Sãozinha invited us to the Japanese AYA restaurant led exclusively by Brazilians
The sushis were awesome!
A perfect parking and overnight space for visiting Almada and Lisbon, with the ferry down the hill
Having a glass of wine and tapas at the Wine Cellar in Lisbon in Lisbon on Rua do Norte 85.
Elevador panorâmico
Rua Cândido dos Reis with a great atmosphere and many restaurants
Do they deliver delicious cats and dogs for gourmets?
All the interest points are well marked
Down along the river at Olho de Boi
Restaurante Ponto Final
In the evening we enjoyed a fantastic concert with Simone and Ivan Lins at the Campo Pequeno in Lisbon
Medieval Museum. At this site were found 26 silos dating back to the Muslim era, housing structures from the 15th Century and various 12th and 19th Century artefacts
At the Praia Fluvial
This looked from further away like a bunker hole, but
Caos de Bolas (ball chaos)
Crossing to Spain on the former contraband paths.
A bbq grill near the Côa spring
The Côa River spring
Rock cubes formation near the Côa River spring
Overnight at the Praia Fluvial de Fóios
The dirt road had many iced water holes
Crossing the river at the Moinho do Rato, a ruin of a former water mill
Our overnight stay near the Freguesia de Sabugal and the "BTT Centre"
Restaurante Robalo specialized in cabrito à brasa (charcoal roasted kid/young goat)
Sabugal Fort
Entrance tower with clock
Overnight at the Barragem de Sabugal
Nice quiet place to stay overnight
Beach at Rapoula do Côa - the nicest one so far
"Zócalo of Rapoula da Côa
Crossing the old bridge to Porto de Ovelha
Café-Restaurant Martins
Finally a real restaurant/café in Badamalos
Ponte de Sequeiros. A former border between the Kingdoms of Portugal and León
We found a wonderful pick-nick place between Valongo and Badamalos
The typical landscape on the first part of our walk
A real river crossing this time!
An impressive bridge construction at a water mill. We had several of these on the our way
This is the valley under the Ponte de Sequeiros
Here again an old water mill
BBQ at the Praia Fluvial in Rapoula de Côa and overnight
The new building with the therms and the hotel
A tap with sulphur water coming out. The ruins of the therm and the guest house across the old stone pillar bridge
A anthropomorphic grave is the feature for me
of this fortified village
The modern laundry still in use!
Igreja São Vicente
Very elaborated stone stairs in the Nossa Senhora do Castelo church
This is a "tronco" that we already saw in Castelo Bom and didn't know what it was for. A lady living in Jardo explained that this was a device to put horseshoes to animals, also cows because the paths were stoney
Pick-nick on the edge of the railway station "Castelo Mendo". One train passed after we had finished. No trains stops here anymore
Overnight at the nice aire in Benquerença
A hidden passage in/out of Castelo Mendo
My Schatzi
Regional meal at the "Taberna do Ferrador" in Pedrógão Grande: bucho recheado
Relaxing and overnight above the Praia Fluvial at the Barragem de Cabril
An old bread oven next to a house ruin
Crossing the river over the old bridge
Old town
Upon the castle
Bar da Carvalha were we had a very good lunch
At the tiny Geodesy Museum
Vila de Rei
Geodesy is the discipline that deals with the measurement and representation of the earth, including its gravity field, in a three-dimensional time varying space
Wonderful views all around the landscape from this viewpoint
Friday 8 February 2019: Loulé - Almada: 285 km - cold and windy 14ºC
Drive from Loulé to Almada. Parking in Cacilhas at Parque do Morro de Cacilhas on the hill above the Largo Cacilhas and the harbour where the ferry leaves to Cais do Sodré in Lisbon. Uber to Sãozinha (6€). We had an aperitif at her place and then walked to a Japanese Sushi restaurant Aya (very basic but superb food 58€). Before going home we walked the Rua Cândido Reis down to the harbour where the ferry crosses the river to Lisbon. N38º41'8" W9º8'51"
Saturday 9 February 2019: Almada - cold 18ºC partly sunny
After a good night's sleep we walked to the historic part of Almada and down to Olho de Bói. We visited the very interesting archaelogic medieval Museum with excavations that were done at the Rua da Judiaria (0,62 €/pax! and a very friendly lady at the reception who explains everything, and a leaflet in Englisch!). Meeting with Sãozinha at the LeBistro Café, Rua dos Espatários, and lunch next door at the Pérola do Cristo Rei. At 19:00 ferry to Lisbon (3,70€ with 0,50€ for each rechargeable card)f to see the concert "Simone encontra Ivan Lins" (80€/pax) -wonderful and poignant for Julia. End of the show was 23:45 and we took a MyTaxi back to our camper (21,35€ with peage).
Sunday 10 February 2019: Almada - Benquerença (alt 454 m): 314 km - rainy and cold 17ºC
Drive to Castelo Branco where we did a good grocery shopping at the nice Jumbo, then drive to Benquerença where we settled at the Praia Fluvial; there is even a service station for campers here (free of charge). We crossed the river and asked at the bar on the other side if they served food, but there were only hunters and it was very loud. So we had spaghetti bolognese at home. After this, a walk into the town of Benquerença (3,5 km). N40º13'45" W7º13'14"
Monday 11 February 2019: Benquerença - Fóios (alt 930 m): 44 km - sunny, warm in the sun, icy wind
Drive to Fóios where we parked along the main road. Hike up to the Côa spring and back into the village doing a loop of 16 km (4,5 hours, 470 m ascent, GRVC). Julia took a slightly shorter way (much nicer along old paths) and 30 minutes talk with 2 ladies who worked at the contraband in the 1960's. They told me lots of interesting stories. Overnight at the Praia Fluvial down the river N40º17'10" W6º53'25".
