Portugal 2021 - Day 6 - the day the rains came

Being in the mountains is almost always awe inspiring. Except when it lashes it down and you can't see further than the end of your own arm so are thus unable to experience the grandeur of your surroundings. This, unfortunately was the case on day 6. It absolutely hammered it down for the a large part of the morning and most of the afternoon. 

However, a brief break in the weather gave us cause to try a hillside walk above manteigas. A mile or so in though, our meander became a logistical nightmare for two key reasons:

1) The presence of an enormous, untethered, and rather angry dog who was guarding the path we needed to take - like cerberus itself. 

2) the return of the rains - in epic fashion. 

With respect to issue number one, we managed to find an alternative path to avoid the hound from hell, but despite decent waterproof gear, ultimately it was the relentless downpour that stopped us in our tracks.

With further excursions unlikely for the day, we settled for that most Portuguese of traditions. Eating meat and cheese and drinking wine for the afternoon at the local queijaria (cheese gaff).

This turned out to be a much better plan, although Liz was struck down by that occupational hazard of holidaying; the food coma. 

Portugal 2021 - Day 5 - the tower

Day 5 started with an excellent breakfast in our b&b/museum at the casa Das Obras.

I've failed to mention this in earlier blogs, but there seems to be a rule here in Portugal that guests should don plastic gloves when using a buffet breakfast service. This makes sense in the age of covid of course, but also feels like you are gearing up to undertake a prostate examination.

Minor rectal examination requirements aside, breakfast helped set us up for a drive up the Zezere glacier to the starting point of what would turn out to be one of the more epic walks I've attempted; an 8 mile circular to Portugal's highest point - Torre (the Tower). The roads do allow for a buttock clenching drive all the way to the top, but it seemed only right (?!) to park at the bottom of the corvao (a glacial depression) and hike/scramble the near 2.5 miles pretty much straight up to the top instead. Taking this route was suitably knackering, but the reward for our 0.8 mph average speed was a series of incredible views of the zezere glacial Valley and its surrounding cliffs.

Emerging onto the ridge, with a palpable relief at completing the toughest part of the walk and not collapsing entirely, a phase of boulder hopping our way to the trig point awaited us.

Torre itself was not overly impressive as summits go, being a flat space surrounded by a couple of tourist-trap shops and a pair of decaying observation towers; but again, the ascent itself was more than worth the effort.

The descent along another route was somewhat easier, but still a little fraught with some crumbling ridges and an ill-timed thunderstorm which thankfully kept itself a reasonable distance away from us.

The final leg of the walk finished back where we started, with one last spectacle; a full panoramic of the glacial valley that we first ascended. 

Naturally, following our return to the B&B, a brief excursion for some well earned grub was followed with a serious 10 hour kip! 

Portugal 2021 - Day 4 - run to the hills

Porto was sooo September 20th. Twas time for a change so we headed back to the airport to pick up the rental car that would take us onwards to the interior of Portugal. The usual stresses of remembering how to drive on the wrong side of the road notwithstanding, we took a pretty pleasant and very scenic three hour drive to the hilltop town of Manteigas. 

Situated deep in the heart of the Serra da Estrela national park, it is the home of the Torre, Portugal's highest point - which of course was the main mission whilst there.

One thing that I love about road trips is that you never quite know what to expect from the places you see and stay in. Our abode for a few nights, Casa Das Obras was essentially an 18th century Portuguese town house, complete with gothic corridors and impressively appointed reception rooms. 

Our host was a welcoming landlady who after inhaling clutch fumes whilst watching me frantically trying to reverse parellel park on a 15 degree slope, quickly made us feel at home.

The remainder of the evening saw us navigating the vertiginous cobbles of Manteigas in search of a decent meal. 

This did not disappoint, with a very decent little restaurant (restaurante central) just a few minutes, and a good few feet downhill from our accommodation. A perfectly cooked rare fillet mignon, smothered in the region's famous serra de estrela cheese and served with a generously large glug of the red stuff proved a fitting end to the day. 

