(written 22/3/2006 in Granada, España, by
Liz)
After a better nights sleep than the previous night, we packed up our tent and drove out of Porto.
We headed East, driving along very scenic and very wiggly roads, around the region that port is grown. We stopped a few times to admire the views and take some photos, and to wait for trains to pass.
Part of our drive took us along fast motorways, but then we were back on the slower roads, heading up into the mountainous Serra da Estrella. We spent quite a few hours, winding our way up and down, through rocky barren mountainside, past a few last patches of winter snow, an then into pine forest with some more patches of snow.
This was our warmest day by far, with our car temperature gauge saying it was 26 degrees centigrade at one point. Tim was in his shorts, and just had to have a
photo taken in the snow :)
More wonding up and down, and beautiful scenery in every direction. We stopped to make tea at some point, and eat a bit of lunch, but most of the day was driving and enjoying all the different landscapes. Late in the afternoon, we even drove through huge patches of gum trees and wattle trees all in flower, and smelling just like home.
Our stop for the night was in the little town of Luso, where we quickly found a small pension (Astória) to stay in before finding a tasty dinner at a nearby restaurant-bar (Lourenços), where I ate my huge pile of spinach, and then devoured Tim's as well... love my vegies :)