Monsanto: our LAST Portuguese road trip!

For our last trip across the lovely Portuguese landscape, we chose to go to Monsanto, voted "the most Portuguese" village in the country in the 1930s.  Located about 3 hours Northeast of Cascais, we rolled across a quiet landscape filled with oaks and olive trees as the light started to fade.  The town sits among large granite boulders (with some houses build directly into them) on the side and top of a large hill (or wee mountain), and so as we zigged and zagged up to it, we were able to take in the beautiful countryside as it was bathed in the warm last light of day.  The view from our very welcoming Pousada would have been worth the trip alone.  We stayed at Casa Pires Mateus; I would definitely recommend it, if for nothing more than the lovely owners who showered Finn with kisses, and basically would whisk him away while we ate breakfast each morning. 

The only low point of the trip came the first night.  In a rush to get there, we skipped eating dinner, figuring we would have no problem dining late... after all, the Portuguese generally seem to start dinner around 9pm, and this IS the most Portuguese of villages.  Wrong-o.  Sure, the people might eat late, but the restaurants didn't serve past 9.  We had to stuff our bellies with fruit and cold savory pastries.  So... let that be a lesson to those looking to come here on the late side! 

Saturday was a lovely day.  We hiked to the castle at the top of the village, enjoyed a long leisurely lunch, took a late afternoon hike along an old roman road, and then had a delicious dinner at Granitos & Petiscos.  After dinner we made our way to a very cute little tavern/cafe that we noticed earlier had a local craft beer, as well as live music.  The owners were young, hip organic farmers & horse trainers that were clearly trying to do good new things in a sleepy part of the country.  At some point in talking to them Jyl offered me up as a sacrificial member of the live music duo.  And so it happened that I spent 3 hours entertaining Spanish tourists playing good old music with a Scotsman who was rocking the dobro and a Portuguese guitar player with a big smile while drinking great wine and barely noticing the crowd.  It was without a doubt one of the better moments of my time in Portugal, and in travelling in general.  What a great way to cap our last excursion!

View from one side of Casa Pires Mateus

Up to the castle

Relaxing in the castle... it was really hot!

I could've been stationed in this castle.  A lovely view. 

Wasted.  (just kidding... it's non-alcoholic).

Inside the church.

Walking the roman road

Monsanto from below

Note the house built around the huge boulder

View from Petiscos & Granitos

Monsanto skyline at dusk

Moon rises over Monsanto = magical

Tour de Portugal Norte; Part 3: Braga, Viana de Castelo, and Points Inbetween

With the sand quickly slipping through the glass of our time here as expats in Portugal, we realized that we were due for one last big adventure around the beautiful country to see some of the sights we really have been hoping to at least brush up against before heading back to the US.  During the first week of May we set off on a road trip North to see as much as we could in a few days...

 Our tour of the north concluded with a quick visit to as many interesting towns as we could manage.  We left Peneda-Geres behind and followed the Rio Lima to the coast through what appeared to be lovely towns that would have been worth stopping in... if we didn't finally have a sleeping baby in the car.  Ponte de Barca... Ponte de Lima... lovely, lovely, but baby sleeping trumps. 

We finally stopped in Viana de Castelo on the coast and took the time to walk around and gobble some food.  It was a very pretty town that could have merited more exploration, but Braga called...

Square in Viana de Costelo

Viana de Costelo

...and we're glad it did.  Braga is the 3rd largest city in Portugal... but I never hear anyone talk about it.  I'm not really sure why!   It was a great to walk around, rich with beautiful and old cathedrals (see pics), and an apparent abundance of good food and drink.  It felt like we found a hidden gem, although it's tough to hide a city of 140, 000 people.  We loved our time there, loved our time in the North, and highly recommend that everyone give this area its due. 

This store sold exactly what it said it was called: Art and Mushrooms.  What?

Time for one last Francesinha! 

Tour de Portugal Norte: Part 2: Peneda-Geres National Park

With the sand quickly slipping through the glass of our time here as expats in Portugal, we realized that we were due for one last big adventure around the beautiful country to see some of the sights we really have been hoping to at least brush up against before heading back to the US.  During the first week of May we set off on a road trip North to see as much as we could in a few days...

Our cozy charming stone rental

After stopping in Tomar & driving "the most beautiful road in the world," along the Douro river (see the last post) we made it to the middle of the Peneda-Geres National Park, where we would spend the next 3 days exploring.   We stayed in a beautiful AirBNB rental near Lindoso which had clearly been turned from an old stone home into a luxuriously modern 2 level efficiency.  A short walk down the narrow street gave a nice view of the rolling landscape, and one of the many "espigueiros" that you can find in Northern Portugal (as well as Northwest Spain, where they become Horreos).  When I first saw an espigueiro, I figured it for some sort of household mausoleum, as most are adorned with crosses.  It turns out that they were used to store corn (as in maize) once that crop began to be cultivated in the area.  So... there's your fun fact for the day.  

The espigueiros down the way from our rental

Finn's first hot springs!

More espiqueiros

Our first day we ventured out on a driving tour of the northern part of the park (the Peneda side).  With help from our renter, we made our way to a free public hot springs set right next to the Rio Caldo on the Spanish side of the park (near Lobios).  It was a beautifully warm and sunny day, so a quick wade was all we needed to feel good about the visit, and set us on our way. 

Next, we headed north in search of hiking, meandering past Castro Laboreiro & Lamas do Mouro.  We found some lovely fresh forests and streams to wander through somewhere in there. 

Next up we made our way to Senhora da Peneda.  I'll let the pictures below tell that story.  Nice.

Beautifully set church in Peneda with a large granite face behind and the cascading waterfall.  Nice choice. 

Our next day we made our way through the southern part of the park (the Geres side), dodging big old cows in the road as we went.  We took a hike along an old Roman road starting at Portela do Homem on the border of Spain & Portugal, dodging raindrops on the way out, and enjoying finding the little bits of wildlife along the way the we found when we kept our eyes open.  We finished our tour of the park with another winding ride down to the other town which the park was named for.  See the last picture for what I think is truly the most beautiful road in Portugal. 

Big old cows be all over. 

A "slow worm"

Banana slug!

old roman column of some sort. 

The road from Portola do Homem to Geres = my favorite in all of Portugal.

Tour de Portugal Norte: Part 1: Tomar & the Douro Valley

With the sand quickly slipping through the glass of our time here as expats in Portugal, we realized that we were due for one last big adventure around the beautiful country to see some of the sights we really have been hoping to at least brush up against before heading back to the US.  During the first week of May we set off on a road trip North to see as much as we could in a few days. 

Our first stop was the Convento de Cristo, only a couple of hours north in the city of Tomar.  As has been our experience, in a lot of historical Portuguese buildings, it was beautiful, intricate, and worth a look.  Afterward, we headed further north to Peso da Regua, a little city along the Douro river, and the gateway to the "most beautiful road in the world." I would agree that the N-222 which runs 27 km East from Regua, is a darn good sight, and worth a trip if you can manage it... but it's hard to live up to a billing like that (although admittedly, we only drove it for the first 18km to Pinhao, when we took a winding journey up to the North, and on to our destination for the next few days: The Peneda-Geres National Park

Our journey up the most beautiful road begins...

The world's smallest barber shop?

Bridges over the Douro in Peso da Regua