2019 Our World Heritage Trip to Portugal
Thursday 7th March: Plymouth
We leave at 7pm and are on the ferry in Plymouth by 9pm. Thankfully after the storm of the previous night the sea is calm when we sail, on time, at 10pm. After a drink in a very uncrowded bar we retire to our cabin and sleep well.
Friday 8th March: Roscoff to Bilbao
We are on our way by 9am and head, via Carhaix, towards Lorient stopping for a croissant and coffee in Huelgoat. This is a small Breton town with an interesting centre pleasantly busy. We are surprised we have not stopped here before.
We then make good progress at a sedate 65mph stopping for diesel and some food in a Super U in Nantes. We recall stopping near here for lunch last year whilst travelling down to Rosnay in the Brennes. We then drive back on the autoroute where we stop for lunch. A hazy March sun meant it was just warm enough to use the picnic tables.
Refreshed we change drivers and head south to Bordeaux. Where we arrive at 4.30 joining the rear of a Friday afternoon traffic jam going all round the ring road!
We opt to leave the ring road and cut through the city as recommended by the Sat Nav. An hour later fed up with the time loss and not convinced we needed to have taken such a detour. We change drivers again for the journey south to Bilbao.
Wanting to arrive in Bilbao before ten that evening, we increased our speed to make up time at the cost of fuel economy! This was a false economy as Graham picked up a speeding ticket going through road works near Bayonne.
By this time the light was fading and the black silhouettes of the Les Landes pine trees were stunning against the sunset. Crossing into Spain as it got dark, we found a petrol station just off the autoroute and refuelled. It was dark as we twisted and turned our way to Bilbao where we eventually located the camping car park right on top of the hill with magnificent views over the city.
There was a barrier car park where we had planned to stay opposite the Camping Car site, but there was a two metre barrier we didn’t’ want to test for height, so we paid €15 and went in the camping car park.
Here, by getting the key from the office, we had use of a toilet and wash basin! Tired, we heated some fish soup and then with much muttering settled, sleeping downstairs.
Saturday 9th March : Bilbao to Burgos
We slept well, and sorted ourselves out, before walking down into the city as 9am struck. Wandering down through the city towards the river, we stopped at a café for a breakfast of coffee and tortillas freshly made in the basement kitchen. We ate outside in the sun that was slowly emerging through the haze and immediately felt ready for the day.
We had booked tickets for the Guggenheim Museum at 11am, so we had plenty of time to wander through the city. This is the first of the World Heritage sites that will mark our way southwest across the Iberian Peninsula.
The museum was housed in an impressive building opened in 1997. The exterior was a swirling mass of gold-titanium coloured walls and windows. The entrance plunged through the walls to the interior which was even more spectacular with galleries leading off a vast light filled atrium.
We went first to the permanent exhibition on the top floor where the Tannhauser collection had works by impressionists, post and early modern masters including Paul Cezanne, Edgar Degas, Edouard Manet, Pablo Picasso and Vincent Van Gogh.
It was special to see some of these masterpieces as well as the large works by Anselm Kiefler, Dead Sunflowers, Starry Sky both with a dead man portrayed lying at the base and a spectacular work entitled Two Rivers. There were works by Andy Warhol including the iconic repeated image of Marilyn Monroe.
On the ground floor there was a large installation of spaces contained within gigantic metal walls, creating spirals, ellipses and narrow openings that visitors walk through, to create a sensation of space in motion.
We were impressed with what we had seen, and left to walk back along the river and up the steep streets and steps to the camping car park.
Once we had tidied the van, we left and travelled south to Burgos, through an interesting landscape of hills bordered by mountains. We stopped to have lunch in a lay-by on the main road where the sun shone warmly, taking the edge off a brisk breeze.
Once in Burgos we found the campsite easily. We were the only van not hooked up to electric so we could pitch away from the masses!
We cycled into the city along cycleways and parked near the main gate. It was a lovely place, buzzing with people out enjoying the evening sun. We wandered the streets, and took in the sights, grabbing some tapas before we headed back to the camp site, in the dusk.
Sunday 10th March : Burgos
We wrapped up warm and cycled into the city leaving our bikes, as yesterday, by one of the main gateways. We passed a very enthusiastic drumming group accompanying runners in a half marathon.
We then visited Burgos cathedral, a World Heritage site, a 13th century Gothic building in the French style. In the 15th and 16th centuries it was an internationally important Cathedral workshop, resulting in a somewhat incoherent collection of chapels, vaults, domes, spires and towers.
