Woke to snow on the mountain tops this morning and freezing cold which soon progressed to steady rain. So we made the executive decision to have a lie in, a late breakfast and to head straight to Pinhao rather than explore side towns in the rain. Good decision!

It was a bit of a long road to Pinhao but divided roads the whole way. Because we are using the toll roads there is very little traffic- but rest assured we will pay the price later, with tolls ranging from 45 cents to 6 Euros!

The trip involved lots of long uphills (up to about 1000 meters elevation) and long steep down hills with lots of signs warning to check brakes, beware of black ice etc. The down hills all had side ramps, no doubt for trucks whose breaks get a bit hot- we were glad that being a Saturday we didn’t find ourselves in front of a truck on a long downhill.

Arrived in Pinhao early afternoon. Pinhao is a small wine making village right on the banks of the Douro River- the main wine growing region in Portugal. Our hotel is set right on the banks of the river- a bit gloomy today but still beautiful.

We had lunch at a local winery, followed by a walk (or should I say waddle)through town. Food , wine and scenery were sensational.

Left Évora just after 9.30 heading for Belmonte (about a 290km drive) but the stopover in Marvao was the absolute highlight today.

Marvao is puportedly Portugal’s most beautiful castle, and it’s certainly the most beautiful site we have visited so far (and we’ve been to a few). It’s high up in the mountains near the border of Spain – legend has it that you can see all of Portugal from the battlements. Being so high it seems to have its own microclimate – we arrived to thick fog and drizzle but once we climbed up the weather gods smiled on us, and although it was windy and cold (6 degrees) the sun emerged .

This is the area where most of the world’s cork is produced- as well as massive cork plantations, streets are lined with cork trees that are harvested. Cork trees take 45 years to generate high quality cork which builds up around the outside of the bark- hence most cork farms are multigenerational with cork farmers planting for their grandchildren

It’s quite a hike to get up to the castle but once you’re there you can walk the entire castle wall – in fact I’m amazed they let people on some areas. The views make it worth the climb. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Had lunch in a very cute cafe, with a caged parrot that offered greetings in every multiple languages and wolf whistled like a tradie from the 80s.

From Marvao we headed to Castello de Vide, supposedly the best preserved Jewish quarter. We were very glad we parked outside the city walls rather than trying to navigate the steep narrow streets.

Arrived at out hotel in Belmonte around 5, having dome the last hour of our drive in pouring rain. We are staying in a converted convent – an absolutely incredible building – warm as toast despite the stonework, largely due to roaring wood heaters in every open space.

had dinner in their restaurant – complete with award winning chef. I snuck in quickly so nobody would notice I had my very elegant hiking boots under my black pants.

Woke to much gloomier weather today- cloudy and light drizzle. We had a tour and wine tasting booked at the Joao Portugal Ramos winery in Esrremoz, about an hour away, so we headed off round 9.30.

Arrived there round 10.45 (it’s never too early for a wine tasting is it?). The winery buildings were absolutely gorgeous- with the ‘old’ building being the original winery and the ‘new’ building ,designed to complement it by the owners son who is an architect, incorporating lots environmental features (eg grass roof terrace & water channels around the barrels) designed to keep the wine cool in the summer.

After our tour we got to taste the wines. David was driving so only tasted the reds, I therefore bore responsibility of tasting them all on behalf of both of us- a tough job but someone’s got to do it! Tasting came with cheeses, pate bread and olive oil, so by the time we left we were fully replete.

Reds were beautiful and on asking if they had suppliers in Oz the answer was yes- Aldi!!

With rain settling in we made only one stop on way back at Vila Vicosa yet another small rural town with a huge medieval castle.

Back at hotel by 3.30, narrowly missing peak hour traffic which is a nightmare on these narrow streets.

Post-dinner we are in our room with the heating cranked up to the max trying to get our washing dry before we leave in the morning.

Had a fabulous day exploring Évora on foot today.  Started at 9am with a walking tour- once again a very knowledgeable guide who had done her masters in history at the Evora University- which must be one of the most beautiful (and oldest) university campuses in the world. 

Evora has an amazing history with multiple civilisations on top of one another and vestiges of each visible today – Romans, Moors (Muslims), Jews, Portuguese. 

Like many Portuguese cities there are Catholic churches, every hundred metres or so. One of the most intriguing is the Chapel of the Bones constructed from over 5000 human skeletons. Built in the 17th century the bones are supposed to encourage reflection on the fragility of life. The inscription reads “We bones are here, for yours we wait” – a bit macabre but we couldn’t resist going in.

The  120 step climb  to the roof of the Evora Cathedral gave us a Birds Eye view of the city. We arrived at the top right on midday so were met by a cacophony of bells. The bells on the cathedral ring twice on the hour (two minutes apart). Legend has it that this is to confuse the devil- arriving at noon therefore meant 24 bells gonging in our ears.

