Walking and A Little Bit of History

On Thursday morning we had a frost, but the sun was shining so we went out for a walk near to Penacova. We started off at Portela da Oliveira where there are ruined windmills and fantastic panoramic views. We could see the Serra da Estrela clearly with its snow topped peaks.



There is actually a geocache here but as it is a multicache and we have problems translating the clues from Portugese, we decided to leave it for another day. We have details of another walk in the area of Penacova (10km).

The walk took us through several villages and though there was a bit of road walking, most of it was off road. We struggled a few times though as the map we had taken from one of the information boards was different to the actual waymarkers on the ground. We sometimes risked deviating from what was calibrated on our gps because we figured the waymarkers would lead us to the same place, albeit by a different route.

Again we were privileged to see parts of rural Portugal that lie off the beaten track. It was so warm we eventually succumbed and took off our coats. When we returned to the car we went into the tiny cafe near the mills and enjoyed a huge mug of cafe meio leite (milky coffee) and it was delicious. The gentleman who runs the cafe was really welcoming.

All in all a lovely winter's day.

Saturday - it was another frosty night but the sun was lovely and warm. We went out geocaching and they all gave us glimpses of Portugese history.

The first visit was to a memorial of a horrific train crash that happened in 1985 at Beira Alta. The train line is single track and at the time communications weren't sophisticated enough to warn the train drivers of the imminent collision. The memorial site marks the spot near where the collision occurred. Many people died. It was a very moving place to be.



We then visited a site with some Arte Rupestre near Mangualde. The carvings were made in granite stone and were quite distinct.

The last two caches were to dolmens. The first one (Anta da Cunha Baixa / Casa da Orca) dates back to the Middle Neolithic Age. It is the largest and best preserved dolmen in Portugal. The location was very peaceful and rural.



The last dolmen (Anta de Carvalhal da Louça) was a lot smaller but there have been finds of quartz blades/arrow heads. This last site was in what must have been a really impressive landscape at the time of its construction. Unfortunately, there is a busy main road nearby though so it does take some imagination to picture how it must have been.

Today, Sunday, no frost but we have had a snow shower! Quite windy too. The snow has not stuck as it's several degrees above freezing.

Weather Forecasts

One of the problems we have experienced is finding accurate weather forecasts for Central Portugal. Interestingly, different sites contradict each other quite a lot.

Until a few weeks ago we were relying on WeatherBug, but the nearest tracking station seems to be near to Porto (supposed to be one at Coimbra but it never seems to work). And generally, we have found that the forecast from Porto doesn't genuinely reflect what happens this far inland.

Back at home in the UK we always use http://www.weather.com/ and we have taken to looking at this site here, comparing Coimbra, Viseu and Covilha forecasts to get an average idea of what it might be doing in the triangle in between them - ie where we are.

For the rest of this week WeatherBug is predicting a run of minus Low temperatures (-1, -4 and -5) and yet on the weather.com site the Low figure does not fall below 1 or 2 degrees Celsius for the same period.

From now on we will be relying on the Weather.com site but we still need to check on a daily basis as the outlook changes dramatically from one day to the next.