Inside, we were given audio machines and sent on a route around the different chapels with their different constructed domes and intricate, often gold-plated, altar pieces, into the central nave, with its sumptuous oak choir stalls and magnificent octangular starred dome, and then on out through the high cloisters and museum.
It was to here that the craftsmen who built the great cathedrals of Europe came to learn their trade, and share the new ideas of other craftsmen and master builders
A lot of famous architects, crafts people had trained there and had left their mark. It was amazing but somehow you never felt it was a whole and like all audio guides you never hear what you want to know!
By the time we left the Cathedral it was around noon, so we dived into a café for a coffee and took advantage of some nice tapas before climbing up the hill to the castle.
Well laid out and interpreted it was interesting, offering a wide view of the surrounding area from the walls, including towards the Heulgas Monastery on the outskirts of the city.
The sun had broken through and it was much warmer as we cycled back to the camp site diverting to get bread but no other food as the supermarkets were shut.
We spent the late afternoon on the campsite reading and listening to the radio. As it got dark, we sorted out the van ready for an early start in the morning.
Monday 11th March : Bourges to Avila
Up early as the humming of the power plant disturbed us. A lovely hot shower for Janet but a cold one for Graham before a nifty pack up, filling the water tank and emptying the waste tank.
We are away by 8.45 and cut across country to Avila. Parking outside the amazing city walls we had a coffee before exploring the town, a World Heritage site.
The sun got hotter in the clear blue sky. We walked around the walls at ground level as the walkway on top of the walls was not open on Mondays.
We looked in at the Military Museum before having a menu of the day in the square in the warm sun.
A visit to the tourist office directed us to a local store where we made a few purchases of food for the next few days. Having confirmed that the autocar camping park was not suitable for us, we drove off in the heat of the day towards the mountains.
We were heading forty minutes south to a camping site at Pantano del Burguillos a reservoir near the Sierra de Gredos National Park. On arrival we found the camp site was open only at weekends at this time of year!
So we headed down a track to the side of the campsite to the reservoir lake and found the ‘perfect site!’.
Graham swam and Janet wandered around exploring the lakeside until it got dark, and we lit a fire to cook a light meal. We then sat by a fire watching the stars come out.
Tuesday 12th March : Segovia
It was a cold night but with only natural noises to disturb us, lovely. Not a soul around so stripped washed outside in the cold. We breakfasted in the warming sun before leaving this wonderful site, knowing we would return in the evening.
We made good progress to Segovia until Janet was spotted by the police moving from the front to the back of the van whilst the vehicle was moving! They were very pleasant insisting correctly she had broken the law because she wasn’t wearing a seat belt, which was fair enough.
We were also advised that we needed to have a reflective metal plate on the back of the bike carrier as it stuck out beyond the end of the vehicle.
They fined us a €100 on the spot for not wearing a seat belt and then we had a few minutes wait as they couldn’t print us out a receipt for the fine. BUT the sun was shining, and we could see snow topped mountains in the distance so…
Suitably chastened we drove on into Segovia its cathedral impressively appearing on a hill before us. Eventually we made it into the city only to make a mess of finding a place to park as the bikes made the van too long to fit into a standard car parking space. After driving through narrow streets we went around the city and parked by the Convent below the castle. From here we enter Segovia with its World Heritage sites.
We made our way to the cathedral we had seen on the skyline as we approached the city and sat down to have coffee in the square but as they were making a martial arts film the café was only available for crew so we went into a small café on the edge of the square instead.
When we entered the large Gothic-style Cathedral there was a tour going up the tower. We decided to join it to find out that the guide spoke only Spanish. Luckily talk there was film with English subtitles. Phew !
We climbed up a spiral staircase to the maintenance room before reaching the top of the bel tower where the 11 bells of various ages and sizes hung in an open chamber.
In the maintenance room there were holes in the ceiling so the bells could be rung without the bell captain having to go up into the bell tower proper.
The views were amazing as were the bells. Returning down we explored the rest of the cathedral and beautiful cloisters before heading in the direction of the Aqueduct which we had seen from the tower.
In a small square overlooking the church of San Martin we sat and ate our lunch of raciones in the hot sunshine. This was the oldest part of the city but not the oldest structure.
We wandered on amazed at the size and condition of the 1st Century Roman aqueduct partly destroyed by the moors in the 10th century and rebuilt in the 15th century superimposing the Madonna statue over part of the Roman inscription. It dominated a large part of the city below the cathedral centre and was a focus of several broad streets.
We wandered back looking at various churches and squares before finally ending up beside the rather spectacular, Alcázar de Segovia.
