We occasionally go for walks with a group of friends known appropriately as ‘Portugal friends’. Obviously the hairy one is a popular participant in these events, the most recent of which took place not that long ago. As we hadn’t been for a while there were lots of enthusiastic greetings for the hairy one, accompanied with cries of ‘oh gordo, gordo’. I think it was a compliment but it actually means ‘fat’. As Labradors (as well as some of us humans) are prone to fatness, I determined to increase our regime of local walks, and so me and Gordon (the hairy one’s new moniker) have been tramping the local countryside two or three times a week. We usually go the same route which takes about an hour and is truly beautiful. Anyway, on our latest meander, I took some snaps.

It’s a very varied track – plenty of olive groves and fields of grapevines (hardly vineyards – all the land around here is divided into small family run plots)

grape vines after the harvest

But there are tracts of woodland, mainly oak, as well.

Although it is still very hot and dry for October (it’s been in the high 20s, low 30s every day so far), the colours of Autumn are becoming apparent (or maybe everything is just dying in the heat!)

We very rarely see anyone – perhaps just an old woman with a herd of goats but this time there were two hunters with their dogs. They could have been out for wild boar, stags, mountain lions… or perhaps rabbits.

hunters

An unusually warm September meant that we could get away for a final weekend camping trip for the summer. The destination was a place we had intended to visit many months before – Salamanca. We weren’t disappointed.

The back seat driver was ready for the off.

It was a three hour drive to the border and then once over we stopped for lunch at the first major town in Spain – Ciudad Rodrigo.

City wall of Ciudad Rodrigo

Plaza Mayor Ciudad Rodrigo

Catedral de Santa Maria

After Ciudad Rodrigo we headed East for a further hour across the plains to Salamanca. We found our campsite, La Capea, just north of the city and found a pitch easily enough. It wasn’t a problem as we were the only ones there!

After putting up the tent we headed into the city and were there in time to catch the late afternoon light. The glow from the old buildings was amazing.

One thing is for sure: You won’t starve here as there are loads of great restaurants in the narrow side alleys.

There is a beautiful spot near Serpins in central Portugal that is great for swimming. We were there in late September and although nearly 30 degrees, as it was September there was not a soul about. Perfect.

ready for a dip?

you bet!

After rather a rough night on the cold hard earth we emerged from the tent to a glorious day.

First up me and the hairy one indulged in a bit of geocaching, hiding a cache just above the campsite.

This was at the start of a walk which took us over a nearby hill and then around and to the bottom of the glacial valley (Vale de Zezere). There was a map at the entrance to the campsite which said it would take about 2 hours. However, someone had obviously had moved the track as it ended up being a three hour slog under a boiling sun.

Getting our feet in that cool mountain stream was just heaven.

Getting ready to go

We’d just bought a new supa dupa BIG tent and so to test it out we went up to the Serra da Estrela for a night. We weren’t disappointed – either with the landscape which was stunning, or the tent which was massive. Only problem was, I had mislaid the stopper to our blow up mattress so it was a night spent on the hard ground. Just as well it was just the one night…

view to Sabugueiro, gateway to the Serra

Jackie and Jussi at the highest point in mainland Portugal - Torre

local resident taking a stroll

Glacial valley near the campsite - Vale Glaciar do Zêzere

It was a big campsite (Covao d’Ametade) but there were only three other campers!

sunset beer on top of the world

supper at the campsite

The previous evening we were swimming in the river but today we woke up to a persistent drizzle. Breakfast was a delicious bacon and eggs at the campsite but it had to be enjoyed in the car to avoid the rain.

The situation hadn’t improved much when we arrived in Braga as can be seen below:

looking down Avenida da Liberdade, Braga

fountain in the Praca da Republica, Braga

We quite liked Braga and despite it being Portugal’s third biggest city, the centre felt very small and quiet. Just like the cathedral.

Braga Cathedral

By the time we came out of the cathedral, the weather had improved no end and we enjoyed a very tasty lunch in the emerging sunshine.

Then we headed a few kilometres east of Braga to Bom Jesus do Monte. This is a very famous pilgrimage site in Portugal. The pilgrims don’t come for the church at the top of the hill but to climb the extraordinary baroque staircase. We, however, not being penitent pilgrims took the funicular.

funicular

After enjoying the views from the top we walked down the stairs where there are a set of fountains on each of the levels, with water coming out of the eyes, ears, nose and mouth of the various sculptures.

fountains of the 5 senses

Further down there are small chapels in the wood.

After Braga we headed for Guimaraes, the European capital of culture for 2012. It is also a world heritage site which is no surprise as the centre is delightful. We parked on the hilltop just next to the castle and near the Paco dos Duques. This is a medieval palace but was renovated in the 20th century as a presidential residence for Salazar.

Paco dos Duques

After exploring the palace we headed down into the old quarter, a delightful rabbit warren of narrow streets and sunny squares.

After a welcome rest and a coffee we headed into the new city which was almost as pretty and still had plenty of interest. The lady in the picture below was admiring a procession of horse carriages.

Recently we had friends staying at Casa Azul and that meant we could leave them to look after the chickens, bees, veggies and the hairy one and enjoy a few days camping. Everyone we knew in Portugal said the Minho region was gorgeous so we decided to head up north.

