Beech's Euro Tour Part Deux (1 Viewer)

Jul 7, 2021
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Some more pics from yesterday’s hike up to the castle above Monsanto. If you’re in this part of Portugal it’s a must do. Apologies for any duplication; we couldn’t stop taking pics as it was so beautiful.

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Free park up in the village square.

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Pre-hike lunch. 2 big toasted cheese & ham sandwiches, coffee, hot chocolate & a can of fizzy orange for €11.60. No pics as we gobbled it down too quickly!

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Amazing that it’s still a working village.
Stunning pics ! Thank you !
 

Lenny HB

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Great motorhome park up in the little village below Monsanto. Water tap, toilets but no dumping facility, with a nice cafe/bar on the square. It was a 4 mile round trip to hike to the castle at the top and we had the place virtually to ourselves.
We made the mistake of driving up to the village, which certainly honed up my reversing skills. We ended up reversing back to the little car park just before the village on the hairpin.

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Lenny HB

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On your way to the coast Unhais da Serra, may appeal to you.

 
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Helen Ariel
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We made the mistake of driving up to the village, which certainly honed up my reversing skills. We ended up reversing back to the little car park just before the village on the hairpin.

We walked past the other car park and were glad we made the decision to stay low!
 
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Helen Ariel
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We’re heading due West to one of our favourite big towns in Portugal, Figueira da Foz, where we are going to raid the all you can eat sushi for €10 restaurant!
But we stopped off by the Barragem de Santa Luzia and did a bike ride round the man made lake. Another crystal clear day, warm in the sun but cold in the shade.

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We followed the way marked blue trail as we’ve ridden quite a few more technically demanding trails and just wanted some cardio fitness. It was still 600m of climbing in 16 miles though.

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Hardly anyone around and great roads for riding on. We both agreed that we’d have road bikes if we lived around here.

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We cycled past some locals harvesting their olives. A very friendly bunch who were very chatty even after I apologised and said I don’t speak much Portuguese! It’s my stock response here unfortunately, “Eu nao falo Portuguese“, as I find it difficult.

There is a tiny old lady half way up the olive tree in the middle of the pic below.

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Water levels didn’t look too low after the summer.

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There were still some steep sections of trails to ride.

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It was an incredibly still day.

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The dam was pretty impressive when we got to it, and we could ride along the top of it with care as it was very narrow. Pic was taken using panoramic mode which is too big to upload so I had to reduce the quality a lot to do this.

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We got a real shock when we crossed over and saw the large cracks in the top of the dam!

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Back to the van at the marked motorhome parking to let Beech out to flirt with the local dogs who seem to have free rein of the place. All boys with their balls which is her preference!

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Helen Ariel
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We arrived into Fig Foz on Wednesday morning having driven past some stunning cloud inversions in the mountains.

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Sadly it was a rather dreary day with showers but to be honest we were needing a bit of a chill out day and had the sushi to look forward to.

After getting parked on the aire we took Beech for a quick walk then headed to the Japanese restaurant. It was still 9.90 euros and did not disappoint. The place filled up completely whilst we were there which was good to see on a drizzly mid week day.

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Our chill out back at the van didn't go quite to plan as the funfair was setting up next to the aire and was pumping out pop music and Christmas songs at top volume whilst running machines and whacking metal poles into place. Headphones on and watched a load of Netflix with the racket filtering in still and was wondering how long it would go on for. I think it was about 11pm which as we are still on Spainish time was pretty annoying as we are rather early birds these days. Awake 6/7 and struggling to keep eyes open by 9/10 most days.

Thursday was fresh and breezy but brilliant blue skies so we went for an urban walk round the town with a stop at the excellent market to buy fruit, veg and seafood. There was so much choice it was hard to pick but we went for some baby squid and 2 beautifully fresh fat mackeral.

Knowing our way around a place was a nice feeling after constantly being somewhere new and it also meant we were able to ditch the noisy aire and move the van to the far end of the beach to a free spot that we used for several days last year. From there we found a nice restaurant with outside tables sheltered from the wind and had a lovely lunch of small plates and delicious desserts. Not as cheap as many offerings here (menu del dia common from 8 euros) but definitely a cut above.

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Beech enjoyed getting sandy on the beach and I had a lovely siesta to make up for the previous day.

