26th May CASTELO BRANCO

We have had a lovely day today; this morning we went to Penamacor, which will be our nearest small town. The town is built on a hill, the old part has medieval houses, narrow cobbled streets and lanes with a castle (well the tower) at the very top; and absolutely fabulous views across the valley to Spain. We had lunch in a little cafe, watching the world go by, it was all very relaxing – we could get used to the ‘cafe culture’ lifestyle.

After lunch we drove halfway along the track to Donkey Quinta and snook into the farm, we had about two hours there before Mr Luis and his daughter appeared! Mr Luis has taken his chickens, pigeons and donkey away and most of the sheds are cleared out; he didn’t actually give us the keys, but he showed us where he hid them!! He gave us some more lettuce, and told Brett that we could have some his potatoes when they were ready – he also has beans, onions, courgettes, tomatoes, cabbages growing; so I think we’ll be ok for vegetables through the summer. We’re meeting him back there on Monday – I think that’s for the handover, but of course he will be back daily to tend his vegetables!

The 'plunge pool' and path to top vegetable garden