This is used as the castle shape on all Disney films.
It was lovely to return to our spot and cook spinach, goat’s cheese and lentils on the fire overlooking the lake.
Wednesday 14th March : Sierra de Gredos
The morning started breezy and chilly, and we sought out the shafts of early sun, to breakfast in. By the time we left around 8am. the sun was rising in a clear blue sky.
We headed west towards the Sierra de Gredos National Park, through the valley from Barraco to Hoyocasero and on, up and down rural roads, that twisted and turned through hilly stone villages, with the sun shining and snowy mountains ahead. It was lovely.
We crossed the main road between Avilla and Madrid and continued west ,along the northern side of the Sierra de Gredos, taking the mountain road south, to a high parking place the Platafoma de Gredos.
On arrival it was cold but sunny, the path was well marked, and we were soon walking in snow.
We climbed the mountain on a stone track which crossed a rocky plateau, before descending to the lake beneath Pico Almanzor, the highest peak in the park.
We ate lunch overlooking the lake where there were a few others. It was good, but not anything to compare with the Pyrenees!
We were back at the van by 4pm and saw the most wildlife we had seen all day, goats, enjoying the warmth of the tarmac road. We decided to move on for two hours and find somewhere to rough camp in Montfragile National Park, situated in the upper regions of the Tegus valley, which was dammed and acted as a large reservoir.
We found a spot and then went further on to the side of the Tagos, abandoned that idea and returned and to watch the sun set from the edge of an olive grove high above the valley.
We had just cleared up after tea when, a man drove by and told us we couldn’t camp there but should go back to a camp site 15 miles away.
We packed and went down to the side of the river, and made sure our lights did not show, as we camped in a riverside car park studiously ignoring the no overnight camping signs.
Thursday 14th March : Carceres – Merida
Awoke around 6.30 and moved on, travelling west beside the lake.
Just after leaving our spot, the lake was narrowed by rock pinnacles, and there was a parking area with observation points.
We stopped and immediately saw some vultures, and then the more we looked, the more we saw, sitting on the rocks catching the first warmth of the sun.
At first, we thought they were Black Vultures, but eventually decided theywere Griffin Vultures flying around us. It was very cold but fascinating, so we stayed and brewed up and had a bite to eat before moving on west and then south to Caceres.
We approached Carceres across the Meseta, the plains that spread across the middle of Spain to the Portuguese border and on into Portugal. In this area the landscape had a special character, of pastures dotted with cork oak, olive and almond trees, being under-grazed by sheep and cattle.
We parked on the far side of the city and wandered into town stopping for breakfast in a small neighbourhood café. It was getting warmer, as we walked through the new city to the old and large Plaza Mayor.
From here we wandered through the old town, a World Heritage Site, looking at the many churches, palaces and large casa’s, lovely narrow streets and plazas.
The buildings were honey coloured and the Moorish influence was very visible.
We went to a Museum which had the remains of a cistern and a few paintings by Picasso and Miro. It was free to EU nationals, the man on the door drolly said ‘para momento’ referring obliquely to Brexit.
We had a beer in the square and some tapas walking back to the car.
From here we headed south for an hour to Merida and a camp site on the outskirts.
We sited the van and washed clothes before we cycled through the back lanes into the city.
We parked near the remains of the Roman aqueduct and the Roman Hippodrome.
We just had time to get tickets to wander around the huge hippodrome and see an animation of the chariot racing,, that would have taken place there.
We then cycled back to the site and made tea.
Friday 15th March : Merida
We pack up quickly and are off site by 9.00. We find a place to park, south of the river and into the centre of the city by the Roman bridge.
This long Roman bridge was laid across marshes and the River Guadiana which flows south to the Spanish/Portuguese border into the Atlantic.
It leads to the Arabic Castle ‘Alcazaba’ whose walls defended the bridge, and whose inner area housed, initially soldiers and then civilians. It had its own cistern, Roman Villa, Mosque and Christian church.
The gateways and roads into the castle are huge.
We then went past the bull ring to a large Roman house, Casa Roman del Mitreo.
The interpretation of the layout of this upper-class abode with a lot of mosaic floors, and bottom halves of walls still painted was impressive. Lots of entertaining took place so the owners’ rooms were self-contained and in summer they moved to underground quarters to keep cool.
The sun was out, and it was getting hot as we visited the Roman Forum, Amphitheatre, gardens and Theatre passing a street side roman conduit. All the features of a Roman city, a smaller version of Rome.
The complex was alive with children, being taught about the various features of the Theatre, that was stunning by its completeness.
