27th Feb ABRANTES – BARRAGEM DE POVOA near NISA

Just a short journey today, we’re going to over night at a barragem; we’re really excited as we’ll be able to wash our clothes (it’s not allowed to put up clothes lines at aires).

As we were driving we saw this large white bird, with black wing tips (a stork) flying above us, it came to rest on a nest on the top of a telegraph pole. Then we noticed all the telegraph poles along the road had nests on top of them, most with two adult birds in.

Sat Nav (bitch) took us through Nisa; she directed us down a street (which looked fine at first) then it became one way, then it became an unpaved street that got narrower and narrower so that in the end we literally couldn’t fit down it; so we had to back all the way back up it (the wrong way). She’s evil, there was no reason at all for her to have chosen that route, it wouldn’t have been any shorter than the proper way; she just wanted to take us off the road for ½ mile only to put us back on the same road ½ mile further on!!!

The drive to the barragem got a bit hairy towards the end when we had to drive across the top of the dam (very narrow with a bend in the middle) but it was worth it; I thought the aire at Boiro was fabulous, this beats it hands down (and it’s free). It’s so pretty here, I think the trees are Mimosa (it’s probably what’s giving me hay fever); we parked under a tree so that the van wouldn’t get too hot.

Barragem de Povoa

There was already a camper van parked; actually it was a horse box which had been customised on the inside, with a lovely French range (wood burning stove), it belonged to an English couple (from Oxford) who fed us with wine and gave us tips on some of the best places to camp. They also told us about (and showed us) processional caterpillars, which apparently are very poisonous (they can cause your throat to swell up) and are therefore to be avoided. They gave us this huge pine cone which we have to heat up, so that it opens; inside are nuts, which you shell, and inside these are pine nuts – it’s obvious where they come from once someone tells you (for goodness sake the clue is in the name).

Our bikes were really filthy so we decided to clean them; we couldn’t believe it Brett’s back wheel is completely buckled (it’s unusable, he needs a new one); we have no idea how it’s happened, we haven’t reversed into anything. Poor old Brett is really upset (understandably) and me (trying to help) saying “don’t worry we’ll just have to buy you a new one” didn’t go down well – as Brett says we haven’t learnt how to ask for a back wheel for a bike especially one suitable for disc brakes! (and more to the point we haven’t yet seen a bike shop).

Tuesday 28^th Feb: Still at Barragem de Povoe

We’ve decided to stay here another night. Just look at the view from our bedroom window at 7.30 this morning.

Today we did our ‘housework’; we hand washed our clothes and swept and dusted the van. Then we had a leisurely walk and came across this ‘shanty’ town. It was weird, a huge area (at least an acre) all sectioned off with bits of tarpaulin used as fences and roofs, many of these sections had caravans in them. But it was really quiet, as if there was no one there. It was in the grounds of this huge old mansion that was falling into disrepair; however all the plants in the garden had been pruned and tied back, all very strange. Brett thinks perhaps it’s accommodation for migrant workers, when they come to harvest the grapes or olives.

Across the road from our van is a field with cattle; we first noticed them as one of them is wearing a bell – I love that sound; I’m going to have cow bells on my goats. They are all bullocks and the older ones have horns and it suddenly occurred to me that when we came through Nisa yesterday we saw a bullring. How horrible, I thought (hoped) bull fighting had been made illegal; maybe they just tie hankies to their horns and the matadors have to collect them? Look at them they’re beautiful why would anyone want to torture them? Maybe I’m wrong, perhaps they are beef steers?

This is a really quiet area, but a couple of hundred yards up the road is this shack with music playing (day & night) which is a small bar; we went and had a beer this afternoon, €1.40 for 2 beers!

At dusk we walked down to the water to see a very strange sight; these fish were popping their heads out of the water (about 3” – 4” up in the air) and then swimming for a couple of yards before going back under the water. What was that all about?

Tomorrow we’re going to try to find a campsite near Fundao (there are no aires around there), so that we will be in the right area for our 10.00 a.m. appointment to view houses on Thursday. Hopefully we’ll be able to get on the internet.

26th Feb FATIMA – ABRANTES

Yippee, we’ve cracked it!!!! We just break the journey down and give her bite size bits to deal with; today we travelled with NO U-TURNS and no mistakes, even though our first choice of route had to be aborted due to a road race.

