{"id":3314,"date":"2024-06-13T16:03:11","date_gmt":"2024-06-13T16:03:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/madbikerides.com\/?p=3314"},"modified":"2024-06-13T16:03:15","modified_gmt":"2024-06-13T16:03:15","slug":"56-monsanto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madbikerides.com\/?p=3314","title":{"rendered":"56. Monsanto"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A magic day in a truly magical village.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is our house on the right\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2026\u2026and the views from our balcony!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There would be few more photogenic places on the planet! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

No surprises then to discover Monsanto was used as the location for the Game of Thrones prequel, House of the Dragon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Notwithstanding the inevitable attraction for film buffs\u2026and anyone passing anywhere close by\u2026this morning Monsanto was deserted..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Through the village, built on and amongst a pile of huge granite boulders\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2026.and up to the castle, also built on and amongst the boulders\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I had the place to myself!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was truly wonderful\u2026as if discovering it for the first time\u2026all by myself!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is of course a village largely now driven by tourism\u2026but all the signage and information boards etc have been done so tastefully, it actually does not feel like the tourist mecca it surely must be in peak season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And folk live here. And the coffee in the local cafe is only 80 cents, and the beers only 1.20\u2026unlike (eg) Monsaraz which is dedicated only to tourists, with prices to match!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Favourite place in Portugal?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Very possibly!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And this afternoon\u2026I took myself down the hill again for a 14km ride to the nearby town of Penha Garcia\u2026for a swim here\u2026\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Just gorgeous! And only my third swim in eight weeks! Extraordinary really for someone who would swim every day if he could!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I took so many photos this morning\u2026so will let you scroll if you want\u2026\u2026!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An early night tonight..for we have a mad plan for tomorrow\u2026.!! More on that in the next post!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A magic day in a truly magical village. This is our house on the right\u2026 \u2026\u2026and the views from our balcony! There would be few more photogenic places on the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-collioure-to-marrakech-2024"],"yoast_head":"\n56. Monsanto - Mad Bike Rides<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"56. Monsanto - Mad Bike Rides\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A magic day in a truly magical village. This is our house on the right\u2026 \u2026\u2026and the views from our balcony! There would be few more photogenic places on the…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/madbikerides.com\/?p=3314\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mad Bike Rides\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-06-13T16:03:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-06-13T16:03:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/madbikerides.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/A8EB9860-8465-4657-AEC8-9E49CFE44D76.jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"neil\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"neil\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/madbikerides.com\\\/?p=3314#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/madbikerides.com\\\/?p=3314\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"neil\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/madbikerides.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c5fa1dae103c5b30d8f31a4e50b646cc\"},\"headline\":\"56. Monsanto\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-06-13T16:03:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-06-13T16:03:15+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/madbikerides.com\\\/?p=3314\"},\"wordCount\":276,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/madbikerides.com\\\/?p=3314#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/madbikerides.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/06\\\/A8EB9860-8465-4657-AEC8-9E49CFE44D76.jpeg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Collioure to Marrakech 2024\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/madbikerides.com\\\/?p=3314#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/madbikerides.com\\\/?p=3314\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/madbikerides.com\\\/?p=3314\",\"name\":\"56. Monsanto - Mad Bike Rides\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/madbikerides.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/madbikerides.com\\\/?p=3314#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/madbikerides.com\\\/?p=3314#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/madbikerides.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/06\\\/A8EB9860-8465-4657-AEC8-9E49CFE44D76.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-06-13T16:03:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-06-13T16:03:15+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/madbikerides.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c5fa1dae103c5b30d8f31a4e50b646cc\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/madbikerides.com\\\/?p=3314#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/madbikerides.com\\\/?p=3314\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/madbikerides.com\\\/?p=3314#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/madbikerides.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/06\\\/A8EB9860-8465-4657-AEC8-9E49CFE44D76.jpeg?fit=638%2C638&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/madbikerides.