Back down the Main Street, we picked up some Empanadas before heading west to Elva just over the border into Portugal.
Elva is a garrison town and a World Heritage site, historically the key border crossing between Lisbon and Madrid. It has been so for centuries and has its Aqueduct, Forts and Historic Centre comprising castle, Templar Churches, and civic buildings intact.
It still has most of its walls and fortifications intact and it is amongst these we have lunch before wandering around this star shaped fort engulfing the town.
Hot but interesting and very different to Merida. It has a castle, and Templar Church and a Pelhourinho. This is a pillory where slaves were hung by their hands from the hooks, and whipped…Nice
There was also an English War Grave where the fallen of the Peninsular War are buried. This is managed by local people some of whom greeted us at the gate.
Outside the walls the remains of yet another Roman Aqueduct.
On again south through rolling olive, cork oak and open fields to Evora, and a nice camp site to the southwest.
We relax, the site busy with many elderly North European holiday makers, doing what we are doing, and enjoy a quiet evening.
Saturday 16th March : Elvas to Evora
The day soon heated up as we cycled into Evora and left the bikes in the main square by the Tourist Office. Yet another World Heritage site, the particular interest was the Temple to Diana, in the higher part of the city.
The City had been the second city of Portugal ever since the Jesuits set up a university there in the 14th century, and the university now reinvigorated still provides the city with a buzz.
It was a shock to find, for the first-time, tourist ware. We wandered around the outside of the temple which seemed insignificant, compared to Merida. The courtyard of the palace had some nice Moorish feature and the terrace with a good view of the surrounding countryside.
We walked down through the town that benefited, from a university economy that gave it a more gentrified feel. We stopped at a deli/café that served a younger more discerning clientele than some of the bars/café’s we had frequented previously. We had some fresh Naranja (Orange) juice served in a jam-jar with metal straw.
Back to the tourist office we enquired about the Almendres archaeological site, as it seemed near enough to cycle to.
The man in the Tourist Office found us a map to find the megalithic stones, which were seventeen kilometres away. On the way back to the campsite we did some shopping at a supermarket before packing a picnic lunch and heading off on the bikes.
We stopped and had lunch under some cork oaks in a field in the hills, which was lovely, miles upon miles of undulating cork and holm oak pastures.
The Almendres site was outside a village up a long dusty track. At the beginning of the track was a new interpretation centre for the site and the surrounding area.
It was fascinating and we spent half an hour reading up on the area before cycling up to the site.
The site was a stone circle orientated to the east. Some of the stones bore patterns and horseshoe shaped markings. It was amazing that they had been there so long. We wandered around the stones trying to find all the marks with mixed success.
When we cycled back, we looked at a large Menhir further down the hill, which was also marked.
It was so hot we ended drinking up all of our water as we cycled back to the camp site at Evora.
We showered, relaxed and had our first Pernod of the year!
Sunday 17th March : Evora to Sagres
On the road by 9.30 heading south then south west towards the Algarve, under a hazy sky.
At first the roads were straight running through wooded countryside. Then they meandered through a less fertile low plateau.
We stopped for coffee in a busy bar in Aljustrel and were glared at by the guardians of a donkey cart we photographed.
From there it was a short drive south parallel with the auto route to Silves then west along the built-up coast to Lagos.
We parked down by the marina, and found the restaurant Taco de Kiko that had been recommended to us. It was modern and we ate fresh fish and drank nice wine, although the service was a bit over the top. A contrast to our meals out so far, much too sophisticated, but thoroughly enjoyable.
The beach on this side of town, over the river from the centre, was extensive and a camping car site lay between it and the yachting marina where we had eaten. We needed something better than this to camp!
We walked over the footbridge into town, visited the tourist office and bought a map of the trails up the coast known as the Fisherman trails.
As the sun burnt through the hazy cloud and the temperature increased, we wandered with horror around a town filled with the trappings of a seaside resort. We took in the walls, beaches and some photogenic old buildings, before picking up some food and heading west.
The campsite we were aiming at Salerno was closed for restoration work, so feeling a bit down, we headed to one at Sagres, the furthest south west town in Portugal.
The site was large and in pine woods, so with the sun setting, Graham cooked tea in the fire bowl and we planned some walks.
Monday 18th March : Sagres
From the roof of the van as the day began the sun lit up the lighthouse at Cabo de Sao Vincente.
We washed a load of clothes in the washing machine and hung them up before walking out on a track to the north west of the campsite.
It was lovely, winding through open pinewoods with amazing varieties of flowers.