We had lunch at an amazing local restaurant recommended by an American couple we met in Lisbon who seem to be travelling much the same route as us only one day ahead. 

The restaurant (Taberna Tipica Quarta-Feira) has been run by the same family for 27 years. They don’t have a menu, they simply sit you down and bring you numerous small dishes until you can eat no more. Very traditional dishes- for some they told us what we were eating in advance, for others we had to guess what we had eaten after.  David focused on the vegetarian dishes and I focused on the meat dishes so between us we managed to polish it all off. Some (that I can remember) were: a melon muse bouche (or Portuguese equivalent), the mandatory olive/bread starter, sautéed mushrooms, dates wrapped in bacon, a gorgeous raw vegetable salad, sweet breads/gizzards  (eaten by me largely to be polite but actually quite tasty), codfish, beef tongue sliders (described retrospectively), pumpkin terrine, potato fries, ricotta tart and apple crumble. Needless to say we returned to our hotel in a food and wine coma for a late afternoon nap.

Early evening walk to finish our day.

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Leisurely breakfast in the sunshine on the patio this morning- accompanied by the hotel cat meowing loudly- obviously they are used to tourists slipping them rashers of bacon.  Little did they know that hard as nails Hax was impenetrable. 

Set off towards Evora round 10 with a 350km drive ahead of us. First was back tracking to Lagos through the endless parade of roundabouts- after that it was divided highway pretty much the whole way- uninteresting but fast. Countryside mostly farmland- olive groves and some sort of fruit orchards which were in full pink blossom. There were vast green paddocks but no animals in sight so not sure what was being farmed.

Reached the outskirts of Evora round 1pm marvelling at what an easy drive it had been – then we arrived at the city gates…….

Evora is a UNESCO world heritage city in west Portugal not too far from the Spanish border.  It is considered the most in tact UNESCO site in the world. The city remains surrounded by the high city wall inside of which is a labyrinth of extremely narrow cobblestone streets,- and therein laid the rub! Our GPS sent us on a circuitous route (we later concluded this was probably due to poor signal between the stone buildings).  The narrow streets put David’s spatial skills to the absolute test. We literally crawled along holding our breath hoping it would make the car thinner. In a couple of streets if we’d stopped we wouldn’t have been able to open outlet doors. None the less we arrived at the hotel unscathed and very glad to park the car knowing we’d be on foot the next couple of days.

some snippets from our first walk…..

Our hotel, Albergaria do Calvara is just beautiful, built inside a 16th century olive oil mill.  It only has 20 rooms and lots of beautiful shared spaces. It’s the perfect  place to relax and slow down  our pace for a couple of days. 

We have a walking tour tomorrow and can’t wait to learn more about the history. 

Late night addendum: just got back from dinner followed by an evening walk. Streets surprisingly quiet but even more ambiance in the night lights.

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Slept like logs last night – nothing like the sea air- woke to gorgeous blue skies (not sure what time the sun cames up but it’s beaten us out of bed every day so far).

We were in the car by about 9.30 as soon as we’d had breakfast and done our washing.  After sending a very small bag of clothes (6 items) to hotel laundry and getting it back with a $95AUD bill- we are now strictly on hand washing – jeans will need to be worn until they stand up and walk to the laundry themselves!

Destination was a day trip to Lagos. About 30kn south east of Sagres, Lagos is a large seaside town, right on the southern coast of Portugal. Historically it’s a fishing town but now it’s also the summer holiday destination for the rich and trendy. It sports a huge marina with enormous yachts of every kind ,  but still has the charm of traditional buildings and cobbled streets.  A key attraction of this coast are the large cliff faces, caves and beaches (a bit reminiscent of the great ocean road).

We spent a little time in town but focused on exploring the cliffs. We started with a 1.5 hour boat tour which went right along the bottom of the cliffs – swells were high so they couldn’t go as close as usual, but it was magnificent none the less- and so nice to be out in the boat with wind and spray.

We arrived back in time for a late lunch- we picked a small traditional looking restaurant down by the water- I had my first paella for the trip- absolutely loaded with seafood, and David had grilled tuna (yes Portugal is slowly turning him into a fish eater!) and vegetables. Still feeling full at 7pm!

After lunch we walked a few km along the cliffs that we’d sailed around.

Back to our hotel in time for the sunset. Last night here and heading to Evora tomorrow, approximately 350km drive north east of here.

Driving update: David is now a true pro.  He stayed on the right side of the road all day with no reminders, and after going through 50 roundabouts (I kid you not) between Sagres and Lagos he is officially the roundabout king!

Picked up our rental car in Lisbon central at 9am with much trepidation. Our driver from yesterday had advised us to expect half an hour of terror (driving in the city) then smooth sailing as we hit the quieter streets.  David took to right hand driving like a duck to water- I had dejavu to the days of being a passenger when the kids were learning to drive- desperately trying not to make audible intakes of breath. 

