck, resisting total Disney- and gentrification.

Which leads nicely into our lunch spot: A super hip vegan buffet restaurant where the plate & drink combo costs roughly as much as the weekly rent of one of the places two streets over. Sue us, it was still pretty good and super kid friendly to boot. We appreciate a good vegetarian / vegan meal. If there was something to nag on then it would be the slightly too preachy vibe that too often comes with vegan food (the word cleansing was mentioned in the menu).

After lunch, we headed for a triple combo of hipster-geek-history charm. Ticket number 2 on the Lonely Planet for Porto is this neo-gothic bookshop in a very hip part of town. Ever since its rise to next level fame by inspiring J. K. Rowling with its eye-catching twisting staircase and taking some inspiration for the Harry Potter books while working as an English teacher between ‘91 and ’93. Nowadays, it is mostly a tourist attraction, although the 5€ entrance fee are still a valid voucher for any purchase from the solid inventory. We almost did not go due to the line, but once again were singled out with a triple insurance of “baby first” and strict instructions to skip the line. We even met our power-bank helpers from the campground and were able to pass that secret handshake on to them (i.e. use baby to skip line).

Finding a coffee and pastry stop before the tour proved to be a bit more of an obstacle, afterwards. We did however find a hipster enough place to finally get me that haircut that was overdue since probably a month before we left. It was the real deal, complete with other twisted-mustachioed patrons and two guys collapsing in to clean up after walking the whole camino. We also, kind of last minute, find a place where Nina could replenish on much needed sugar and black tea.

It almost got stressful then when we took the bus to get over to the port lodge, with the bus sitting in traffic for a long time. We started early enough though, and made it with 3 minutes to spare. In that excitement, picking the selection for the tasting was done pretty much shooting from the hip. Since I already tried my way all the way up to 30 year old tawny from Graham’s, I felt a change of pace was in order and went with the super premium vintage collection – and Nina with the considerably cheaper premium vintage collection. 60 € for six “shots” – this better be good.

Graham’s was recommended by the Lonely Planet and we noticed why. The whole Lodge was done up recently and just had the perfect feel to it. It was interesting and somewhat strange in a nice kind of way. It looked almost staged, but this was the place where Graham’s branded port is stored to age. 7 million litres of it, actually. I could touch a 100 year old barrel with 30 year old port in it. We were led through the vault, with the oldest bottle in there being from 1864! The guide was great as well. Our worries for going with the brand we knew best were quickly forgotten – and it turned out that most port brands are owned by the same family anyway.

We even managed to not get shamed into feeling too impostery by the well-dressed American tourists occasionally sneering at our hobo-with-baby look. Well, my bills are as green as yours, it turned out and we left half of them behind in the tasting room for the plebs. See, the choice of tasting menu decides the venue. We bought ourselves into the vintage room, sporting as the website says a “feel of a fine private club”. Not even Number 3 had the potential to bring that down all the way. I don’t care – we had an absolute blast, with a detailed introduction of each of or tastings. With the rest of our group sitting with us, we had almost all the offerings on the table. Ultimately, we were really happy with our selection. We would never have bought a bottle of one of these, but being able to sample them was great. The vintage ports are much more like rubys in their character. They are not aged in oak barrels like tawnys and thus retain a lot of their freshness. Yet one could clearly make out the effect of aging in the bottle between the lot we had (I had vintages from 1983, 2000 and 2016, Nina had an LBV, crusted and a vintage 2005). Maybe someday we will go for the ultimate decadence of vintage tawnys (single year oak barrel aged).

We had to buy at least one bottle then – given the extra 10% discount we got from our Porto card to boot. I went with a straight table wine from one of the owners’ vineyards while Nina struck a bargain with a 1982 vintage bottled last year. See, Graham’s is official supplier for the Queen and whenever there is a merry occasion they get a request to bottle some certain vintage. So the 1982 was bottled in 2018 in celebration of Prince Harry’s marriage. What a bloody weird thing to come from simple Portuguese grapes on bad soil.

