Day 1 - Lisbon, Portugal to Manteigas, Portugal

 

Portugal is a very beautiful country and as a fan of mountains and beautiful On The Top of the Mountain views, I am a great fan of Portugal's tallest and most well known mountain ... Serra da Estrela. Serra da Estrela ("Mountain Range of the Star") is the highest mountain range in Continental Portugal. It includes mainland Portugal's highest point at 1,993 m (6,539 ft) above mean sea level at its highest point. This point is not a distinctive mountain summit, but rather the highest point in a plateau, being known as Torre ("Tower" in English). Torre has the unusual feature of being a summit that is accessible by paved road. The mountain range is about 100 km (62.14 mi) long and is 30 km (18.64 mi) at its widest point. It is formed from a huge granite ridge that once formed the southern frontier of the country. Due to its bizarrely shaped crags and gorges, mountain streams and lakes, beautiful forests and magnificent views, the area ranks among Portugal’s outstanding scenic attractions.

And that is where we would spend the night on our Day 1.

But lets go back to the beginning of our trip. As we prepared the bike we realized how difficult it is to fit all the stuff in the bags for a long trip like this. We had to leave some stuff behind and I am sure we will make do but not easy to leave it behind. Before we left I went to put gas and the bike felt heavy. Interesting to see how she does going up the mountains.

We left Cascais (about 30Kms/20 miles from Lisbon) at around 12:30 as on the way we would stop in Tomar, Portugal to have some tea with friends we met in Africa while we lived there. It was great to see them and talk about the past and also the present. Last time we had me them was probably 5 years ago so we had a lot of stories to share since then. Friends are a blessing ...


At about 5 in the afternoon we said our goodbyes (loaded up some uneaten "rissois" on the bike) and made our way to Manteigas right in the center of the Serra da Estrela and we timed it just right as we arrived in our Pousada (place where we stayed in the evening) as the night was setting in. There were many switchbacks on the road creating shapes that I had never seen in my GPS before and I wonder if this is in Portugal how will the Pyrenees and the Alps be like. Whatever they will be, it was good to have this practice run. The GSA was a star and ate up the mountain easily although at times I had to shift into first, specially on the switchbacks.

As we were driving we found a mention to a valley of the glacier and really got excited but as it turns out the temperatures are just too high now days and no glacier could be seen. We did take some nice pics though.

The Pousada of Sao Lourenco where we stayed for the evening is in a perfect location and the views are great. For dinner we had the famous Cheese from Serra da Estrela. The production of this cheese has to follow very rigorous rules. It is made from sheep's milk, mostly during the months of November to March. Its maturation period has specific norms and must last thirty days at least. The texture of the paste varies depending on its age, from a very soft semi-liquid when young, to a soft but sliceable solid when older. It is a cured cheese created by artisanal producers with a white or slightly yellow color and a uniform creamy consistency with at most a few small holes in it. Its particular qualities result from slow draining of curdled raw sheep's milk which has been coagulated by using local Cynara cadunculus thistle rather than rennet. The cheese is formed into a somewhat irregular wheel with slightly bulging sides and upper surface. It typically has a soft well-formed rind, smooth and thin with a uniform straw-yellow colour, and is traditionally bound in cloth... Very nice.

After dinner, we relaxed by the bar, reading emails and preparing the blog (internet connection was great) in the company of a nice glass of port wine. A fitting end for a good first day in our adventure.

Live life my friends ...

Click HERE to see all the pictures of Day 1

 

Posted by Armando

Adventure Take x

It is now about 7:00 in the morning here is Lisbon, Portugal and I woke up early to set up this new blog so we can share our new adventure.

It has been nearly two months since we arrived from our trip from Helsinki and in that time we spend about one month vacation with the kids (so we keep calling them although they are now adults), spent time with parents and family, went to the US to see our son Ricardo graduate from A&M University, help our daughter Cristina pack her stuff as she is moving to Washington DC to start her post graduate lawyer degree, met our son's Joao Paulo girlfriend as they both visited Lisbon, went to Finland to pack our household as we are moving back to US sometime in the near future, met a whole lot of new friends and did a heck of a lot of motorcycle riding. It has been a packed two months.

And we are now ready to move to see new lands and meet new friends. For the next 2 weeks or so we will ride from Lisbon, Portugal to Milan, Italy where we will meet two other couples which are coming from US and we wil tour the north of Italy together (more on that in September).

Our trip will take us from Lisbon towards the north of Portugal where we want to stop on the first night in Serra da Estrela, Portugal which is the highest mountain in Portugal.

Then we will move East and spend the second night in Madrid where we will meet friends and have a dinner together in good Spanish style.

The next day we will do a long highway day so we can reach Pau, France in the evening.

Day 4 promises to be very exciting as we will be in the Pyrenees and will retracing the route of Stage 16 of the 2012 Tour de France stage. We will be climbing (with the help of 100 horses) the Aubisque, Tourmalet, as pin and Peyresourde all in one day. And a special day at that as it is Paula's birthday so a special celebration needed ...

Then we will visit Andorra and move towards Provence and head north to visit the cities of Lyon, Annecy and Geneve.

Then we head south by way of the Route Des Grands Alpes until we reach the Cote D'Azur and spend some time visiting Nice, Cannes, Monaco, San Remo and all the jet set.

And then onto Milan where we will start yet another adventure.

And we shall remember the very wise saying ... Every Moment Becomes a Memory that will be with you a very long time, so make sure your moments are worth it.

Live life my friends ...

Posted by Armando