We then joined the Fisherman’s trail back towards the sea. What a sight, high cliffs with at times incredible rock strata, a swelling, turquoise sea breaking white waves on the shore, capped with scrubby vegetation on the cliffs interspersed with vibrant flowers.
We walked south on the cliff tops and had lunch overlooking a beach, before continuing over lots of irregular limestone rocks, to the lighthouse at Cabo de Sao Vincent.
A tourist honeypot, which soon made us go on our way along the cliff before cutting back inland to follow the road. On the cliff high above the sea fisherman were casting off into the water hundreds of metres below.
We continued walking south along the road and had coffee above the beach Praia de Belix where the tide was out, and they were trying to surf unsuccessfully!
We walked back along the coast road before turning off towards the camp site, where we spotted a mongoose slinking through the scrub.
We had enjoyed the first half of the walk but from the lighthouse back it was a slog!
Back at the camp site, we watched Azure winged Magpies, flitting daintily around the pine needles, on the ground outside the site.
Tuesday 19th March : Sagres
A leisurely start to the day as it was sunny and getting warmer quickly. We cycled into Sagres and sorted out pre-paid tickets in the Post Office for the homeward journeys on Portuguese Auto-vista no mean feat as difficult to ascertain how to do it and no one seemed to understand what we wanted.
We then went down to the harbour and watched a dolphin swim laconically across the bay from the lighthouse. We had coffee and pastry in a bar above the harbour before finding our way down to Martinhal Beach.
The beach was largely deserted with few people.
We swam along the shore in a cool calm sea. Then walked back to our towels and read, before fulfilling Graham’s desire to have a snack at a beach café.
Here we had a drink and shared a plate of prawns, of questionable quality, before cycling back picking up some food at the supermarket, including some delicious pastries with honey and condensed milk in.
When we got back, we decided to move plots as the farmyard we had pitched behind was so noisy from 3 am with cockerels, geese and dogs greeting the dawning day.
We felt a bit guilty leaving our neighbours from Newcastle who had been camping on the plot next to ours for the last seven weeks and were considering staying another three. The weather had been incredible apparently, only a couple of days rain. We found a quiet plot at the far end of the site overlooking the forested scrub area we had walked through the first day and settled in lighting a fire to cook our evening meal.
Wednesday 20th March : Sagres
We cycled from site north, on the road to Vila do Bispo, an old road now used as a cycle path. Half way up we branched off east along a track across some fields.
The estates in this area have fenced off a large part of the land and finding your way according to the map is a challenge.
As we progressed on tracks and across fields the chain broke on Graham’s bike, so we left them both in a field and walked on towards Barranco Beach down through a small gorge. The beach was lovely no villas only a few camping vans in the car park.
From here we walked over the cliff past the Raposeira beach with its restaurants and villas to the Praia do Zavial beach which was small and backed with a modest café and a car park where some vans were parked.
The beach had several very young families playing on the sand. We swam and enjoyed the waves before we had lunch sitting on the rocks. We rested in the sun before waking back over the cliffs to collect the bikes.
Janet rode back into Sagres whilst Graham free wheeled and pushed his bike back.
In Sagres. Graham found a shop in the town that replaced the chain while Janet picked up some food. We again cooked on an open fire but ate inside as it was cold with a clear starry sky and a lovely nearly full moon.
Thursday 21st March : Sagres to Vila Nova de Milfontes
We had packed up and left site by 9.30. with the sun shining but with a cool breeze and an indication of cloud forming in the west.
We filled up with diesel at the supermarket before heading north, parallel to the coast. It was a pleasant road and at times we were tempted to drive down to the coast but continued to Odeceixe where we had a coffee break before following a path to the south of the town.
We climbed steeply out of the town but once on the plateau it was flat with many old and new farmsteads scattered around. Most of the older had round ovens outside the house and even some of the new ones had them as features. As we were passing an old cottage a man was using a flat paddle to put a loaf into such an oven taking it from an old woman who was kneading the dough into shape in the kitchen next to the oven.
Once we got to the coast, we were on high sandy cliff tops with lots of scrub flowers. We ate lunch sheltered from the wind looking at the coast to the south, watching the storks circle overhead.
After lunch we carried on along the cliffs past colonies of storks nesting out on islands just off the coast.
When we got to the beach at Odeceixe, which had been promoted as the best beach on this stretch of coast, we were disappointed. It lay at the mouth of a long flat valley further up which was the town. Cliffs rose up either side giving it a dramatic look a bit like Crantock bay in Cornwall.