Is anything after this really still relevant? We had a blast … (ok, one more thing – took the wrong bus and we had to walk off some of our buzz for 2 km to get back to camp).

View onto Ponte De Dom Luis I
Front view of the cathgedral
Seagull on a high perch
Top of a memorial column
Small plaza we stumbled upon
More cool street art
Cool little alleys, lots of decay
Flo really liked this building
What an amazing stair case!
And many people taking pictures
Looking at books to purchase
Glass-stained ceiling in the bookstore
Flo and Number 3 on the staircase
Graham’s lodge
In the wine cellar
Giant casks
Stacked barrels
Close-up barrels
Ledger in the cellar
The oldest bottle is from 1864!
Port wine tasting
Number 3 was very interested in the glasses but…NOPE
Ruby port
The oldest bottle on sale…for 8600€ or 600€ a glass
View from Graham’s lodge
Close up of the Ponte de Dom Luis I
View onto the South side of the river Douro

Day 36 – Booze town

It was Number 3’s worst night yet. I don’t know, he just woke up and up and up again. In the end, the app said, he had 4.45 hours of sleep that night. If he had that little sleep than I had as little as well.

Groggy, we climbed out of the tent and down the ladder in the morning. But we had breakfast booked at the campsite so we just had to survive packing first. We weren’t as fast as we wanted to be but still took some time to talk to the NZ couple on a motorbike a bit more. Then, we headed out for breakfast.

I knew my expectations shouldn’t have been high and I somehow still managed to be disappointed. Probably by the utter lack of jam for breakfast. Given the choice between cold meats and cheese, I choose something sweet. Thus, Flo was nice enough to get our own jam out of the car so I can have breakfast.

Today’s mission was to get to Porto. Portugal’s second biggest city is our last big ticket item on the list. Probably since Mat and Liz introduced us to port wine and Port Night, going to Porto and tasting port wine became a thing in our minds. And now was the time to do it.

Being so tired we couldn’t be bothered to find a way around the toll road and add extra time to the journey. We just paid the toll and were in Porto in under 2 hours. Before lunch, with a good couple of hours before we needed to find a camp ground for the night. Thus, we started to explore the city.

Parking somewhere on the south bank of the river Douro, we were in walking distance to the inner city. The first thing that we came across was a cable car up a nearby hill. A short check in the guide book told us that it’s a thing to do to get views over the city and river so we hopped into it straight away. A good start already.

From the cable car, we took the amazing bridge over the Douro. On foot. The bridge actually has two levels: The upper one is for the metro and pedestrians taking in the views nowadays, the lower level is for cars, buses and more pedestrians.

On the other side of the river, we realized just how much it reminded us of Wellington. The inner city is walkable without problems, everything is close by actually. It is rather hilly and you go up and down and back up again. And it was just…charming. And compact. Of all the cities we visited lately, Porto is probably the one we liked most. More than Lisbon and Barcelona. It’s just…nice to spend time here.

From the Ponte de Luís I it is about 50 meters to the Sé, Porto’s cathedral. It was lunchtime though and we were hungry. So we went to a hipster restaurant to enjoy some proper food. The waitress shook her head when I told her I’m vegetarian and I had to go with starters and side dishes. We thoroughly enjoyed it anyway. 🙂

After lunch, we stuck to our guns and decided to walk around for the first day as it had worked well for us in Lisbon. The Lonely Planet suggested a walking tour and we stuck to it. A detour to the train station was necessary to change baby’s diaper. So we got to see the artfully hand painted tiles’ in there as well. On Rua da Flores we ended up in a café with more pastel to eat.

But Porto is all about port wine, really. Vila Nova de Gaia on the south bank is full of wine lodges, each sprouting a big name in port wine. Tours and tastings are advertised everywhere, in every shop, every café, every bar. In the chocolate place, I ended up buying a dark chocolate filled with port wine ganache. Made with Graham’s Six Grape port wine.