Tuesday 12 February 2019: Fóios - Sabugal (alt 750 m): 23 km, warm in the sun 14ºC
Hike from Fóios to Quadrazais (22,2 km - 5 hours, 450 m ascent). Refreshment at the Café Central Cervejaria and buyed dried figs at the mini-mercado next door. Picknick at the Praia Fluvial of Quadrazais. Back to Fóios with Sr. Paulo (15 €) very nice and efficient, tlm 932 173 102, 964 407 837). Parked near the Freguesia de Sabugal N40º20'54" W7º5'13".
Wednesday 13 February 2019: Sabugal - Barragem do Sabugal (660 m): 6 km, 16ºC warm in the sun
We called Paulo who picked up Volker and drove him to the starting point of the next step (10 €): from Quadrazais to Sabugal. Julia stayed home today and visited the castle -when she noticed that we had already been here before! At 14:20 joined Julia in front of the Restaurant Robalo where we had a delicious cabrito lunch (45€). Volker walked 23,6 km in 5:30 hours with a total accumulated ascent of 518 m from Quadrazais to Sabugal. After a small grocery shopping at the local Pão de Açúcar (belongs to Jumbo, but it was not very nice) we drove to the Barragem do Sabugal. N40º19'51" W7º5'43"
Thursday 14 February 2019: Barragem do Sabugal - Termas do Cró - (Guarda wegen Gas) - Rapoula do Côa (alt 690 m): 105 km, sunny 19ºC
After a very windy night at the reservoir of Sabugal we drove to Sabugal centre and parked at a square at the Avenida dos Bombeiros Voluntários. Walk from there to Rapoula do Côa (15 km, 280 m ascent, 4 hours). Taxi back to Sabugal (12 €). Grocery shopping and laundry (yes, these super washing machines outside! 12 €) at the Intermarché in Sabugal. Drive to Termas do Cró where Julia had a good massage with Susana after spending some time in the swimming pool and a Finnish sauna (52€, very nice staff, but equipment not so good). In the meantime Volker tried to get LPG from a petrol station in Cedeira, but they didn't have the new adapter that is required sind September 2018. So he drove all the way to Guarda (15€ for 20 l gas in our gas tank). He picked me up at 18:30 at the therm and we drove back to Rapoula do Côa where we settled down for tonight at the very nice Praia Fluvial N40º25'7" W7º2'44"
Friday 15 February 2019: Rapoula do Côa: 30 meters driving - wonderful weather 20ºC but 0ºC in the morning!
Walk from Rapoula do Côa to Porto da Ovelha (21 km, 5 hours, 409 m ascent). Back to Rapoula do Côa with taxi Vanessa (20 km, 5 hours, m ascent). Back with Taxi Vanessa (20€). We changed the position of our camper on the area of the Praia Fluvial in Rapoula do Côa and had a wonderful BBQ lunch/dinner. We were able to take electricity on site ;). N40º25'7" W7º2'40".
Saturday 16 February 2019: Rapoula do Côa - Castelo Bom - Vilar Formoso (and over to Spain Colonia de la Estación) - Castelo Mendo (alt 620 m): 74 km -
Drive to Castelo Bom where we walked around the historical hill, then to Vilar Formoso that lies on the border to Spain. There we did a good grocery shopping at Carrefour Market! Back to Portugal we had lunch at the Casa Latina (30€, no receipt, food ok). Drive to Castelo Mendo that has a really interesting fortified village. Overnight in front of the entrance. N40º35´40" W6º56ß54"
Sunday 17 February 2019: Castelo Mendo - Benquerença (454 m): 59 km - wonderful warm in the sun 15ºC
Vanessa came to pick us up at 8:30am and bring us to the end of our last section at the Praia Fluvial in Porto de Ovelha (27,50 €). Hike, a little difficult at the beginning walking through grown single tracks along the left river bank (14 km, 4,5 hours, 350 m ascent). Julia took the shorter route to Castelo Mendo, passing through a hidden arch way and stopping at the place where people were having lunch for the Dia da Nossa Senhora do Castelo (?). Drive to the aire of Benquerença where we settled along the river (free of charge). Lunchinner (Almojantar) at home.
Monday 18 February 2019: Benquerença - Pedrógão Grande Praia Fluvial (alt 210 m): 167 km - rain
Drive to Pedrógão Grande where we parked next to the Mercado Municipal. Lunch at the Taberna do Ferrador (35€, very good, we had bucho enchido and lágrimas de porco preto). Drive to the Barragem do Cabril where we settled at the parking up the Praia Fluvial. N3955'18" W8º7'59"
Tuesday 19 February 2019: Pedrógão Grande - Sertã - Vila de Rei Geodesy Museum - Loulé : 444 km - first misty, then sunny warm 19ºC
Drive to Sertã where we first had a good coffee with a pastel de tantúgal at Bar A Carvalha (3,40€) before taking a walk around the nice town. Lunch at the Bar A Carvalha (very good soup and prato do dia, 17,85€). Drive further the N2 and then back home.
Total 1744 km