On the way to the campsite we stopped for lunch in the historic town of Amarante. No photos of the delicious roast lamb we enjoyed but here are some of the church of Sao Goncalo along with the bridge and the river which runs through the town:

After lunch we headed to our campsite – Quinta de Rio, an old vineyard run by a Dutch couple in the shadow of Monte Farinha near the small town of Mondim de Basto.

this looks like a good spot

showering al fresco

On our trip to Spain in March we passed a beautiful area of Portugal right on the border. We said then that we would return and we have. We camped for a few days in view of the fortified hilltop village of Marvao.
 

camp site

Marvao is a beautifully restored old village. Unfortunately in the winter it lies above the cloud line and so is cold and misty and in the summer it boils under the fierce sun. Therefore its hilltop position, formerly a necessity in times of banditry and invading Spaniards, is  now a hindrance and has resulted in a decline in the population which now survives mainly off tourism. This all means it is rather too picture postcard perfect for us and lacks the hustle and bustle of a real community. Undeniably pretty place though.

view from Marvao castle

view of Marvao castle

Not far from Marvao is another fortified hilltop village – Castelo de Vide. It’s a bit bigger than Marvao and doesn’t suffer the vagaries of the weather as much and consequently remains a bustling hive of activity and therefore more up our street.

It also has an intact castle with fine views over the town and the hills beyond.

We also did some walking in the countryside. Jussi was very pleased to discover there were many outside washing areas still in use, fed by mountain streams.

The area is famous for megaliths which are dotted around the countryside. The local tourist office has a leaflet with a small map of the best known ones. For geocachers there are also a number of caches in the area so we spent a day geocaching and exploring the countryside searching them out. Here is one of the Dolmens.

…and here are the dolmen guardians.
 

the most famous of the megaliths is the Meada Menhir – apparently one of the tallest Menhirs in Europe.

Meada Menhir

Jussi has another chance to practise a bit of swimming.

Some local wildlife.

Guinea fowl

We also visited Evora, which was some way from our campsite but billed as a ‘must-see’ for visitors to central Portugal. I have say we were rather disappointed overall. The hairy one certainly wasn’t as it provided yet another opportunity for some wet fun. This time in one of the town’s fountains.

This is the first GW blog entry for a while as we have been concentrating on Casa Azul. However, we took a couple of days off recently to explore a couple of towns across the border, namely Caceres and Trujillo. On the way we stopped briefly at Castelo de Vide for a coffee and a pastel de nata. It’s very similar to other postcard pretty Portuguese fortified towns with cobbled streets and old churches but well worthy of a future exploration in the summer.

Castelo de Vide

Soon after Castelo de Vide we crossed the border into Spain – no border controls of course but there are still the ghostly remnants of a border post and army barracks. From here the plains stretch on endlessly but it wasn’t too long before we skirted Caceres and then onto our destination for the night – Trujillo.

looking up to Trujillo from the plains

Old Trujillo is a beautiful small town centred on the rather large Plaza Mayor. After quite a tiring drive we were very happy to have a beer in one of the bars adjoining the square and to discover they had rooms overlooking it.

View from our hotel room

The place is famous as the birthplace of Franscisco Pizarro, who went on to wreak havoc as a conquistador in South America. It’s also quite famous for the storks which seem to have built nests on all the tall buildings in town. Wandering around in the late afternoon sun was wonderful as the quiet streets haven’t changed much since Pizarro’s time and despite the fame of the town there were only a few Spanish tourists.

The following day, we headed back on the road to Portugal, stopping off at the world heritage site of Caceres. It’s one of the biggest towns in Extremadura, with a large university and plenty of new apartment blocks going up to house the burgeoning population. However, at the core is the beautiful old town, according to the lonely planet “one of the most impressive concentrations of medieval stonemasonry in Europe”. Unfortunately for us however, while we were there they were digging up the heart of the city, the 150m long Plaza Mayor. In addition, the weather had changed very much for the worse and the quaint old medieval alleys had turned into bitingly cold wind tunnels. Perhaps another place to mark as worthy of a return.

Plaza Mayor, Caceres

So we didn’t hang around in Caceres but carried on and eventually stayed in the border town of Valencia de Alcantara. It was actually a very good move for despite not being in any guidebook, there was plenty to explore – more narrow, windy (that’s pronounced with an ‘eye’) streets and interesting vernacular architecture. Jackie was also well pleased that the main road was lined with Seville Orange trees and we managed to purloin a few to make into marmelade once we got home. It was also a good move to stay here because although we love Portugal very much, the Portuguese don’t do quaint bars quite like the Spanish and so it was good to find a little bodega to savour our last few hours over a bottle of vin(h)o tinto before escaping back over the border.

We were also lucky enough to happen upon a sardine festival and here are the little blighters barbequeing away. As you can imagine there was quite a smell!

sardine festival

After months of desert-like conditions in Central Portugal (we had no rain at all even in September), a week of rain was forecast for the first week of October. Therefore we decided to make the best of our last day of sun and headed to Nazaré. It was our first time there and well worth it. Although the summer crowds had gone there were enough people about to give it a bit of life. We didn’t actually make it to Nazaré until later in the afternoon as we first headed to the clifftop village of Sitio for its stunning views. From the lighthouse you can see beaches spreading north for miles and we were captivated by the sight of the crashing waves on the rocks below. Back in the pretty village, we stayed for lunch in a pleasant seafood restaurant (all the restaurants are seafood restaurants by the way) overlooking the picturesque square. Here, we watched the old women in traditional costumes showing the tourists their multilayed petticoats and selling them dried fruit.

Suitably refreshed we headed down to Nazaré proper. Again, we were pleasantly surprised. The beach was wonderful, the sun was warm and the sea breeze refreshing but not cold. Rather than selling dried fruit, here the colourful old ladies were drying fish on racks. But by now it was getting late. We headed off. We will have to explore the intriguing old cobbled streets behind the seafront at a later date. For we shall return.

View of Nazare from Sitio

Looking north

Igreja de Nossa Senora da Nazare