View from up in the mountains of Northern Portugal |
The house
was simply beautiful. Antiques were everywhere. The front door led to a living
room with a kitchen to the right. Down the hall were two bedrooms, each with a
bathroom. Everywhere we looked there were intricate wood carvings, old farm
tools hung on the walls, big cider jugs, and a china closet full of old dishes.
It was enchanting. But COLD. It’s a pity we weren’t there in warmer weather. I
would have loved to sit on the little terrace and spend more time outside
around the house. But we made do, kind of, with three space heaters and lots of
blankets inside. We drank tea, and sometimes I boiled water just to try and
heat things up a bit more.
One of many wood carvings in the house we stayed in. |
The next day
we set out to what we thought was the visitor’s center in the national park. From
there we would form a plan to find some waterfalls. However, the guidebook had
the coordinates wrong, and after driving more than an hour, we ended up in someone’s
private driveway. Now what? We hadn’t had internet to make plans for the day, and
we had no phone signal. So we turned around, stopped at a little picnic area,
and had lunch.
The stream and the island. |
There was a
little stream with a big sandy island in the middle. Evelyn was determined to
get to the island, but it was too far to jump. Justin got his feet wet trying. Evelyn
wanted to take off her socks and shoes to walk across, but I discouraged her. Eventually
she urged Justin to get some stones to build a bridge. As Justin hauled stones,
Lydia and Evelyn squabbled over long sticks to “fish” with. Eventually the
stones were in place, and Justin tested them out. They sank. Evelyn cried.
We made it to the island! |
In the end,
we all ended up taking off our socks and shoes (accept Justin – his shoes were
already wet). We traveled across to the island and looked for little bits of
pottery. We made our own fun.
Afterward we
piled into the car and headed off, knowing the chance of seeing waterfalls was
out, but wanting more adventure before heading home. We pulled over to a little
parking area and headed down a steep hill. Eventually we came to a stream,
where Evelyn gleefully walked across a fallen tree. Lydia and I choose a safer
route to cross the stream: I tossed her to Justin, who was on the other side,
and then I jumped across.
We headed
back when it started getting close to dinner time. Driving so much in one day
(three hours!) was hard for me. I had wanted more of a plan. But in the end, it
was good to see nature and choose to be cheerful. I had gotten tired of seeing tourist
shops in cities. Real life was nice to see.
The next day
(after Justin found a café the previous evening to use their internet and make
a plan) we drove to two waterfalls. At the first, we had lunch and then
scrambled down the bank to get closer to the water. We hiked along the shore to
get to the bottom of the waterfall. I grumbled at first (it wasn’t easy for
Lydia) but it was worth it in the end. Later we drove to a waterfall where we
could hike along the rocks nearby. Justin and I traded off keeping an eagle eye
(and a firm grip) on Lydia. I didn’t enjoy this one as much, because I kept
having horrible visions of one of the girls tumbling down. I was relieved to
leave. As we were driving down the mountain from there, we were delayed by a
herd of goats. The shepherd and his dogs were with them. Goat after goat wandered
past our car. It was fun seeing them.
An iconic structure throughout northern Portugal. I believe it used to hold grain. |
First waterfall |
Lydia took this one! |
Second waterfall |
Beautiful little village at the base of the mountains |
Well, hello goats! |
Speaking of
driving, it was all twisty mountain roads and stunning vistas. Justin tooted
his horn on the windy roads to warn any oncoming cars that we were coming
around the corner. He later said it was a relief to be on straight roads. But
the views were incredible. Portugal is truly a beautiful country.
We drove toward
our next place to stay and stopped at a café to get some Portuguese pastries
one last time. The girls played at a little corner area for kids, and Justin
and I took advantage of the internet to check sports (him) and read
blogs/articles (me). We arrived to our last place to stay, which was chosen
purely out of convenience of location and price. It was close to the airport,
and we would fly back to Málaga the next day. Let me tell you, if I thought the
first place in the mountains had been cold, I was wrong. This place was an
icebox. One wimpy heater tried to heat up a four room house. At that point, I
was done traveling and couldn’t wait to get home. Justin gave the girls baths,
and it was so cold that as they sat down to dinner afterward, I could see steam
coming off Evelyn’s warm, wet head. As Justin put the girls to bed, I turned on
the stove burner and oven while I cleaned the kitchen just to try and warm up a
little.
Coming back
to Fuengirola truly felt like coming home. Portugal had been our first big trip
since moving into our apartment here, and it was good to be back.
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