Portugal From Bottom to Top

Day 101, Mile 4,459
  

Amy riding into a tiny village of little whitewashed houses.



We are in very northern Portugal in the town of Mogadouro, about 30 miles from the Spanish border, which we will cross tomorrow morning.  For the past two weeks we have traveled 544 rural miles from the southern tip to the northeast corner of  Portugal.  There are lots of different ways to travel through this country.  You could visit the coast with its high rise hotels, and English language menus; or you could go to the booming cities of Lisbon or Porto and see the cosmopolitan side of the country.  What we did was seek out the quietest areas we could identify on the map and link them little town by little town.  We did this both because the actual cycling is more enjoyable on these quiet roads, and also because we were looking for the most traditional Portuguese experience possible.  I think we found that, and this is what we saw.



Community gardens on the river bottom outside town.



Each morning after we broke camp, we would roll down the road surrounded by some sort of agriculture.  We´d be passing olive groves, cork groves, orange groves, vineyards and flocks of sheep and goats.  Then up in front of us we´d spy the next little whitewashed village, standing alone, surrounded by the hillside fields and rock walls.  We saw this again and again.  Whether the town had a population of 200 or 2000, the people all live extremely close together, in the densest possible way, and then they´d go out each day to work their fields. 



A farmer and his donkey cart full of freshly cut grass.



We saw this if the town was inside old castle walls (which we saw many of) or if it just stood on its own.  Likewise, since most people garden here, but there is no land inside the town, there would be community fields down on the river.  On a Saturday morning, we´d be cycling by and see a dozen little old couples, each hoeing their individual terraced garden plot on the river, all right next to each other.

What we saw of rural interior Portugal was definitely like stepping back in time, or at least living at a different pace.  The only McDonalds we saw, or American influence at all, was in the city we flew into. 

Brian at the community well at the church in the center of town.

The streets are cobblestoned, and these stones, and the rock walled fields, were literally laid hundreds of years ago.  (They are charming, but bumpy to bicycle let me tell you!)  The cathedral stands alone in the center of each and every town and we´d head there each day because there also stood the community fountain & well from which we could get drinking water.   

We met a total of 5 people who spoke any English at all, which prevented us from having many conversations, but it also made us really work hard at using our 30 words of Portuguese.  There are tractors to work the fields, but there is also an awful lot of hoeing and hand work happening on the land. Donkey carts roll down the cobblestones, loaded with hand scythed grass for the goats.  And really, not a whole lot more going on. 



Typical age and activity of Portuguese men.



Little groups of old men sit around and drink little cups of espresso (which is great!) in little cafes.  These old men were in each town and they´d wave and cheer as we rolled through, and two hours later we´d see the next group of little old men sitting on the side of the road of the next town.  And it must be noted, that we´d only see one woman for every 50 men.  Where are they all?

Amy enjoying a treat of wine bread and cheese (total 2.25 Euros)

We attempted to try to find Portuguese food for lunch, which is convenient while cycling and camping, but were unsuccessful.  We have literally seen zero Portuguese people eating meals since we´ve been here.  What we have seen, and then participated in, was lots and lots of drinking of espresso (all day) and wine (evening) and eating of entradas (bread, olives,  & cheese).  For 1 Euro we can get a couple cups of café or two glasses of wine.  We´ve had alternating caffine and alcohol buzzes many days.  We have had to be creative with our food shopping too. The little grocery markets carry fresh fruit, fresh bread, stinky cheeses, raw meat and sausages, and not much else. We eat a lot of bread and cheese, and cook potatoes and vegetables on our camp stove for dinner. It´s a new way of shopping for us, but probably much healthier without prepackaged foods.

Amy on the busy cobblestone streets of Guarda.



Portugal has been a great country to start the European leg of our trip with.  The roads have been mostly quiet, the hill climbing relentless, the weather mostly sunny, but stormy most afternoons, and the people patient and a delight.  We look forward to crossing into Spain tomorrow, which we will traverse from west to east before crossing the Pyrennes into France in about 3 weeks.