At 4pm, we headed out to find a camp for the night. Preferably one with a bus connection back into the city so that tomorrow, we could visit a lodge.

The first one was already completely full. Flo dreaded the next one as it had bad ratings on the usual websites. They had space though. It’s a municipal camp ground and they were suckers for bureaucracy. It was the first place that Number 3 needed papers to be allowed to stay. Everywhere else, Flo and my national ID card was enough; here Baby needed his passport.

We rolled our eyes but it did it, went to a patch that looked okay and started to pitch the tent. We had booked electricity for the two compulsory nights so a staff member came by to connect us. When he saw that we wanted to have electricity in a tent, he outright refused to connect us. We never had a problem with this in more than a month of travelling…here, no way. So we were stuck here for two nights and a full day without electricity to charge cell phones, laptops and the camera. Our mood hit rock bottom.

Just when we were debating on leaving again, we got company. One of the fellow campers wanted to have a look into our roof tent. When he learned why we were so upset, he lent us his powerbank to charge our phones at least. Later, he also charged our camera battery in his camper. So kind!

Leaving Coimbra over a bridge
First bridge in Porto
That’s what we plan to do!
And up we go
Me in the cable car
I guess you can feel like a pirate while tasting port wine?
View along the River Doura through Porto
The riverfront promenade
Ponte de Dom Luis I with iots two levels
Pictures on the bridge seem to be the thing to do…
…I rather kept my distance from the not high enough railing
Porto portrait
Graham’s lodge from afar
The side with all the port wine lodges
Lots of graffiti around
So close to the ocean, there are seagulls around
A giant mural
Small alleys
Going uphill
Our bread and olive starter looked like a still life painting
Flo could look into the kitchen and sneakily took some pictures of it
Great little detour to the train station
Statue on one of the fancy buildings around Avenida dos Aliados
Avenida dos Aliados
Still further uphill
Checking out the square next to a church
Cute houses close to the riverfront
The camp ground had a playground…
…Number 3 enjoyed it
Mh, yummy chocolate!

Day 35 – Blurring

Maybe it also has to do with the Dresden Files audio books we are listening to, maybe there is some bleeding effect going on. Or sleep deprivation. Or just travel flow. Whatever it is – things start to, well, blur into each other. Only a day later, it is getting harder to remember the details. Where did we camp again?

Right, the moderately rustiek camp site. It was ok, but with all of them having been exceptionally good, we have gotten a bit spoiled, I guess. Route wise, the choice was between Viseu and Coimbra. There would just not have been a good way to loop in all of it, at least for us. We chose Coimbra, with another stop in between.

Both hands in. Luckily, it was high enough up so that he couldn’t fall in. It’s not for lack of trying.

Well, Piódāo looked like it was along the way. What the bird’s eye view could not show was that we would add about 3 high altitude passes and 1.5 hours to our 180 km journey. It was worth it regardless. Super cute Piódāo sits almost at the end of a very tight, surprisingly wet and fertile valley. The whole valley is dotted with these shale buildings sticking to the steep valley slopes like swift nests. But here, they assemble into this crescendo of quaint out of time-ness. Access to here was limited to donkey trails until the 1970s. Yet, somehow, it caught someone’s eye at the right time and has been restored to be quite the sight. Little rivulets flow next to the steep shale cobblestone streets, fed from many natural wells dotted around. Everything is neatly and tastefully restored.

We could have run into a bit of an issue coming here on a weekend, since it turned out to be quite the weekend trip destination for a lot of Portuguese as well. But once again, our “be first” policy regarding lunch paid off. Number 3 was absolutely delighted to be placed next to a couple of guys on a 6 seater table in the equally quaint and tiny restaurant we picked. He had a bit of everything, scrounging food from everyone at the table and ate like never before. I had excellent goat stew and veges and even Nina got a real lovely lunch after the shock about her vegetarianism wore off, and the lady of the house took over from the little old waiter.

