There were no mad roads today, just normal twisty roads with a white line down the middle for most of it. After the last few weeks it felt very civilised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The area has now opened up into more farmland. Mike noticed a lot of high wire fences topped with barbed wire. When I googled it, it was apparently to keep wild boar out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The other thing I\u2019ve noticed a lot in Portugal is houses covered in porcelain tiles. They look really decorative, and when I googled it, apparently the shiny surface helps reflect the heat and also helps insulate the houses. And they look pretty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m getting sick of the frikking heat though. 38 degrees again today. And it feels really oppressive even when it\u2019s only 33 degrees for some reason. Usually 33 is a tolerable temperature, so I googled that too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Apparently this heat wave is caused by an African heat dome. And the fact that there isn\u2019t even the slightest breeze makes it feel suffocating. That and all that Sahara dust, I guess. Thanks Africa!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we drove for most of the day in the heat. We did stop at a town which looked neat, up in the hills. There were 450-million-year-old fossils embedded in the rocks. So we took a walk to see if we could find them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But of course it was the heat of the day. We trudged through the narrow cobblestoned streets, all uphill of course. I can see why all the buildings are made of stones here, as we\u2019ve been driving through fields of rocks for weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the top, it was then a steep downhill walk to a swimming hole in the rocks and to view the fossils. But we didn\u2019t bring water with us. What were we thinking? So with no water and the heat, we decided we weren\u2019t that keen. Maybe we\u2019ll look at a photo of it instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We were ready for lunch, but with Bertie sitting in full sun, we moved on to find a better spot. We re-fuelled the van (expensive in Portugal) and continued on our way with the A\/C blasting on full.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I took a little detour down to a river spot, hoping to find some shade so we could eat our lunch. It\u2019s a river that separates Spain and Portugal. Apparently you can sleep on the Spain side, but not the Portugal side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We found a little spot in the shade to stop and eat overlooking the river. There was a little beach on the river and I found it odd that at 1pm on a Saturday it wasn\u2019t heaving with kids. In NZ it definitely would have been. Maybe they are all chilling out inside in their air conditioning, which is probably the sensible thing to do. Apparently that\u2019s the Portuguese way. Hibernate between 11am and 5pm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After lunch, we decided to drive to Spain. It was just across a little ford-type bridge, with no sides. But there was no shade in Spain, so we left. A couple of people were there by then, having a swim, and that made it seem more normal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We drove for the rest of the day, enjoying the cool of Berties A\/C. At one point we got onto a narrow road and the police passed us. Then shortly after, Mike noticed them tailgating us. Uh-oh. So when we got to the main road, Mike pulled off to let them past. Thankfully they did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was navigating to a town called Marv\u00e3o. That lady we met from the Lakes District a week back recommended it. I just hoped that it might have cooled down by the time we arrived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was 6.30pm by the time I saw it: a village and castle perched on top of the hill. \u201cThat\u2019s where we\u2019re going!\u201d I said to Mike. I just hoped there would be space left at the camping car place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When we arrived I was ridiculously pleased. Not only was there space, there was shade. I could have jumped out and hugged the trees, but the giant ants around here are terrifying. It was still 33 degrees, but manageable out of the sun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We had dinner. Mike had wraps and I had hummus and crackers and a salad. I can\u2019t remember the last time we cooked! Or ate meat!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then we waited until 8pm to take a walk up to the castle. It was still 32 degrees at 8pm, and the steep climb up to the town was brutal. But by the time we reached the castle the sky had turned bright orange. It looked like we were in for another beautiful sunset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And even better, the castle was still open to look around. It\u2019s just ruins, but it was still pretty cool, and an amazing spot to watch the sunset. Unlike the other night when we were all alone, there were a handful of people there to enjoy it with us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think I might start a series called Castles at Sunset! We didn\u2019t get back to our van until about 10pm, and it was now cool enough to go inside and have a game of Monopoly Deal before bed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There were no mad roads today, just normal twisty roads with a white line down the middle for most of it. After the last few weeks it felt very civilised. The area has now opened up into more farmland. Mike … Continue reading