Portugal Part 3

Just a little blog post I would have liked to have included to finish up Portugal on the last one, but ran out of time. 

Back on the road again north of Porto, I get a text message from Miguel asking where I am.. I told him I was heading back into Spain shortly. He said wanted to show me more of Portugal first.  Mmmm.. should I? I was feeling I moved too quickly through this country, so.. okay! ;-)

 We meet again..

 
Northern Portugal is quite different to the south.  Much more populated and green!  And they are well known for the vineyards in this area.  We leave the region of Porto and head into District of Vila Real.

We are headed toward the River Douro.  One of the major rivers of the region, this area has a microclimate that grapes and olives seem to love which are most important for making that famous Port Wine!  The rivers end is in Porto, where the wine can be shipped to the world.

These ceramics on the town walls (every town, house and building has ceramic something or other, if its not a small decoration, they ceramic the entire house!)  Anyway, here's some ceramic of how it used to be..

I know.. it's a wee bit boring for the blog, but I like the ceramic stories and it will be history I'd like to remember when I read these posts when I'm 80... ;-)

Miguel explains to me that the area is very protected.  The small farms or quintas are rarely sold and if so they are extremely expensive.  There is no room for new construction in the area as none of the farms will be giving up their unique vineyard land anytime soon!

 

We did well following the river ALL day, a gorgeous ride on a motorcycle!

This is where we stop for the night.......  ;-)

Just kidding!!

We were hungry.. Unfortunately, the "Meat Boutique"  was closed..  I would have never thought to put those 2 words together!

And we found dinner elsewhere..

This was another fun diversion.. thanks Miguel! However, I really should be on my way heading north.  I have a booking to get on an airplane from London Heathrow over to North America in a weeks time, and I am nowhere near the place!

Portugal Part 2

It's another beautiful day in Portugal.. we're off and running!

A quick visit into Santar and a peek at the Duke of Portugal's house.  Really good looking place and we also peeked through the gate to the back yard.

Seems like a pretty normal house for royalty..  but it does carry on a bit..

Now for a REAL CASTLE!!  I know I've shown a zillion castles in this blog.. but Europe is just full of them.  This one is the best one I've seen.. for sure!

Castle of Guimares.. home to the first King of Portugal!

Built in the center of the city for the purpose of defence against the Muslims.. from there they were able to conquer Portugal.  They say this is the place that Portugal was born in 1129.  The King's name...  D. Afonso Henriques.

The castle was kept busy even after independence as it was then headquarters for defending Portugal from Spain for the next several hundred years.  Apparently successful!  I've heard some people speak of combining the two countries even today for strength in the European union... in a more civilized way of coarse.  From an outsiders point of view,  I wouldn't know but I'd be surprised if that would happen..

It was a lot of fun to run around inside this one..  it really is different to so many of the other castles I have been in lately.  Castles usually look like castles but this one seems more like one I'd see in a story book.

 

 

Statue of King D. Afonso Henriques

 

After this break we stop for another fantastic Portuguese lunch.. authentic good local food. thank you Miguel!!  And while we were talking, a couple from Portugal who I had planned to meet in their home town up the coast in a few days time showed up today instead where I am... at the restaurant we were eating... surprise!!  How they found me I don't know..

Very nice couple Mimi and Manuel Piexoto.  Well since they have many things to show me, we plan for me first to go to a campground they had previously told me about and here we have to bid farewell to Miguel.  Like I said, very lucky to meet him and experience south Portugal in a much better way than I could have ever done on my own.

Little did I know, that the Piexotos were already here for 2 days wanting to wait for me. The good news is that they already scoped out a super good little restaurant in a nearby village.  Nice to get off your bike in a herd of  local goats who are making their own way through the village. They sneak a meal in from the neighbors.. thieves!! ;-)

 Too cute!

The next day we pack up camp and roll out to see the coastal part of Portugal.. Not a horribly huge country but it has lots of variety!

Mimi and Manuel Piexoto

Nice view of the coast from here!

Igreja dos Pescadores (Church of Fisherman) in Praia de Mira

Costa Nova

They use a lot of colors and ceramics to decorate their buidings in many areas of Portugal.  I like it! However this town out did itself! Never seen home design anywhere else in the world this way.. very fun and happy place to live I'd say! ;-) 

The Piexoto's take me to their home in Porto Portugal.  I've noticed that "port" is a bigger part of Portugal than I knew.. Remember I met Miguel in Portel, I'm with the Piexotos in Porto (or Oporto) and we are having Port to drink.. in Portugal!

We have a meal and they make another surprise celebration of my one year anniversary on the road with cake, candle and that very special ancient glass of Port (from 1937!)with their son Miguel!  Gee whiz they know how to maka a moto girl feel special!

The Christmas tree?  They love to travel on their motorcycle and Mimi says she just can't be bothered taking it down and re-setting up every year when they'd rather be on the road, so now it's part of the decor..!

Was a fun day all around.. and how hospitable are the Portuguese people!!  I haven't had a day alone in this country.. lucky me!  I enjoy so much learning about the culture first hand and I could not have imagined that I would get to see and experience so much already.. thank you Miguel, Mimi and Manuel and Miguel #2

Portugal

Aha!!  New Camera project accomplished in Seville Spain.. finally!  I've got somewhat normal photos again! Hallelujah!!