I’ve had a bit of an off day today; I felt a bit homesick but I think (hope) it’s all down to the fact I’ve got hay fever (I don’t normally suffer from hay fever) but my eyes are itchy, I’m sneezing, my nose is runny and I’m feeling generally ‘crap’. Talking of home we found a Lidls today which was practically identical to our one in Pontardawe; unfortunately they didn’t sell ‘proper’ teabags and we’re running out (we're making one bag last for two cups!).

We’re nearly in the area where we want to start looking at houses; we’ve emailed a couple of agents and we’ve got appointments for Thursday and Friday ................. how exciting is that? And we haven’t even been in touch with the agent for the 27 acre farm yet.

We’re in an aire next to a river beach; we’re parked next door to the beach cafe AND THEY HAVE INTERNET!!! So I’m busily updating my blog, and I’ve just had a long a long chat with Will & Gill and Stephanie on Skype, which was lovely and just what I needed (as well as Lidls!).

One of the problems with my blog is that I have to go through the Portuguese blogspot site – which means it’s all written in Portuguese! So I can do the obvious stuff like new post but I haven’t worked out how to edit a post; I have some photos from SAO PADRO DO SUL which I want to include in my blog, so I’m putting them here!!

Sau Pedro do Sul

I love this photo, the reflections are perfect and it looks like the walkway is high in the air - it's actually river height

Update on SAO PADRO DO SUL: Sao Pedro do Sul is a spa town, with thermal springs that reach a temperature of 70°C (that’s too hot to put your hand in).

Thermal Spring

Most of the shops weren’t open (as it caters for the tourists) but there was one shop that was selling really nice patchwork quilts (double) for 45€ (they would have cost £100 - £200 in Britain).

25th Feb LORVAO – FATIMA

The countryside is much flatter here, with lots of little plots being cultivated by hand. There’s a few sheep kept too – they tend to tether them (like goats); Brett wants to know if they have ear tags but it’s difficult to see as we’re driving. Still lots of cabbages on stalks being grown plus oranges, lemons, olives and grapes.

The dogs are allowed to run loose around Portugal and Spain; you see them all over the place, even on the motorways - mainly dead, in fact there are quite a few dead animals along the roadside (dogs, cats, foxes). And there’s lots of dog poo around the villages!

FATIMA is a holy town, like Lourdes (France); pilgrims flock here to be cured of illness. Lots of tacky tourist shops (great if you want to buy religious iconography), but no supermarkets; so decided to eat out – I had cuttle fish with potatoes; cuttle fish looks and tastes like squid; it was served with two mounds of, well I don’t know what it’s called it was bread with beans and cabbage ( a winter version of gazpacho?) it was ok....... Brett had pizza.

We’ve been trying to learn Portuguese; we bought a couple of CDs (to help with pronunciation) and some books. In the evenings we’ve been dutifully repeating the phrases (first couple of chapters) so we have ‘mastered’ greetings, ordering and asking directions. Some words in Portuguese are very similar to Spanish but the Portuguese are more nasal and they tend to pronounce ‘s’ as ‘sh’ (sounding almost like you’re drunk). Tonight we tried out our Portuguese, in the restaurant, unfortunately our waiter replied in English! Anyway at the end of the meal we paid our bill, got up to walk out and in unison said “adios” both of us emphasising the ‘sh’ at the end of the word (smugly) – the replied “adios” had no hint of a “sh”?? Now we are perplexed, who’s right our CD’s or native Portuguese?

24th Feb SAO PEDRO DO SUL – LORVAO

We started the day well when we went off in the opposite direction to the way we needed to go (we were ignoring Sat Nav’s weird and wonderful route); so an hour later having turned around three times we were back where we started! Believe it or not we are learning how to use the Sat Nav effectively – we’ll have cracked it soon.

Barragem

We had lunch parked at a service station just off a motorway, next to a Barragem (reservoir); apparently in Portugal you are allowed to camp over night at Barragems. But we were going to an aire in a little village up in the Mountains, LORVAO. There’s a very impressive monastery here; the aire is in the car park in the centre of the village. It’s not a big village; a few shops, bars and houses with mountains as a backdrop – very striking.  

We went for a short walk around the village; a very short walk – we were glared at as if we had signs above our heads “STRANGERS!!” it was very disconcerting, we tried saying “Ola” but nobody replied, they just kept staring – so we scuttled back to the van!