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Yesterday we moved on to another old haunt at Foz de Arelho. Easily got a spot on the aire with multiple free spaces either side of us and it was interesting to see how quiet it was compared to when we were here last year in October.

A stunning bright day but fresh at 14 degrees so a walk round the lagoon then an early dinner of bbqed fish from the market and sat enjoying the beautiful, peaceful setting here plus Beech playing with the local young lads.

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I was suprised to find that the WiFi reached right out to the far end of the site so we got to download a load of programs and update things. We've had to watch our usage this time due to the annoying post Brexit data limits.

Our posts will probably be a bit less frequent and less picture heavy now anyway as we are covering old ground though we do hope to visit a few places we missed out on last year due to weather/covid crowds including Peniche, Erichera and Lisbon.

Today has been unexpected confinement due to rain but we're hoping to cycle right round the lagoon to the other side tomorrow and then we're on the road to Peniche next I think.
 
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Lenny HB

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We've had to watch our usage this time due to the annoying post Brexit data limits.
If you are staying in Portugal a while it's worth getting a NoS data sim, unlimited data for 15/20/30 days for €15/20/30, I think Vodaphone do the same deal, we have found the Nos good with good coverage.

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Helen Ariel
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If you are staying in Portugal a while it's worth getting a NoS data sim, unlimited data for 15/20/30 days for €15/20/30, I think Vodaphone do the same deal, we have found the Nos good with good coverage.
Thanks i think we'll be ok now we're being more careful with stuff and only in Portugal for a month i think.
 
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Helen Ariel
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We've just done a couple of days in Peniche and were pleased to have at least one really nice weather day as the last time we came past there it was foul weather so we kept on trucking.

We found a great wilding spot out by the light house looking out to sea to a small island and enjoyed seeing the amazing rock formations along that bit of the coast.

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We then had a stroll around town and over to the famous surf break Supertubos, not really expecting there to be a good wave pumping but it was just taking off with more and more surfers heading out so we sat and watched them for ages. I could watch people surf all day as i find it mesmerising.

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The following day was rather grey and windy so we had another wander about and some junk food for lunch then headed off to a park up overlooking the sea from a high, exposed cliff edge on the way to Ericiera. I was a bit unsure about spending the night here with the left over effects of storm Barra due to blow through at some point but the wind didn't seem to be getting to bad by sundown so we stayed. Well that was one of the worst nights I've had in the van. About 10pm the wind changed direction so it was coming at us side on but was only a gentle rocking when we went to sleep though noisy combined with the waves so we put ear plugs in. Through the night it got really strong, with squalls of heavy rain and howling wind it was like being in a boat at sea. Very disconcerting and Paul decided to turn the van round at 3am which meant we were now on a slant even with the levellers and didn't really stop the rocking.

We escaped early morning and drove on through Erichera as it was still raining and blowy so now we are recuperating out of the wind in a sunny Parque Florestal de Monsanto in Lisbon!
 
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Helen Ariel
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So we walked up to the Panorâmico de Monsanto which apparently has the best views of Lisbon and we were not disappointed. It’s an abandoned restaurant that’s been converted into an art installation.

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Parked up at the Seixal ferry car park and really looking forward to visiting the city tomorrow!
 
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Helen Ariel
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Did you mean to say "art installation" :rofl:
Yeah it's absolutely fascinating. Built in the 60's it has an interesting history.

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Helen Ariel
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I do find old abandoned buildings fascinating. This had the feel of Chernobyl about it.

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Helen Ariel
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Well, Lisbon lived up to expectations and we ended up staying on the car park at the Seixal ferry terminal for 2 nights at a total cost of €1.20! The ferry was €5.40 return each and only took 15 minutes to whizz you across to the beautiful shore. We decided to leave Beech in the van for the day as we wanted to go into various attractions, bars or restaurants and were not sure she’d be allowed in. A nice walk and swim along the beach right by the car park, as well as the fact she was tired from a big day previously meant she was happy chilling.

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So many beautiful buildings that it’s impossible to get the scale in, plus the fact that the streets are narrow and either uniform blocks in the ‘new’ part or a narrow maze in the ‘old’ part. It really is a must visit. Wherever you go, you can just feel the history of the place!

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Ive been intrigued by the shops that only sell tinned fish, mainly sardines, and it was great to see the a couple of the oldest ones as we wandered about.

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Quite a selection available at a range of prices!

