Gouveia

Yesterday after lunch we had a drive up to Gouveia to do a geocache. We found the cache just in time as a heavy rain shower started. We didn't have time to explore Gouveia but it is definitely worth a proper look around from the little we saw. It sits in the foothills of the Serra da Estrela and is not as remote as we had previously thought. We spotted the "turismo" that we intend to visit, we also saw supermarkets such as Intermarche and Lidl. Gouveia seems an ideal base for exploring the mountains or lowlands on foot.

The other reason we drove up to Gouveia was to try and find a parking place for the PR2 and PR3 walks that are mentioned in a link on our "Hidden Treasures" post (links to Gouveia camara percursos pedestres). Studying the sketch maps we could see that Vinho was included in both these walks. It took us a while, but we eventually found where we could join both walks. They were quite separate from one another. Unfortunately the weather forecast for the next week is rain, rain, and more rain.

We have been trying to find information about a walk that goes from Vila Pouca da Beira to no avail. Even a visit to the village was fruitless. We managed to find a Roman road that was impressive but nothing to indicate the walk, despite a sign by one of the churches indicating that there is walking in the area.

Today we managed to find a little more information about this on the Oliveira do Hospital council website. Also is a bit of information about other walks. No maps unfortunately though.

After the terrible weather that has struck Madeira it seems that 11 districts on the continent are also on yellow alert. We wonder if El Nino might be the culprit for the really wet winter and now this period of "mau tempo".