The last bit along the river back to the town was a slog but the walk had been worth it for the snapshot of the bread being made, the storks and the flower strewn cliffs.
We then drove north to Vila Nova De Milfontes where we found a campsite at the back of the town.
An ok site but didn’t of course match up to Sabres! We cycled down into the town and decided to stay for just one night and get ourselves into the Douro Valley as we didn’t feel there was going to be anything on the coast that would beat what we had already seen.
Friday 22nd March : Algarve to Douro Valley
There was sun on our patch which we made the most of for breakfast. It was a nice large plot and quiet, but the area was not enticing.
As we are early in the season a lot of the facilities are not fully open and cold-water showers are a risk you take. Janet drew the short straw this time with a cold shower!
We packed and paid up and were on the road by 9.30 heading north and east, on small roads through Cercal and Alvalade to the auto vistas that were going to take us north.
Slight confusion on entering the auto-vista system and picked up a ticket and then thought we should be going through the green lane as we had pre-paid! Not the case there are two different systems of toll roads, we had pre-paid for one but were travelling on the other. Not a good system which Portugal needs to rectify.
We continued north following the network of auto-vistas until we stopped for lunch beside the river Tejo which we last were on a week before when we saw the vultures.
As we approached the town of Vila Velha de Rodao the sight of two power stations belching out smoke as we approached wasn’t promising. Even after we passed through the town to the river there was an odour in the air but once down by the river it was delightful with boats moored, picnic benches and even a vulture flying overhead!
After eating we walked to some archaeological remains of the original settlement. The journey onward through the heart of Portugal towards Guarda was stunning with amazing hills, wide valleys and large towns.
We arrived at the campsite at Meda in the centre of the town and there was with nobody else on it. We had phoned the day before to make sure it was open, and we booked in with a smattering of English, Portuguese and Gesticulation. We made use of the camping guides in the lounge area to look at sites further on and to book on a tour of the Cao valley the next day.
Before dark we wandered through the town and then via alleys and unused stairs to a crag with a clock tower and large statue of Jesus, the view was amazing over the valleys as was the bruised sky from the setting sun.
The evening meal was a particularly unpleasant dish of fish and spinach, memorably smelly!
Saturday 23rd March : Cao Valley
Nobody else was camping so it was like having your own multiple bathroom. There had been a night watchman guarding the site all night, so we felt very well looked after. We washed a load of clothes and hung them on one of many rotary clothes airers that were provided. After breakfast we walked into town and bought some bread before driving to an interesting old walled town, Marialva, within the Meda Parish.
The new town was down in the valley but the post 16th century town outside the castle walls was a mix of solid stone-built buildings laid out along narrow lanes or around small square.
The day had warmed quickly, and it was getting very hot as we wandered around this amazing settlement. Why wasn’t it a World Heritage Site?
The main attraction was the medieval village inside the castle walls.
We were the first visitors to the castle that morning and with our ticket from the small tourist office inside the castle walls we let ourselves into the castle and were free to roam, it was a long time before other visitors started to arrive.
The remains of the town inside the castle wall were clear and health and safety did not exist so you could walk anywhere including the steep sided castle walls and the keep ramparts.
Some one and two storey building still remained intact and the ruins of many others were clear, roads, a market place, a town hall and some newer churches.
Apparently, Marialva was on a strategic border fought over by, Romans, Gauls, Arabs and Jews and had an important fair on the 15th of every month that encouraged trade and privileges to people living there.
After the 16 century the town spread outside the walls and many of these unique buildings still stood but not many were still lived in, a fascinating place.
From here we went to Villa Nova de Foz Coa and the Archaeological Museum of Vale de Coa. a building as grand as the Guggenheim Museum in its context. The museum is in an unusual semi submerged building and uses up to date technology to explain the discoveries, the techniques, and the changing theories of the mainly goats, ibex, and aurochs portrayed.
We drove to the village of Castel Mehor where we had booked a tour to see the Penascosa site at 2.30. We got ourselves stuck up a very steep cobbled street before making our way out of town for lunch.
We lunched beneath an almond tree before returning to Castel Mehor and seeking directions to the site office where we joined our guide Gloria and 4 others back in the village.
We were then taken by Land Rover to an area by the river, here in different locations we saw several rocks with many superimposed animals, some with just a few and uniquely a fish.
The discoveries had resulted from the threat to the area through the construction of a dam in the 21st century and was still the subject of ongoing archaeological investigation.
The drawings revealed the gradual artistic development of the site and there was lots of speculation about the meanings of the drawings.
