Middle-aged flash packers

Fate was kind to us and we slept like babies, not a sound from the biker rally. That’s what double glazing and fierce air conditioning do for you. Sadly, authentic, 300 year old buildings, beautiful though they are, just don’t cut it when it comes to noise.

Today we headed off to Parque Natural do Alvao. We found a circular walk based around a waterfall called the Figas De Ermelo.

Starting from the village of Ermelo, close to the church, the walk is around 12.5 kilometres. The path is very well marked with red and yellow blazes at regular intervals. If you go, take lots of water as there isn’t much shade, and plenty of food as there is nowhere to purchase any. It took us about 4.5 hours to complete it.

Goats are popular round here and almost straight away we bumped into a goat herder and his goats.

It wasn’t long before we could see the waterfall to our left and we ate our picnic with a stunning view of it and also the mountains that surround it.

As we walked through the pine trees at the top of the mountain, I noticed yellow bags attached to many of the trees. Someone was collecting resin and I believe it’s used to make turpentine. Seems strange in this day and age when everything is produced on a huge scale. Also would you be permitted to do that in a national park – a mystery.

Many people were taking advantage of the river pools and were swimming and having picnics. As it was a Sunday, I imagine these were locals having a family day out. What a great way to spend a Sunday.

We walked through a very old village called Varzigueto where we met a gentleman with a wheelbarrow preparing to rake up the hay in his field. It looked as though he had already hand cut it with a scythe. His way of life will probably be completely gone within the next ten years, replicated only in folk museums as a tourist attraction. It’s a strange mix of feelings for me: sadness that we are all moving on so quickly that within my own lifetime centuries old customs and villages will die out, yet acceptance that these old ways were hard and who wants to live that way now? But are we really replacing them with something better?

Enough philosophising. The rest of the walk took us on an undulating path along the river then rising above it, with a knee wobbling, vertiginous view into a gorge. A woodland trail led us back into the village.

A beautiful walk with lots to see. I recommend it if you’re in the area.

Dinner was in the hotel. Many restaurants are closed on a Sunday evening so rather than hunt for one in the town we decided to eat very locally. Usually I avoid hotel restaurants because they are expensive and underwhelming but this one is reasonably priced and surprisingly nice.

As a nod to the 70’s and Vila Real, we decided to have a bottle of Mateus rose with our meal. Sweet and sparkly, what’s not to like? And no, I won’t be making a lamp out of the bottle