A Drive through the Mountains

The weather has turned more inclement over the past few days but it rains mainly during the night. That gives us a nice break from watering the veggie patch. The peppers and tomatoes are actually flowering again! Jon has spotted that the figs have finally ripened off so we will be trying to harvest those. About a week ago we noticed the locals picking the wine grapes.

We went for a drive today, first we skirted the mountain range, Serra da Estrela, passing through parts of a river valley we have never seen. The rain has given everything a new green tinge, and autumn is only barely starting judging by the colours of the trees.

We drove over to Covilha, not because we have heard it's a lovely place to visit but, in the words of Wainwright, it makes the journey all the more rewarding to have a destination in mind...

Covilha was a bit big and a bit busy for our liking. There was a shopping mall! And a McDonalds! We avoided all that and found a lovely park with fountains and swans to eat our picnic in peace. There were black swans with bright red beaks (see pic).

Then we drove up through the Serra da Estrela, making a visit to the Torre, with its redundant observatories. The Torre was a bit of an anticlimax really, as there were no views to be had, and a few shops selling tat for tourists. Here are the ski tows too, and judging from what we saw, it would suit beginner to middle grade skiing.

We enjoyed the rest of the drive through the mountains, soaking up the landscape. Apart from about 3 other cars we had the place to ourselves. The clouds were quite low, and one moment we were in glorious sunshine and the next in pea-soup mist. Good job Jon was driving!

More information about the Serra da Estrela can be found at the link below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serra_da_Estrela