Middle-aged flash packers

We checked out of Gerês this morning and drove to Ponte da Lima to do some walking along the river. We did a circular route. We only intended to walk 10 kilometres but it ended up being double that. How do these things happen? Mystifying. Anyway it was a beautiful day although the trail itself…

Something happened to my blog yesterday and it disappeared so here’s a quick recap. Basically the park is meant to be the most protected in Portugal so we were expecting a quiet place with a few hikers, similar to Manteigas. How wrong we were! Absolutely mobbed, mainly by people who aren’t the least bit interested…

This morning I realised that what I thought had been a thoughtful gift of wine and beer in the fridge from the owner of our “apartment “ turned out to be the equivalent of a mini bar. I discovered the chit underneath another piece of paper, detailing the prices of everything in the fridge. Needless…

We left Manteigas on a clear, sunny morning but it didn’t take long for some low cloud to roll in. This wasn’t helpful on the road to Gouveia ( yup, same road we came in on, still as scary as the first time)but we made it ok. It was a dull, cloudy drive but we…

Another lovely day, another hike. This time our walk took us up to the Poca Inferno waterfall then a climb to 1306 meters, over into a plateau full of boulders and alpine flowers and then back down into Manteigas . We only saw two other people walking this route which was approximately 11 kilometres in…

If you like a firm mattress, Hotel Berne is the place for you. I don’t, and I spent the night feeling as though I was sleeping on a door. Not since Cambodia have I slept on such an uncomfortable bed. It took several coffees before I felt ready to attempt our walk of the day…

Today we set off to stay in Manteigas for a couple of nights and do some walking in the Serra da Estrela region. This area was affected by fires last year and as we got closer to the Serra da Estrela, we could see burnt, dead trees studding the landscape as far as the eye…

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…

Lightning does strike twice and the music went on and on ….and on. Each time the band started a new song, I would think this must be the last one, but no, there would be a small break and another cover version of some long forgotten crappy rock anthem would start. When they eventually did…

It’s been a while. Wings have been clipped a bit but that doesn’t mean a mini road trip Is out of the question. So here we are, on a 12 day whistle stop tour of Northern Portugal, beginning in Vila Real, gateway to Parque do Alvo and the Alto do Douro. An easy drive along…