Loriga - Serra da Estrela

In contrast to today, Monday and Tuesday were beautiful. On Tuesday we went out geocaching in the Serra da Estrela to the town of Loriga. First we visited the turismo and managed to get loads of leaflets, some detailing walks in the area. On closer inspection some of these are circular and some are shorter linear versions tagged on to the main trails that run through the Serra da Estrela. Another booklet the lady in the centre gave us was outlining walking (and separate car) routes of the glacier valleys. These are all linear though so extra forward planning required. The lady in the tourist information centre spoke excellent English.

Next we grabbed a coffee, treated ourselves to a bottle of organic Medronho Brandy (and as it cost 22.90 euros it will be a treat!). We also bought some bread rolls and "Bon Bons" from a local bakery. The Bon Bons were like little doughnuts with a what might have been a custard filling.

Then we made our way up to where we knew there was a river beach (praia fluvial) at Loriga. We were not disappointed. The council have worked hard to make this a great place for all the family to visit and enjoy the river in it's wonderful surroundings. Today we were the only ones there and enjoyed our packed lunch in harmony with nature.



We then set off for the nearest geocache, ie Casa dos Ingleses (house of the English) or also known as "Penedo de Alvoco". It seems that the house was originally inhabited by locals (one of the inhabitants was born 1825 and died in 1900) but then the area was inhabited by English who were mining for metal in the area. One of these (by the name of James) died in November 1911 and was buried in the local cemetery. (In 1944 six English aviators were also buried in the same cemetery after crashing in the mountains).

Loriga info: It was an English military airplane; Hudson Aircraft, that had that day left Gibraltar for the United kingdom, carrying the following occupants: Captain-Robert Tavener HILDICK; Lieutenant-John BARBOUR; Lieutenant-Daniel De Waal WALTERS; Lieutenant-John Patie THOM; 1.Cabo-Jack Learoyd WALKER; 1.Cabo Henry Ernest HEDGES.

The Civil Register of Seia, registers the six deaths as having happened on 22 February of 1944. The assumption is that the plane came down in fog.

We returned to the village of Loriga and wandered along to the Roman bridge. But as it was getting late in the day we decided that further exploration (and other geocaches) would need to wait for another day.

We returned home to find a big bag of homegrown potatoes on the porch from our neighbours (recompense for the goats eating all our veggies). On Sunday they had given us one of their goat cheeses and asked if we wanted them to pay for the damaged crops. We would not accept any money, it wouldn't be right. Yesterday there were further gifts of cabbages and turnips, freshly harvested.

Olive Mill and River Beaches

Sunday we spent all day viewing 3 very different properties. The beauty of it was that we had to travel an hour or so north of where we are living, so it was all a bit of an adventure. The terrain was quite different, with boulder strewn hillsides and then valleys and hills affording agricultural land.

All 3 properties were in different states of renovation. The most amazing was the old olive mill, it was like stepping back a hundred years, all the equipment was still inside, the walls were 3 foot thick granite, and the floor was solid blocks of granite. Part of the outer walls looked like something from a Norman church as the precision of the stonework was superb. The views from this property were also magnificent. The estate agent wandered around the old mill with us, and he was as awestruck as we were. It felt like a real privilege to be there. Could we buy this place? Well, it was affordable but would need a lot of money spending on it, there would also be architect fees, planning permission, habitation licence to apply for, as well as the actual work itself. And I don't know if Jon and I would be able to gut the place as it would feel sacriligious.


Today we were out geocaching. We found two wonderful river beaches on the River Alva. They are clearly popular places for locals, but today there were just the two of us. It was so peaceful. The photo shows the sulphorous thermal well at Caldas de S. Paulo. We were keen on having a dip but the sides were sheer, and it looked very, very deep (scary).

The more we see of this region the more we love it. Even a drive to the nearest Lidl rewards us with magnificent views of the mountains that form the Serra da Estrela.