Were they territorial as they appeared within a certain area? Why at different levels, did this show a change in water level?
All the fish drawings were on low lying rocks whereas the horses and aurochs were on the hillsides as was the splendid horned deer.
The goats faced in two different directions and could be interpreted as markers to the territory.
Fascinating and although very hot, well worth the trip.
On our way back to Meda we passed through the village of Longroiva another fascinating settlement with a castle and a lot history.
Back to Meda and our site with dry washing and a young Portuguese family to share the facilities.
Sunday 24th March : Douro Valley
We were sorry to leave Meda we had liked out time here with its interesting cross on the hill and its statues to local firemen.
We went into town for a final look around and headed to Pinhao in the Douro valley.
The route took us twisting and turning through vineyards under sunny blue skies.
In Pinhao a cruise boat was disgorging its passengers on the quayside, so we moved on quickly cycling on down the river towards Porto stopping before the auto route bridge that crossed the river near Peso la Regula.
We passed vineyards with orange groves in their courtyards and the gates of the large Port and Wine estates that were scattered throughout the valley.
We then rode back turning to the south to follow a small valley up to a scruffy bit of ground by a stream for a spot for lunch.
Cycling back up the valley we looked at a possible rough camping spot. It wasn’t great but there was a nice restaurant nearby where we had a beer and a glass of local wine in a bar overlooking the river.
We arrived back to Pinhoa in time to see the train making its way down the Douro valley stopped at the station. The railway line ran from Porto right up to the Spanish border and had been built to serve the wine industry but was now a popular tourist attraction.
Pinhao was much busier now and we nodded to our former camping neighbours as we passed them in the car park.
After a wander around the town we drove back up through the vineyards to Sao Joao Da Pesqueira where we turned off back towards the Douro valley and the Miradouro de Sao Salvador do Mundo high above the valley that had some sort of religious buildings on top of it.
The weather was warm and sunny, and the car park was busy with quite a number of people visiting but as soon as dusk came, we were on our own and settled down, sleeping downstairs and looking at the amazing array of stars. Our only company was a dog who saw us safely to bed.
Monday 25th March : Guimares
Not a good night’s sleep as we were not used to having no air, but we rose happily with the sun at 6.00, and were having breakfast, with the dog who reappeared, sitting on the wall overlooking the river. At 7.00 a train rattled rather slowly down the valley below, magical!
We left the wonderful view and headed north down over the barrage and up onto the plateau before eventually joining the auto route and on to Guimares.
Guimares, another World Heritage Site, was founded in the 4th century and was the original capital of Portugal. It was a lovely city with amazing tiled house fronts and balconies.
The famous Square of the Olives, the Castle and the Palace were easy to wander around set in green open spaces and linked with pedestrian streets.
Lots of places to visit and spend your money but we resisted visiting all but the Capela a Virgem Maria, Senhora Nossa with its stunning decorations.
We made our way back to the van and buying some ingredients for lunch we headed off to another site of interest we had discovered in a guidebook, Briteiros.
At Briteiros, we sat with a lovely view eating sardines and bread before going into the Iron Age settlement. The whole had been bought in the 19th century by a local archaeologist Francisco Saramento who saw the historic value of the site and didn’t want it lost.
It was fascinating a whole ‘Castro’, iron age urban fortified settlement with roads, round houses, rectangular stores/animal shelters, culverts, surrounding walls and an unusual bath system was built from the 2nd century BC and occupied by Romans in the 1st century AD. Engravings had been found and lost at this site which linked it culturally with the settlements in the Cao valley.
As we wandered around, we were surrounded with Swallow-tail butterflies and came across a fine specimen of a Green Lizard.
There was so much to see but Janet was ‘cultured out’, so we left the site and headed north towards the mountains We drove north onto Rio Cavado and stopped by the river just after we had crossed it and had a drink.
We then continued to the National Park campsite at Caldas de Geres high up in the Serra do Geres. A well organised site with only two others camping and some people staying in stone cabins.
We walked around the village on a recommended path introducing us to the area. It was a way to take us to a nearby Museum. It was too late to visit so we carried on into the village and studied the raised stone barns for which this part of Portugal is famous.
We get back to the site and changed for our first evening meal out in the camp site restaurant. There are a few people in their eating but the ambitious menu that we were looking forward to, was not forthcoming as most dishes were off as was some of the best wine.
Despite this we had an enjoyable meal and the food and wine was good. A strong breeze is blowing when we bedded down.
Tuesday 26th March : Back to Spain
Up early and ate breakfast in the van as it was cold and windy.
We then went on another marked walk following a former Roman road beside a lake.
