August really hotted up in central Portugal so we made the best of it. In fact we were so busy cooling off in the river beaches that I have forgotten to put the photos on the site so here are three in one go. The first is Praia de Bogueira near Lousa. One of Jackie’s favourites because nothing much has been done to the river here. It still has that ‘real river’ feel to it.

Praia da Bogueira

Praia da Bogueira

Praia da Bogueira

Next up a ‘secret’ location. It’s a small gorge near the small town of Serpins and found at the end of a long dusty track. Not an official river beach because it has no facilities but a special place to come for a swim and the water was great.

Serpins gorge

Serpins gorge

And finally we come to Loucaina. Probably the closest to our house and nestled in the hills behind Espinhal. It’s a perfect day for swimming but where are all the people? Two days before it was packed but the photo was taken on the 2nd of September and no one swims from September onwards! Crazy but true.

Loucaina

Loucaina

Our friend Sarah (an American, living in Paris whom we met in Jordan) was over for a short stay, so it was the perfect time for our first visit to Tomar, home of the Knights Templar of Crusader fame. Having done little research prior to our trip, in many ways made it even more enjoyable. The town itself, with a pedestrianised centre full of old buildings, narrow lanes and an impressive town square is charming enough – and we were lucky enough to arrive on the second Sunday of the month and so were able to enjoy the bric-a-brac market that is set up along the main cobbled drag of town. But you have to cast your eyes upwards to see why Tomar is famous. The Convent de Cristo sits upon a wooded hill and dominates the old town. It is the main reason people come here and it doesn’t disappoint.

This was the headquarters of the Knights Templar, an order of crusaders, famous for their exploits in the holy land during the crusades but they also held enormous power in Portugal, amongst other countries between the 12th and 16th centuries. During this time they bankrolled the great age of discovery forged by Portuguese sailors such as Henry the Navigator and Vasco da Gama. The building itself is a monastery founded in the 12th century. It has chapels, cloisters and chapter houses in wildly divergent styles added to over the centuries by successive kings and Grand Masters. The mishmash of styles and way it has been added to make it even more impressive than had it been built at once, every corner you turn revealing something new and interesting. There are many highlights but perhaps for me is to get onto the roof and see the Chapter House which seems to rise out of the walls of the complex in all its glory. Also the Charola – the 16 sided Templar church where you almost expect to see characters from a Dan Brown novel decrypting some important Da Vinci Code.

cloisters

After exploring the monastery we came down to the old town to do a bit of shopping. Naturally, Jackie picked up a few bargains including some old, sorry antique, bowls. We also had a great lunch in a back street restaurant, for me featuring an extremely tasty and very large roast duck – delish! and of course washed down with some excellent local wine.

igreja de Sao Joao Baptista

Another warm, sunny day, another river beach. This time the wonderful Fragas de Sao Simao.

Summer is here with a bang. It’s been boiling hot so being inland we head for the river beaches. We went to Mosteiro last week and yesterday was the turn of Poco de Corga. As it’s higher in the hills the water was a lot colder but even more refreshing! We went late morning as this is the quiet time. Most of the Portuguese don’t seem to show up until later in the afternoon (when the water has warmed up). Anyway, a good time was had by all!

It was a glorious sunny day, not too hot, so we took time off from Casa Azul to stretch our legs, and hunt for a few geocaches near the schist village of Talasnal. There are a number of Schist villages in the region, ‘schist’ being a reference to the slate of which all the houses are made. The villages themselves are all fairly inaccessible in the hills to the East of us but all in stunning mountain and forested scenery. Most of them lay abandoned for years but are slowly being renovated and developed as weekend getaways. Most of them also have networks of walking trails to explore.

We parked the car at the castle of Lousa. From here we could look way up into the clouds to our destination, Talasnal, 500m above us. As it happened, it was thankfully a bit misty so the hard slog uphill wasn’t too bad and of course the clean mountain air and profusion of wildflowers made it worthwhile. And it actually only took us 45mins.

In the village itself was a very welcome restaurant with great views of the mountains where we had a tasty stewed cabrito (baby goat) for lunch. Being a bit of a tourist destination (mainly Portuguese), it was hardly prices we were used to (almost 40Euros for two and no wine) but welcome all the same. An added bonus was that after we had done all the hard work we were able to sit outside and enjoy the view in the sun. We followed a different trail on the way down which if anything was a bit harder on the knees than the way up. There are many walking trails around the schist villages, the  paths are all well marked so there is usually no problem getting lost. Coming down we went past the Senora da Piedade Sanctuary and also the river beach of the same name. Not enough time for a dip today but certainly we’ll save that pleasure for the future.

a well earned rest

After the paddle of the previous day, I took the plunge and here’s the proof. At a fantastic river beach as well: Mosteiro, near to the town of Pedrogao Grande.

Pedrogao Grande is on the river Zezere, which has been dammed here and also has a vertiginous bridge.

We’d been to Casal de San Simao last year when it was much colder but just as beautiful. This time we didn’t go to the schist village but on a walk around it. Like other Schist villages there are well signposted trails and here is the map for this one:

And here are a few pics of the trip:

After the walk we went to the nearby river beach of Ana de Aviz. Warm enough for the paddle, but not the full emersion. Maybe next time…

Just north of Castaneira de Pera is one of the local river beaches. Called Poço Corga, this is what it says on the sign:

‘Situated in middle of Ribeira de Pera whit limpid and crystalline waters. In attached lands to the beach, a splendid quercus centenarian area offer indespensible shades to a picnic park and the museum “Lagar do Corga”, old place moved by water energy remembers as ours ancestors produced the oil.’

typical river beach sign

The ‘splendid quercus centenarian area’ refers to an area of very old oak trees which are truly magnificent.

The river beach is also very attractive but a bit too cold in April for a dip.

Paul de Arzila is a little known conservation area near Coimbra and the Mondego river. We spent some hours down there observing birds in March including the Marsh Harrier and herons. The villages nearby are also quite interesting with a number of old churches.

marsh harrier

marsh harrier

mash harrier

grey heron

purple heron