Near to the Parque Arqueológico de S. Bartolomeu is a monument site called Sepulturas Antropomórficas. It is believed that the whole area has been inhabited by Romans, perhaps Visigoths, Arabs or Mozarab. Their graves at the site are clearly visible, carved in the granite (one child and five adults).
Yesterday, 1 December, it rained most of the day and night. But today was fine and we were off out geocaching again. This time we headed for Piódão, that is a historic schist village in the mountains (Serra do Acor).
On the way there we stopped at the Arte Rupestre: Centro Interpretativo de Chãs d´Égua, Arganil. The centre is closed Mondays and Tuesdays. Entry is free. The centre is very small and there is no information in English, but there are a couple of "finds" showing the carvings on pottery and on slate. There is also an information panel indicating where in the immediate landscape some of the artwork has been found.
We travelled further up the valley to Piódão and found an information board outside the tourist information centre outlining a circular walk around Piódão itself.
There are also slate waymarkers to nearby villages Foz d'Égua and Chas d'Egua but though we asked at the tourist information centre there were no maps available. The trouble with these walks is that the paths are not very well marked from what we can see. The original slate markers are sometimes broken or have disappeared altogether.
The best tourist information centre we have found is at Loriga. All of the others so far have not been able to provide us with the information we require, namely maps, leaflets or information about walks. Sometimes they indicate that you could try the another tourist information centre.
We are going to visit the Algarve to do some walking. The Algarve is currently about 3-5 degrees warmer than Central Portugal but cool enough for us to enjoy hiking and walking. We were chuffed when we discovered a booklet in Portugese entitled "Guia de percursos pedestres do Algarve" that looks really useful for exploring the Algarve on foot. But realistically we need it in English. On Monday we rang the tourist information centre in Albufeira (as we will be staying in that resort) and asked about the guide. No they didn't have it in English, and no they didn't have any of the Portugese versions either. They told us to try another tourist information centre. Is it us, or don't they get many English tourists on the Algarve, or maybe they just don't expect us to want to leave the beaches? It's quite disappointing that the tourist information centres are just really not equipped to help people who want to explore the country outside their car.
On the way back from Piódão we stopped at the really pretty village of Foz d'Égua. A lovely end to a lovely day out.
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