The track alongside the lake was laid stone and Roman milestones called milenois are found alongside the path many with Latin text on.
The path joined a rough track that took us further along the lake where there was a dozen or so milenois standing together each engraved with the Roman General who had had them made.
We walked back along the track to the camp site with Camberwell Beauty butterflies fluttering around us. We booked out and then the Satnav took us back on to the Roman track to make our way north out of Portugal into Spain.
The track was very rough, and we were concerned that there might be a barrier at the end, but thankfully it was ok.
We crossed the border and were back in Spain again.
We had lunch in a picnic area overlooking one of the lakes before continuing to Ourense with its bridges spanning the Mino river.
We then did an unplanned stop at Montfort de Lemos, primarily to get food and then as we wandered around, we found a medieval bridge and an enormous medieval seminary and somewhere to have a beer which revived us.
We continued to a camp site just south of the autoroute in the village of El Bierzo.
The site was in an orchard and one of the two toilet blocks was closed so a unisex arrangement was happening which was only problematic when showering as you had to get undressed outside the cubicle. There were not many people there, so it worked out OK.
Wednesday 27th March : Las Medulas and Astorga
There was frost on the ground but warmer when the sun came up, we scraped the frost off the table and managed breakfast outside.
Then off to the Las Medulas early. This was yet another World Heritage Site but very different from the others.
We parked in the car park that we had opted not to come to, to camp night before, and cycled up to the viewpoint.
What a sight, bright yellow peaks of hills glittering in the sunlight.
The Romans (of course) discovered there were layers of gold in the sandstone undelaying the looser sandy material from which the mountains were made.
In order to get it they made horizontal tunnels into the mountains which they then filled with water until the mountains collapsed revealing the lower layers.
They (or their slaves) could easily extract the 900 tons of gold that was estimated to have been mined from the pools of water gathering in the valleys below.
We left our bikes and went steeply down a path and then did a circular walk within the peaks visiting two caves. The strata is clearly visible and the colours amazing.
From here we drove to Astorga and parked by Antoni Gaudi’s bizarre Palacio Episcopal a dark granite turreted, moated castle which stands next door to the cathedral.
Unfortunately, it was closed, so we wandered around this small town and had an annoyingly expensive, unappealing lunch in the town hall square.
Astorga is a pilgrim town on the Santa Compestella trail and pilgrims were much in evidence.
From Astorga the drive across the plain was flat and boring all the way to Burgos, but it was nice to return to the campsite we had started in.
We then cycled into the buzzing though cold city had a beer and tapas before cycling back to the camp site where we had pitched on the other side from previously and slept downstairs where there was no noise.
Thursday 28th March : Bourges to Blain
Left a frosty campsite just after 8.00 and were crossing the border before 10.00. It was interesting seeing the twisty turning auto route going in and out of tunnels through the Spanish Pyrenean foothills. Stopped at Aire d’ Urrugne which Graham had identified as a good place to overnight on the way down and he was right. A deep site well back from the road with lots of bays and new, clean toilets.
Janet took over driving and apart from an accident just before Bordeaux we made good time and came off and had a lovely lunch in a small village restaurant, La Plancher Gourmande near Blaye.
With Graham driving and Janet doing a bit of sewing in the back we reached Blain on the Nantes-Brest canal at around 6pm intending to rough camp nearby but found the site open, albeit still in preparation for the summer, and decided to stay.
We had camped there before but had hazy memories of the town except for the site being very near a renovated chateau and the Lidl supermarket.
We walked into town in the fading light following the trail of the Otter that led us from the quayside into the town centre
Friday 29th March : From Blain Home
We walked down to the village following the Otter trail which took us through the town to the Library where it seemed to start.
We bought some fruit and veg to tie us over when we got home. Janet drove the first bit but unfortunately, we hadn’t closed the kitchen cupboard properly and the cafeteria fell out and smashed.
The traffic on past Vannes to Lorient was busy and we were relieved to turn off and stop at Pluey where we had a grand cafe and pain of raisin. This renewed us and from there the roads were lovely.
We stopped for lunch high up on Col de Roc Trededon above Huelgoat and walked along the ridge for a bit before calling in at a sports retail store at Morlaix to see if we could replace the bucket we had lost, but with no success.
We continued to Roscoff and boarded the 3pm ferry on the lorry deck for a change!
Read, sewed and ate until to ferry docked in Plymouth at 9.30pm. We got off the ferry quickly but were then diverted to the Torpoint ferry as the Tamar Bridge was closed, we get home about midnight.
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