A long but stress-free ride.
Funny though that Google advised us that there would be a total of only 200 metres of climbing on our route today! So…wrong by a factor of three! Is that a record? It is weird…for big climbs, Google gets it just about right! But for up and down routes it always underestimates the ascents! My theory is that it only picks up ascents if they cross two or more 20m contours. So you can go up and down 20-40m and it does not register! Strava works solely on GPS…so is generally correct! (Message for Strava users…just learnt: it works even if your phone is in Aeroplane Mode! Saves a lot of battery!).
The first 30 or so kms was a bit boring….just a long very straight road!!
Until breakfast: two chicken pies each!! And then the landscape changed…
…including a fair quantity if rice paddies! It always seems strange to find them in Europe. But very alive and well here…and rather beautiful as the first shoots creep out of the water…
And yes , we passed plenty of rice in Spain too…and Italy!!…but prettier here somehow! This seemed like an odd juxtaposition….rice…..and sand dunes (& a big fat stork!)!
Rice….and then Stone Pines. They are everywhere (& cork…more on that tomorrow!)
And so to the Troia peninsular…
….which encloses the Sado estuary South of Lisbon. And first…straight to the beach! When we selected this route….it was a baking hot day…and we thought swim in the Atlantic would be just what the do tor ordered. Today however….has been really quite cool! Warm jackets for most of the ride. It even rained a bit! But the sun tried to come out at the beach…so having come so far…we did jump in!! Only the second swim of the whole journey! And yes…it was Atlantic cold! But….swimmable! Actually very nice once all body parts were numb!
We swam directly in front of the life guard station. Safest place…we thought…in case we froze to death. Maybe not though! Haha….
The peninsular ……
….is connected to Sebutal by a short 20-minute ferry…..…
…..and this estuary is famous for having a resident population of bottlenose dolphins. En route… the captain pressed the button for a pre-recorded announcement inviting everyone to get their cameras out, for the dolphins were around! It was hilarious as everyone scampered around the boat…looking for he promised dolphins…..but none to be seen. We think that the captain just pressed the button so he could enjoy the spectacle!!
We had tried to find accommodation near the beach…and then in Sebutal…but so little available…and what was available was monstrously expensive…so upon arrival..
….we headed out of town…to our delightful accommodation. A motel…Portuguese style! Very strange! Surrounded by a high wall…topped with barbed wire…
….a phone number opened the electric gate…and electric locks got us inside the place…and then into our rooms! Like Fort Knox. But for the fact that my door entry code was 222 for Room 2. John’s was 333 for room 3. It did not take a rocket scientist to work out all the codes for all nine rooms!! Classic….and a bit of a worry as we left for dinner!!
We really are in the middle of nowhere it seems…so it was a 20 minute walk to here…for beers……
…and yes, it was in fact open!!
Fartazana! Classic! Could not have described my daughter better!
But they closed…..so a further ten minute walk found us at another restaurant ….hugely busy…and fantastic food! This is John’s prawn curry!
What a find!
But neither of us felt like a long walk…so we Ubered back to our prison!