Our resolute “no souvenirs” stance has also started to get kinks in the armour when the village charmed us into a bottle of chestnut liqueur. We are technically on our way back now.

All of this happened and still only half the day was gone. The drive to Piódāo and out towards Coimbra was an attraction in its own right, once again. Nina was less pleased with the great views offered by the no-crash-barrier mountain roads and decided to give sleep a try as well.

We reached Coimbra by teatime and therefore aimed for a café recommendation first. Everybody fell out of the car a bit knackered and we were really looking forward to the coffee. Unfortunately for us, the age of our lonely planet hit us again: The café of the Science Museum has been closed by the authorities almost two years ago. A bit of frustration and steam venting and most importantly map checking later, we decided to try our luck on foot from here.

It turned out to have been a rather good decision. The University is located on a flat hill, based in the former royal palace and then spread out from here. I loved the entire ensemble, including the 20^th century stuff. I guess this is one thing I got from growing up in Frankfurt. Modernism, Bauhaus and the like catch my eye as much as a 17^th century palace, maybe even more so. Some students’ (still in formal robes at this very old university) behaviours puzzled us, but we were too tired to endeavour more. We did find a café in the end, although the pastel were at best tourist quality.

In the end, we even got enough energy back to hop into the old cathedral as the last guests admitted and stroll back to the car while taking in a bit more of the town. Maybe it would deserve more of our focus, be we had not much more to give tonight.

At the campground in town (nothing special really) we got lured by the offer of served breakfast for the next morning coming in at 6 € a head. Our minds wandered off, imagining the time we would be saving and the luxury of being catered for breakfast and ordered it for the two of us.

Later on, we also met only the second pair of overland motorcyclists we had seen so far. I just had to talk to them, given the huge Kiwi sticker next to their Australian licence plate. Turned out they were expat Kiwis and seasonal travellers. We had a good conversation after dinner – unfortunately marred by poor Nina having to tend to Number 3, who had maybe his worst time falling asleep of the entire trip.

Big chunks of vegetation on the hills have burnt down not that long ago
Piodao…
…sits up on a hillside…
Lush valley
Doggy in the village
Number 3 and the flowing water
Both hands in. Luckily, it was high enough up so that he couldn’t fall in. It’s not for lack of trying.
Number 3 was fed by everyone.
Exploring Piodao
Up and up
Even further?
And down again
View onto the village from above
Church Piodao
Looking back
Hard to see but it’s Piodao in the background
Road ahead
Nina really disliked these bends with a drop and no barrier
Coimbra, part of the university
Don Joao
View over Coimbra
Roof of the cathedral
Finally coffee!
Inside the church Coimbra
The adjecent monastery
Number 3 on the loose
By a Flemish master
Coimbra city camp

Day 34 – I see ice on the mountain tops

With our excursion to the east already a success, we now put our eyes on the Parque Natural da Serra da Estrela. It’s a good 2 hour drive to get there so we planned to spend a night in the mountains to fully immerse ourselves.

The drive through the small villages with orange and lemon trees full of fruits was delightful. Quite a lot of houses are for sale so we mused for a while about getting a quinta with an olive grove…you never know.

Before we entered the National Park, we stocked up on groceries and fuel, just to be safe. Coming from the plains, going higher and higher up the mountains was pretty cool already. We stopped at the first view point for exactly those views but it was too close to the road for a lunch stop. So we continued further into the park. Finding the perfect spot proved to be a difficult thing. The next official picnic area was pretty full with a busload of people. Thus, we backtracked a little bit and took a gravel road for a couple of hundred meters until we were just out of sight. Blue George had quite the adventure getting us there. We were happy with the place though it was really cold, when we got out of the car. Really cold. You-can-see-your-own-breath cold. There is no bad weather, just bad gear…we wrapped up in warm clothes and had lunch. Flo decided that since it was so cold, we needed a warm lunch, got out the cooker and fried eggs and sausages.