The sim card that we bought especially for using in Europe (Story Telecom) isn’t working properly, Lots of the texts I’ve been sending haven’t been received (or I’ve got very rude friends and family) and it won’t let us make calls (which was the main reason we bought it) and of course we can’t sort it out as there’s no internet access (and we can’t make calls!!!). Fortunately we can receive calls and texts (I think we’re getting all the ones that are being sent).

In Portugal most of the houses in the countryside have vegetable plots, all that they seem to have growing in them is cabbages on very long stems (sometimes over 6 foot long), I think it’s called walking stick cabbage (I’ve seen it in seed catalogues).

23rd Feb LORDELO – SAO PEDRO DO SUL (90 miles)

WE SACKED THE SAT NAV; after yesterdays unpaved roads episode and decided to navigate our route for ourselves; this was fine on paper, we knew exactly where we wanted to go, but for some reason the Portuguese don’t mark their junctions with road numbers, just local (small) place names that aren’t even mentioned on the map – so we had to reinstate her (but I did turn off her voice!). We chose a road that was marked with a green line to one side (this indicates a picturesque route) of course Mrs Sat Nav chose a different route, but we ignored her.  Well it was certainly picturesque and very,  very scary.

I thought the journey we took on the 18^th (Cangas de Onis – A Portenova) was bad but the roads in Spain are fabulous compared to Portuguese roads. In Spain all roads are clearly marked and junctions are logical, mountain roads have steel barriers all along the edges and are well kept. In comparison Portuguese roads are full of potholes (even quite main roads), the sides of the roads are crumbling away, road signage is dreadful and on top of this the Portuguese drive like maniacs – they just pull out in front of you regardless of whose right of way it is, stop any where – even parking on roundabouts and don’t get me started on their road positioning!!

Anyway to get back to our picturesque journey; it was up and over several mountains and the roads were VERY windy and most of the time we were on the outside edge (with no barrier),  our average speed was 22mph. We both agreed we did not want to live in Northern Portugal – but it was absolutely beautiful; terraces of olives and grapevines, and eucalyptus forests and deep,  deep gorges with rivers at the bottom. It’s getting warmer and warmer the further we drive south, today we saw lots of butterflies, a heron, a goose and a duck (these were all flying close to the van, not at the same time).

Our shower is a bit of a pain, the drain is towards the back and unless the van is level or sloping backwards water doesn’t drain away (and you can’t drive with a shower tray full of water), so Brett (he had the last shower) is on his hands and knees scooping the water out with a mug; apart from that it’s quite impressive, it gets very warm, the power isn’t too bad and there’s plenty of water to wash and rinse hair and bathe.

We’re eating well (in case you’re worried!) tonight we have ½ kilo of fresh Camarao (king prawns) cooked in garlic butter with pao de centeio longo (bread) and this came to a grand total of €4.74 (£3.95 real money).

22nd Feb TUI – LORDELO

A couple of miles out of Tui and we were in PORTUGAL. What a journey!!! Mrs Sat Nav takes us some very strange routes and today was the worst so far – she decided to take us via, as she put it, ‘unpaved roads’. These were single lanes of cobbled stones with very sharp bends and one way streets (which she took us the wrong way down!) weaving between the houses leading down into Lordelo and of course once we started we had to continue as there was no way we could turn around.  And when we came out of this maze we were back on the road she’d directed us off of so it could have all been avoided!!!

The aire was in a huge well lit car park overlooking the river; across the road was a pretty little church with a clock (AND BELL); The bell rand every ¼ hour, plus 5 minutes to the hour and 3 minutes past the hour and this continued ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!! And then we were woken up at 8.15 a.m. by an air raid siren! (it really was an air raid siren) this continued wailing for ¼ of an hour – we think it was the ‘school bell’.

21st Feb BOIRO – TUI

We're now in Tui; the people here are still dressing up; this time lots of adults if fact whole families. The aire was crowded with parked cars and people walking into town. There were carnival floats (somehow we managed to miss the parade) and again gangs of boys throwing flour and eggs. The odd thing was this was all happening on a Tuesday afternoon, not a weekend; I must find out what it’s all about but internet is very sparse.

Tui is a pretty town built on a hill, houses made from large chunks of granite stone; narrow alleyways with decaying houses with fabulous ironwork and flaking paint.