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/06\\\/A8EB9860-8465-4657-AEC8-9E49CFE44D76.jpeg?fit=638%2C638&ssl=1\",\"width\":638,\"height\":638},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/madbikerides.com\\\/?p=3314#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/madbikerides.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"56. Monsanto\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/madbikerides.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/madbikerides.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Mad Bike Rides\",\"description\":\"South to North 2025\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/madbikerides.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/madbikerides.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c5fa1dae103c5b30d8f31a4e50b646cc\",\"name\":\"neil\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/55544faafabfb540a392bf8ee0c7765e30f76532d07e6f0dad24536fab2e1279?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/55544faafabfb540a392bf8ee0c7765e30f76532d07e6f0dad24536fab2e1279?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/55544faafabfb540a392bf8ee0c7765e30f76532d07e6f0dad24536fab2e1279?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"neil\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/madbikerides.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"56. Monsanto - Mad Bike Rides","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"56. Monsanto - Mad Bike Rides","og_description":"A magic day in a truly magical village. This is our house on the right\u2026 \u2026\u2026and the views from our balcony! There would be few more photogenic places on the…","og_url":"https:\/\/madbikerides.com\/?p=3314","og_site_name":"Mad Bike Rides","article_published_time":"2024-06-13T16:03:11+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-06-13T16:03:15+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/madbikerides.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/A8EB9860-8465-4657-AEC8-9E49CFE44D76.jpeg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"neil","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"neil","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/madbikerides.com\/?p=3314#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/madbikerides.com\/?p=3314"},"author":{"name":"neil","@id":"https:\/\/madbikerides.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c5fa1dae103c5b30d8f31a4e50b646cc"},"headline":"56. Monsanto","datePublished":"2024-06-13T16:03:11+00:00","dateModified":"2024-06-13T16:03:15+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/madbikerides.com\/?p=3314"},"wordCount":276,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/madbikerides.com\/?p=3314#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/madbikerides.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/A8EB9860-8465-4657-AEC8-9E49CFE44D76.jpeg","articleSection":["Collioure to Marrakech 2024"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/madbikerides.com\/?p=3314#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/madbikerides.com\/?p=3314","url":"https:\/\/madbikerides.com\/?p=3314","name":"56. Monsanto - Mad Bike Rides","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/madbikerides.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/madbikerides.com\/?p=3314#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/madbikerides.com\/?p=3314#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/madbikerides.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/A8EB9860-8465-4657-AEC8-9E49CFE44D76.jpeg","datePublished":"2024-06-13T16:03:11+00:00","dateModified":"2024-06-13T16:03:15+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/madbikerides.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c5fa1dae103c5b30d8f31a4e50b646cc"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/madbikerides.com\/?p=3314#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/madbikerides.com\/?p=3314"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/madbikerides.com\/?p=3314#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/madbikerides.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/A8EB9860-8465-4657-AEC8-9E49CFE44D76.jpeg?fit=638%2C638&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/madbikerides.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/A8EB9860-8465-4657-AEC8-9E49CFE44D76.jpeg?fit=638%2C638&ssl=1","width":638,"height":638},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/madbikerides.com\/?p=3314#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/madbikerides.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"56. Monsanto"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/madbikerides.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/madbikerides.com\/","name":"Mad Bike Rides","description":"South to North 2025","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/madbikerides.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/madbikerides.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c5fa1dae103c5b30d8f31a4e50b646cc","name":"neil","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/55544faafabfb540a392bf8ee0c7765e30f76532d07e6f0dad24536fab2e1279?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/55544faafabfb540a392bf8ee0c7765e30f76532d07e6f0dad24536fab2e1279?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/55544faafabfb540a392bf8ee0c7765e30f76532d07e6f0dad24536fab2e1279?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"neil"},"url":"https:\/\/madbikerides.com\/?author=1"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/madbikerides.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/madbikerides.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/madbikerides.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madbikerides.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madbikerides.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3314"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/madbikerides.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3314\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3341,"href":"https:\/\/madbikerides.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3314\/revisions\/3341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/madbikerides.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madbikerides.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madbikerides.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}