We had a
lovely morning at the camp site and before we left we even got to chat to the owners
one more time. Number 3 patted more dogs and then hung out on the swing for a
while.
To make
this trip east worthwhile, we decided to keep going for one more hour until
Pinhão. It’s the second city in the region called Alto Duoro, the first one
being super touristy. Now, we were in the wine region proper, even if we didn’t
spot Graham’s vineyards. We did however see Sandemann and Taylor’s name pop up
in the landscape.
Pinhão was “on
the wrong side of Rüdesheim” to speak in Flo’s terms. Very touristy still, quite
pricey and really just our point to say goodbye to the river Douro. It was
lunch time though so we sat down to have an underwhelming, expensive meal
somewhere at the riverfront (Flo: I know codfish is a national institution, but
dry, overly salty grilled “cod-loin” is nothing to recommend).
From here
on, we go north until, eventually, we leave Portugal and enter Spain again, in
a couple of days. After lunch, we drove towards a camp ground on the other side
of the Parque natural do Alvão. The park was super pretty again and we were
glad to have come that way.
When we
left again around 4pm, we found another cute café in Mondim de Basto to have
pastel de nata. Again. We have to have them a couple more times before we
leave. 🙂
Afterwards,
we looked for the camp ground. It took us a while to find the signs leading us
there as the navigation was no good in this case. The Quinta do Rio was
probably the closest we have come to a DOC camp site on this trip. And we had
it all to ourselves, no other guests had made their way here. Setting up our roof
tent with a lovely view onto the river, we were wondering why. Is it because
power is limited to solar energy and thus big camper vans are not allowed? Or
simply the fact that you have to actively look for it to find it? Or is it too
rustic for European tastes?
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.
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).
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