Food is also scarily cheap here, which for a notorious tight wad like myself does elevate the enjoyment somewhat too! 

Portugal 2021 - Day 3 (Porto) - the poshest Mcdonalds in the world?

Our final day in Porto started with that most typical of tourist activities, a trip to take photographs of the local Mcdonalds restaurant. Formally a swanky imperial coffee shop, this particular iteration of the golden arches is replete with chandeliers, stained glass windows and spiral staircases. 

It was so posh in fact, that you had to be issued with a code for the toilet, which from my observations one particular chap had forgotten on route, so he was forced to stand at the door peeking in through the frosted glass like that velociraptor in Jurassic Park in the hope someone would exit so he could slip in through the open door.

From the pleasure of taking snaps of classic corporate fast food chains, we opted for a more vertical challenge, hiking the 200ish steps to the top of Porto's commandingly positioned cathedral spire at the Iregio dos Clerigos to take in some breathtaking panoramics of the wider municipality.

The remainder of the day played out as a self guided walk through a truly maze like city park (jardins do palacio do cristal)

and across the western part of the city towards the Arrabida bridge at the mouth of the impressive douro River.

15,000 steps later, a plate of bacalhau (deep fried cod fish cakes), a cold bottle of Superbock in the shade and a very quick-fire wine tasting excursion helped to take the edge of an increasingly warm day.

On a final note, Buddhist monks spend years mastering the act of total and absolute zen. Liz managed it by ordering a bowl of vanilla and pistachio ice cream and achieving what I can only describe as complete and uninterrupted mindfulness for around five straight minutes. 

Portugal 2021 - Day 2 (Porto) - Memoirs of a sandwich

Waking promptly with only some mild effects on the noggin to punish me for necking a jug of sangria last night, another part of my anatomy was rather more unimpressed as I paid reckons for my consumption of the excessive and as I now understand, classic portuguese dish, the francesinha.

For the uninitiated, the francesinha is a slice of bread stacked up with ham, steak, sausage, more ham and another slice of bread to complete the formal sandwich conventions. It is then topped with a block of melted cheese and a fried egg, drowned in half litre of thick beer and tomato gravy, and then typically surrounded by a generous portion of french fries. It is often paired with a jug of porto ipa - a tradition which of course I conformed to.

Needless to say, it is heavy. Very heavy. 

With the shadow of the francesinha behind me, the rest of the day was spent touring the steeped and cobbled streets of what must surely be one of the most intricately designed of all European cities courtesy of a great free walking tour, marshalled expertly by the brilliant porto walkers tour company. 

Following a fascinating few hours learning about tiles, incestuous love trysts and the entrepreneurial use of egg yolks, we parted ways at the foot of the immense and imposing Luiz 1st bridge and gave the very entertaining and informative guide a decent tip for his efforts.

The afternoon was spent learning more than I ever thought I might about port at the Vila Nova de Gaia; the home of Taylor's. 

I leave you with the very personal revelation that have rarely seen Liz more excited about anything than the port and cheese selection proffered to us at the conclusion of our port wine tour (Here is the proof). 

Portugal 2021 - Day 1 (Porto) - Airport schadenfreude

Let's cut to the chase. Liz and I have successfully escaped the UK for the first time in nearly two years and have made it to Porto on the first leg of a meandering little Portuguese road trip. Logistics were a little more challenging than usual, but on a scale of travel difficulty starting from being a member of the Royal Family through to replicating the efforts of Snake Pliskin, I'd personally place the challenge more at the straightforward end.

That's not to say everyone will be feeling the same today. I clocked a number of sightings of folks who had pretty much booked, turned up with their nhs covid vaccine certificates and hoped for the best. I can only imagine the wrench of the cognitive dissonance affecting a hard line brexiteer faced with the unavoidable fact that the validity of their British vaccination certificate is simply not good enough for the EU, thus negating their plans to enjoy a hearty English fry up on a veranda in Alicante.

That's all for now. I'll try to keep my musings short. 

Porto is lovely by the way.