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But also a bit gimmicky too…

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The Confeitaria Nacional was highly recommended for a morning pit-stop and sugar hit! We had a pastel de nata and another cake each, along with a coffee and a hot chocolate. Another beautiful building.

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Suitably fuelled up we headed for the climb up towards the Castelo de Sao Jorge, an old Moorish fort and palace ruins dating from the 11th century that dominates the skyline in this part of the city. Rather than go in though, as it would be a couple of hours and was quite busy plus we had to get back for Beech, we climbed up the Torre da Igreja do Castelo de Sao Jorge. It’s old Lisbon’s highest point and you get a drink included for the €5 entry, plus I got to ring the bells!

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Stunning views and no crowds!

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We also got to visit the Igreja Paroquial de Santa Cruz do Castelo which had a photographic exhibition showing how little this part of Lisbon had changed. There were even a couple of doppelgängers in the pictures on display!

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More stunning views as we meandered our way back towards the Time Out food market which was recommended by friends, and was just across the road from the ferry terminal.

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More fantastic street art on display.

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Outside the Convent do Carmo, a ruined Gothic church destroyed in the great earthquake of 1755.

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It was beginning to get dark so we caught a glimpse of the Xmas lights.

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Then it was into the food market for some gourmet refreshments! We’d been looking forward to this all day but unfortunately the croquettas were rather cold and stodgy, not a patch on the ones we had in Spain.

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The following courses we had were from a high end restaurant but a great deal considering the location and were delicious. Crispy skin, 24 hr confit pork and slow braised iberian pork cheek. Then the most mouth-watering banana and caramel dessert. A drink included for 16 euros!

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We had planned to get back to Beech by 4.30 but when we arrived at the terminal it was closed until 6pm for maintenance work so we had another couple of hours wandering and a craft beer in a little back street bar. Beech was very happy to see us but no accidents. Not bad for 12 and being left 7 hours. We felt a bit guilty but it's rare we leave her and she does get to do some amazing adventures.

After a second poor night's sleep in the noisy terminal carpark and waking to grey drizzle we decided we really wanted to blast straight down to Sagres, our home from home where we spent 4 months last winter so we jumped on the toll road and were there in 3 hours.

It was so strange arriving in Villa do Bispo the town just above Sagres where we shopped weekly and we pulled into the lidl for a few bits saying how familiar it all felt then the 1st people we walked past were a couple from 2 pitches up on the campsite last year. Had a great chat and found out they had stayed on right through.

We are now setup a couple of pitches away from our pitch last year and it's lovely and mild with sun and 20 to 22 degrees for the weekend. It feels so homely and nice to be back so we'll definitely be staying until Christmas at least. I think we both need a bit of a break from moving to new places every couple of days and carpark living.

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The view from our pitch of the sun setting over Beliche beach.

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RedFrame

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Great blog, enjoyable reading. Out of interest do you take out Insurance that specifically covers Red/Black routes?

Cheers
Red
 
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Helen Ariel
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Great blog, enjoyable reading. Out of interest do you take out Insurance that specifically covers Red/Black routes?

Cheers
Red

Hi RedFrame

Last year we took out travel insurance and paid extra for the mountain-biking cover as we were above a certain altitude and also using chairlifts. The next level of insurance above this was for competitions/racing. I think it was about £50 extra for both of us.
We’ve not bothered with any specific MTB insurance this trip as we are both pretty careful to ride within our limits.

I’m not aware of insurance being ‘trail grade’ specific as in our experience a UK red graded trail is a lot easier than an Alpine red.

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Helen Ariel
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Sagres has definitely come up trumps with the weather. 2 lovely days at the beach, beer and burger at our favourite bar yesterday evening and a bbq with lovely sunset tonight. Moon on one side and sun on the other.

Hope it lasts!

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Hotdogs with balsamic vinegar caramelised onions and iberian pork strips for us and chicken hearts with carrots for Beech.

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Helen Ariel
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Wave porn...i can watch the ocean for hours here. The power is immense. Can you spot the surfer in these pics? Only one person brave enough to go out and the day before this we saw saw a lone surfer get wiped out and his board snapped. One half washed up on the beach near us and we watched him clinging to the large rock in this photo for awhile to catch his breath before swimming back in. We checked on him and gave him his board. He was ok but pretty knackered.

Paul is hoping to get out for a surf today as it's meant to be smaller 🤞

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