Monday 2nd November 2015 – Algodres, Portugal

We had it all planned, a stop in the Belmonte aire would allow us to spend most of the day exploring the Serra da Estrela. Our friends, Les and Les, had crossed the mountain range on their way back from Vale do Lobo and emailed us to say how nice it was and so we built a visit into our ever-flexible schedule.

It was raining when we woke up and looked to be set in, so we did a little shopping in the local supermarket – an Intermarche. Then we thought about what to do next as we couldn’t even see the castle above the town so a trip into the mountains would have been a waste of time. I could see from the PC that the café / restaurant across the road had wi-fi so we went over, had a coffee and downloaded the emails. The connection still worked when we got back to the van and, although it was slow, it enabled me to post the blog that I hadn’t been able to post for over a week.

So now it was lunchtime and it was still raining. We had thought about going to restaurant for lunch but Jane worked out that there was going to be a funeral wake there and several tables had been reserved. We had a simple lunch and then set off. It was still raining.

I liked the sound of a place called Sortelha that was mentioned in the Rough Guide so we headed off in that direction. The scenery was really different, very rocky with steep hillsides made of fractured rock and the occasional outcrop of massive boulders. We reached Sortelha where the Rough Guide told us there was a castle and the signs said there was a castle but the low cloud meant that we couldn’t see it. And it was still raining.

Onward then through similar countryside, reminiscent of Dartmoor – rugged and granite-strewn. We gained height to over 800m and much of the journey was on steep, twisty roads. Having lost the vineyards that we had passed in previous days, they finally reappeared as we approached Pinhel.

We arrived at the aire in the small village of Algodres just after 5pm and it was still raining. At about 6 o’clock we went out to take a look at the village to see if we could find a bar or restaurant. Clutching our golfing brolly we forded the rivers running down the roads and skirted the deep puddles that were everywhere and we soon decided to abandon the search. Dinner was taken in the van listening to music accompanied by the sound of raindrops on the roof. Sixteen hours of rain and counting.

Photos: Viewpoint with no view near Sortelha; YAC – Sabugal.