It made for an epic lunch. Number 3 had a lot of fun running around and examining the pine cones on the ground. One thing was clear after the stop though: We wouldn’t spend the night on the mountain. The altitude of 1600 meters meant that it was 4 degrees at high noon. This time, we really just didn’t have the gear (or the heart/nerves) to camp in minus degrees with Number 3. His nights have been bad enough lately without us adding “being cold” to the list of reasons why he wakes us up.

After lunch, we really enjoyed our drive through the National Park up until the town of Manteigas. The town is on a lower altitude already but was still too cold for us. We went in search of a café but couldn’t find one. Instead we bought baked goods for the road and continued.

The “rustic” camp ground in Gouveia, still an hour away, was our goal for the night. The way out was about as windy as the way in. Filled with great views and great roads for Blue George (and Flo).

At the camp ground, we took it slow. The interrupted nights took a toll on Flo and my energy levels.

Into new adventures…
…in the National park
Looking onto the plains
Hopping back down
Field of granite boulders
Enjoying the ride
Yes, that is definitely a patch of ice
Exploded Blue George
Running and running and runnig
Sausage rolls for lunch
Blue George on his own adventure
Car fun!
This is my view of things
Into the valley
Roadside waterfall
Different valley, now towards Gouveia
It is still pretty here
I wasn’t too keen on the roads with absolutely no guards against falling for a couple of hundred meters
Lookout into the valley
Epic Flo shot
Nina on the rocks
Still having fun
Camp at Gouveia
Silly buggers

Day 33 – Cherry on top

Today was one of those days that we are craving for on our trips. It started a bit low – even though our camp was very nice. But Number 3’s newest software upgrade is a bit labour intense. Him running away without thought or fear made for a rather slapstick packing time. He felt perfectly comfortable walking alone all the way to reception some 100m and 20 stairs up and then be escorted back by the owners when he fell. Somehow, we still managed to cram in a shower for both of us.

The route for today was another matter: There is a recommendation far east which would add at least a day before going to Porto. We are already on our final 10 days in Portugal, based on our rough outline. Will it be worth it? Weather was supposed to get a bit worse again. At the very last minute, I made the call to go east.

Our day improved steadily from there. After crossing over the reservoir lake near Tomar, we drove for about two hours along mostly windy backcountry roads. Good choice to avoid toll roads once more. The weather got better and the landscape wider and dryer the higher we got. We re-upped at a supermarket along the way. That allowed us to have a picnic lunch somewhere off the highway down a lovely track through a pasture.

The sight we’re aiming for was a fortress and village named Monsanto. In my mind, the last 50 km drive through Beira Beixa were a sight of their own already. Gently rolling hills strewn with granite boulders and fieldstones of all sizes. Very rural, with lots of open spaces dotted with eucalyptus, olive, orange and cork trees. There was a campground in the area, but if something would come up – this would probably be the best area for wild camping on our trip so far.

the touching bolders from above, and another granite hill in the back

As the steep hill with Monsanto flowing over its side came into view, we got really excited. We could drive almost all the way up, got a good parking spot and were ready to explore soon. Our goal was to find a nice café and chill with a coffee and pastries and take in the village atmosphere.

It did not work out like that in the best way possible. We started exploring along the excellent signposts and felt like up first would be a good plan. Signs with “touching boulders” and “castle” started to show up. We climbed through the village build organically into the hill and the huge granite boulders strewn about when we sort of popped out on top. From here, it became a little hike through a magnificent granite boulder field. We continued on all the way to the very top. Ruins of previous settlement and the “creative restauration” of a Templar castle waited for us there. The view from the highest point were splendid. This granite hill stands out in an otherwise rather flat landscape. One can see other peaks like this in the distance – used back in the day to build up a defensive chain of fortifications against first Moorish, then Spanish intrusion.