Now I can get on the road again.. yay!  I'm going to Portugal!~!  I've been looking forward to this as it's one of the main countries I wanted to see in Europe.  As normal I follow the back routes from southern Spain into South Portugal.  Not sure where I'll end up today, don't really care.  One of those days I'm just happy to ride wherever the wind blows.

Always castles around here.. castles castles castles... If only I could find a Spanish Prince who would like an Aussie/American Princess!! ;-)  Awww come on.. I heard you laughing.. Anything is possible in my world! ;-)))

This is the land of the stork.  I notice many telephone poles or anything up high, they've got that big nest. Now I understand why Storks are used in baby stories.  They could easily pick a baby up and fly it up to the nest and be tucked away.

Long slow day riding, but this is just a part of the world I connect to, really love it here.  Really beautiful countryside.  I see the next castle coming up and I'm tired enough to pull into town and figure out where to stay tonight.  I see a sign for camping.. yay!  I follow the signs all the way up the village until I passed right through.. not sure how I missed it.. go back and try again.. rode right pass all the old timers sitting along the village street watching the world go by so, but still no luck with campground.  There is one other sign in town that says "Hotel Rural".. I see a Harley parked outside and decide to at least go ask about where the camping might be.  (Usually most hotels have somebody inside that can speak English no matter where I stop in the world.. it's my little "need to know" technique!)

Well the guy behind the counter wasn't real sure why they have camping signs in town as he's never seen one either.  So I ask about a room, because we are very rural and I heard from everyone that Portugal is much more affordable to get around.  He told me a room was 105 Euro.. and I go "Ha!!"  Sorry, no way.. not in my budget..so much for that!  Then he brings the price down, and I explain, not possible but thank you.. I'm not on a holiday, it's a long world trip and I'm a budget traveler.  He eventually ends up at 45 Euro.  This is still far more than I pay for accommodation, but for one, this place is so good looking and authentic Portugal.  Two, this is the night of my 1 year anniversary for being on the road.. !!! I shouldn't do it.. hadn't thought to do anything special for the anniversary, but since the opportunity presented itself..  ;-)

So have a look where I'm staying tonight!

S P O I L E D !!!

I'm so excited to stay in this place I hardly wanted to leave the room and waste a single moment here. However, I was also very excited to explore this Portuguese village by foot (this is always a different experience than the bike), I took a quick shower and ran out the door.

The name of this town I ended up in is called Portel and here's a look around including the castle that drew me in.

A very common sight all through Spain and Portugal.  These are the boys sitting around watching the world go by...

Oh dear, I love this village.  I think I found the best place to get my Portugal experience I had been imagining for so long.

Came back to the hotel, and the director who checked me in, Miguel, I didn't realize is the owner of that Harley parked out front.  He said he leaves tomorrow morning for his first 20 day holiday on the bike and asked me where I'm headed.  I said North. He asked if he could ride along for a while.  Okay, must be an all right guy, gave me such a great discount on a room, why not?  So we make a plan to meet in the morning.

First stop, guess what, is a Castle!!  Reguengos de Monsaraz to be precise.  An absolutely gorgeous and charming place.  As with most castles, they are more than just a castle "house". Inside the walls are more homes, shops etc. as a medieval era protected village.  Lucky we don't have to live behind the walls anymore.. or do we??  (I think they're just more invisible these days..)

It's very small, but I really loved our walk around.  I can only just imagine what it would have been like in the day.

This is just plain lucky.. to be shown around the land of Portugal by a Portuguese man.. who doesn't know of my travels on facebook or the blog.. just a really nice guy who happens to ride a motorcycle I met the night before.. and look where I am today.. I love my life! ;-)


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And into Evora for more................... Roman ruins! 

Gotta be quick.. Miguel has organized us a lunch in a 5 star hotel he knows.....

Seriously??!!  Have a look at me..  can't do that..! But it's part of his business and needs to meet his business friends there. Oh well, it's their hotel, if they want a grubby ol' moto girl in the building, there ya go! ;-)  You can only imagine what a great meal we had.. so good!  Local wine!  Plus desert!!  SPOILED!! I'm happy..  Had a 4 star night and a 5 star day.. seriously happy!

After lunch I went for a wander around the town outside the gates while they discussed more important Portuguese secret mens business.  I'd spy and listen on them if I could, but I haven't caught on to the language quite yet on day 2.. ha!

The tunnel into the old town is now managed by a stop light.. to replace the silver armored men and a little red stop sign (sword?)  Just my imagination..!

 

Same on the inside.. of coarse!

Another quick stop, where Miguel wanted to call into his favorite sweet shop and bring out some traditional Portuguese candy... good man!!!!  SMART man!! ;-)

I didn't realize when Miguel wanted to plan a ride with me today, that he would plan so much!  The day continues after that late lunch to cross a mountain pass at over 2000 meters. It's called Serra da Estrela and is Portugal's highest mountain peak..  I wouldn't put it in Everest category, but with that extremely strong cold wind, I'll give it respect.

My photos don't come close to describing how pretty of a mountain pass this was.  It was super duper windy and so cold.. we took the quickest little snaps and kept going.  I wasn't so bad, I had heated hand grips, but Miguel was not so good with very little for warmth.

Sheez! We did over 400 km with a late start.. many stops to explore and a very long lunch. Big day!! Back down the other side of the mountain we make it to Miguel's home town of Viseu.  He organized another top hotel for me to stay in town, and after dinner went back to his Mom's house to stay..  with plans to ride a bit more together tomorrow..  See you!