Jonathan, Emily, and Daniel (and one more) to Portugal and Italy: Day 4 Thursday.

This morning the view from our door was beautiful. We walked through narrow cobblestone streets between vineyards and a mix of nice stone houses and old abandoned stone houses. But somehow these stone houses look nice even as they collapse. They age well. We walked across the river into the center of Ponte de Lima over a very very old stone bridge which is only for pedestrians. Daniel enjoyed looking over at the ducks and fish. We had breakfast in the center of town, and then walked back.

We drove to the very north of Portugal, sometimes less than a mile from Spain, and headed east to Lamas de Mouros, which is a somewhat obscure entrance to the Geres National Park. This area was seriously rural and a bit like stepping back in history 300 years. It was also very beautiful. A mix of pine forests, oak forests, grassland, farm land, and little villages every few kilometers with 10 houses, some new and some hundreds of years old. No map can provide enough detail on these little winding roads to keep you from getting lost at least once, I think. Even google maps got a few essential things wrong.

At the park entrance there were campsites, a bar (?), meadows, a stream, some bridges and an interpretive walking trail. In the meadows along the stream there were many horses, some pregnant, and a foal. Daniel loved watching them and he said “Grass!! Yum yum!!” (because they were eating grass).

We stopped at the park visitor center, and the guy running it was really young and friendly. I wondered if he liked his job at this remote outpost or if it was punishment. I think he liked it. The visitor center was actually huge and really nice, and I'm not sure what was in the rest of the building or what sort of functions they hold there. I have to say-- with all this talk of Portugal's financial crisis, its infrastructure is in great shape. Even the tiniest, most remote roads were paved and had no potholes. Okay, there were a few, but the roads around our house in AZ are a hundred times worse. The freeways are well kept and there are bridges everywhere, even just over valleys to separate the traffic from the quaint villages, which can't be cheap.

Anyway, we asked the guy at the visitor center if there was a castle nearby (I'd seen a passing mention online), and he gave us a (color) map showing us how to get to the ruined castle. We had to exit the park, drive 10 minutes, and then re-enter at a town called Castro Something Something. It was a really neat town that I would totally retire in. The castle was a 30 minute hike up to the top of a very rocky peak. I had Daniel on my chest in a baby carrier, and he fell asleep a couple minutes after the initial tantrum of being restrained. He was very tired, because he slept for the next 2-3 hours we were hiking and exploring the castle, plus he slept in the car rides in both directions. I think he slept for most of the day!

We were going to drive south through the park and see some monolithic stone things, maybe some Roman ruins, and some other Celtic ruins (this place has been inhabited for a long time!), but after the castle hike we decided to take a more direct, but still through rustic countryside, route home. It was very beautiful and Emily said the area reminded her of what she imagined Narnia to be like.

Tomorrow we pack up and drive to Sintra, stopping at the monastery of Alcobaca on the way.