It was getting right time for coffee by the time we were back in the village. We popped into the first place we found inviting and were lead out to one of the coolest terraces we have ever been on. The restaurant was built into a boulder, and the terrace was on the side of another one. Only about 10 seats here, but we got the best spot (in our opinion) overlooking the village and down into the surrounding lands. But the positive surprises did not end here: We ordered our usual, but got interrupted after “pastel” … when they arrived, it turned out that the local speciality is a pastry similar to pastel de nata, but filled with a cherry flavoured custard instead! There were ripe growing cherries right next to our seats as well. It was magnificent!

With spirits soaring, we got back to our car and made our way to the campground nearby. It was a municipal camp, but almost deserted at the moment. We enjoyed the stiff spiel from the civil servant at the reception and were positively surprised one final time when the price came in at 8.90€ – the cheapest stay yet. That made not wild camping go down a bit better for me. We even managed to get a load of washing done before bed time (and before running out of critical … bits).

5 minutes off the road
weird things happen
great way to bring the mood up
there it was – castle and village
all embedded in rolling farmland
out of the car, excercise!
Boulders were integrated into the village all over
already great views, half way up
the high mountains in the bach are our goal for tomorrow
those two came down from 100m above
big and small, strewn all around
the touching bolders from above, and another granite hill in the back
only a little bit up to the castle
chapel for the dead, at one point
no handrail, not for Nina
All the way up, showing Number 3 the world
from the upper yard, views peek over the wall
towards … pastries!
pastries found!
yea, this is cool. Now feed me more pastries!
We do everything but sleeping outside – so there is alway a bit of a gipsy vibe going in our camp

Day 32 – „Baby first!“

Flo didn’t catch on to my cliffhanger there. The spare part arrived safe and sound in the morning of our rest day so that we were relaxed and free to make more plans from thereon out.

Unfortunately, the night brought rather disrupted sleep for us. More crying because of teeth and more applying pain relief gel in the middle of the night.

templar church based on jerusalem temples

Thus, we were rather tired in the morning…and unmotivated to pack. Since we had two options today, we chose the lazy one: Just pack the tent so we have a car to explore Tomar and then come back to the lovely camp ground for one more night. If you like it somewhere, just stay longer. 🙂

We were in Tomar at about 11 o’clock. The sight to see here is the Convento de Cristo, the headquarters of the knights Templar. On the way in, it didn’t seem too busy but there still was a queue for tickets. In sunshine, making it rather hot. Flo decided that we wouldn’t try the “cut the line because of baby” card here as it would be maybe half an hour until we got tickets anyway. I grumbled a bit but ok.

Just when I thought that we might get into trouble with our timing “we will be too late for lunch”, “did we put enough money into our parking ticket, this might take a while”, a member of staff put his head out of the window and yelled “Baby first!” when he saw Flo, followed by a wave of the hand that we should come to the front desk and get tickets. It was quite funny actually. And while my thoughts were still in the queue, we were actually already in the headquarters.

I thoroughly enjoyed our visit there. However, my knowledge about the knights Templar is limited and it felt a bit like visiting a pirate ship. The knights are so prominent in media (movies, games) that I had trouble not imagining it as a set. XD

A bit more than an hour later, we moved on into the city to find a place for lunch. Tomar is a pretty small town and Number 3 enjoyed walking along the cobblestone lanes, charming everyone we passed. He had a “courage upgrade” some time ago and would now roam further away from us and around corners and out of line of sight. Despite being great, it is exhausting as it means, we now have to follow our baby rather than the other way around.

Lunch was lovely. We had a great waiter who entertained Number 3 quite a bit as well as fellow patrons who waved and smiled and played hide and seek with him.

A short stroll through the park later, we went back to the camp ground. A little bit more rest for us before we had another evening of games via skype with our German friends.