Actually getting out of Lisbon was a snap- people must have been having a Sunday morning sleep in. It was once we hit the coast road things became trickier- being fabulous weather every man, dog, child were out. It was a bit like Mornington Penninsula mid-summer only on narrow, winding cobblestones with us going at 20kph and everyone else going at 120k.

After much glute clenching we succumbed to googles insistent requests that we turn around Return to the fastest route (the highway).  We will leave the road less travelled until tomorrow when we feel a bit braver.

Arrived in Sagres late afternoon just  a tad relieved to have made it.

Sagres is a small fishing village on the south west coast of Portugal.  The fishing dock  is sheltered by a breakwater. Today the waters were quite tranquil but I imagine it has a big job to do once the tide turns.

We are staying at an old classically Portuguese hotel, a bit more fancy than we are used to (I might need to take my hiking boots off for dinner) but absolutely beautiful. Set on the cliff tops it is now in a national park so immune to further development around it.  Managed an evening cliff too walk- spectacular.

Have two nights here so will have time to explore neighbouring villages tomorrow

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Our lovely driver Andre picked us up at 8.45 for our day trip to Sintra. Sintra is a UNESCO world heritage site in the mountains  above Lisbon. Because of its cool rainforest climate is was historically a summer retreat for the royals, but now hosts the rich and famous – Portuguese football players (close to gods here), politicians and now Madonna and family.

Apparently paganism is live and well in Sintra – complete with full moon rituals. I’ll spare you the details but let’s just say the description left us wide eyed and determined not to be out in the woods at night.

First stop was  the Palácio Nacional da Pena (Pena Palace), originally a monastery and then transformed into a palace – there’s a whole King/Queen love story behind it, which explains the colourful exterior.  It’s been meticulously preserved, and as impressive as the castle is, it was the gardens that made it for us- acres of lush forest with cobbled patch’s and carefully constructed nooks, all on the (very steep) side of the mountain.  And. we were worried we might lose our fitness while we’re not riding!

After 3 hours scrambling up and down turrets I now have the perfect (although inelegant) technique for descending narrow spiral staircases without breaking my neck – back to wall, hold the centre column, rotate your way down and hope like heck nobody is coming the other way – quite a visual, I know!

We lunched in a small family owned local restaurant – Portuguese steak for me and vegetable cannoli for David (both enormous), great atmosphere and being a Saturday, packed.

Next stop was Quinta da Regaleira – a small (non-royal) gothic castle, again with the most beautiful landscaped gardens. Its biggest claim to fame is the Knights of the Templar-esque initiation well.  Highly symbolic as you descend the spiral stair case down into the well you’re meant to reflect on all your regrets, and then emerge through the cave (toward light) with the new resolution of who you want to be. David is now ‘fully enlightened’ – but clearly they didn’t have the enlightenment of claustrophobes in mind when they designed it, so I am not.

Returned to Lisbon via the coastal road. Massive waves rolling in. Gave us a taste of what it might be like riding north.

ay 2: Lisbon

Up round 6.30 having slept a full 12 hours and down at breaky within the hour.  Standard (yum) European breakfast – boiled egg, deli meats tomato & fruit for me and cereal/fruit for David. And of course pastries…… 

Started the day with  a 3 hour guided walking tour of the historical quarters of Lisbon. Our guide Maggie was incredibly knowledgeable  and mapped out an interesting and diverse route starting at the Fort of Lisbon and weaving our way through the winding, narrow medieval cobblestone streets of Alfama. – the oldest and arguably the most picturesque part of Lisbon.  The multi-story terracotta roofed building layer upon each other down the slopes creating a labyrinth of small streets, with loads of dead ends. Many elderly owners live in the homes they were born in and their connection with each other was evident from the lively banter. Sadly the AirBnb boom means that the area is going through rapid gentrification – so we feel lucky to have seen it  while it still has the buzz of a vibrant, traditional community.

We continued our walk through central Lisbon – called the ‘New’ area – having been fully rebuilt after the 1755 earthquake- featuring beautiful tiled buildings and broad ornately cobbled avenues. Ended our walk  in the chic Chardo neighbourhood- home to the oldest bookshop in the world, numerous cafes and stylish people of all ages. Break neck heels were standard wear in Chardo – goodness knows how many ankles get broken on the cobblestones. 

Finished our day in Belem , launching point of early Portuguese maritime explorers and home to the famous Pasteis de Belum- the 19th century bakery responsible for the invention of – you guessed it- the Portuguese tart.  Apparently tarts are so yellow as they only use egg yolks- back in the day, the nuns used to use the egg whites to starch their whimples- and the tarts were invented as a way of using up the egg yolks.

‘arrived back at our hotel 16,000 steps plu under our belts and exhausted. Dinner at a tiny cafe round the corner ‘Embers’ which the lovely young man told us he and his wife opened one month ago. Tasty simple fare – just what we needed.