WE WOKE UP FAIRLY EARLY AT 7AM FOR OUR BUS TRIP TO CHIPIONA AT 10AM, AND WERE APPARENTLY THE ONLY ONES UP IN THE WHOLE PLACE. AFTER PACKING EVERYTHING UP, IN THE BATHROOM SO WE WOULDN'T DISTURB OUR FELLOW HOSTELERS, WE LEFT THE HOSTEL IN SEARCH OF THE BUS STOP FOR NUMBER 33 TO THE MAIN BUS STATION. I GOT US A LITTLE LOST, BUT WE FINALLY ARRIVED AT THE BUS STOP AND GRABBED THE NEXT BUS. THE BUS WAS FAIRLY EMPTY AND NEVER DID FILL UP MUCH. AT THE STATION, WE QUICKLY LOCATED THE CAFETERIA FOR OUR MORNING COFFEES, AND SAT THERE UNTIL AROUND 9:20 BEFORE WE MOVED TO THE WAITING ROOM. THE ALSA BUS BOARDED AND LEFT ON TIME FOR THE FIRST LEG OF OUR TRIP, FROM GRANADA TO SEVILLE'S ESTACION DEL PRADO. APPARENTLY ... read more

WE WOKE UP AROUND 6AM SO WE'D LEAVE BY 7AM, TO REACH LISBON BY 11AM TO RETURN OUR RENTAL CAR. THE ONLY PROBLEM WE HAD GETTING TO LISBON WAS THE MAJOR TRAFFIC JAM NEAR THE END. IT TOOK LIKE 30 MINUTES TO TRAVEL 3 MILES! WE LOCATED THE CORRECT EXIT FROM MY DIRECTIONS, BUT SINCE THEY WERE FOR THE AIRPORT AND WE WERE GOING TO THE BUS STATION, WE PROMPTLY GOT LOST... FOR OVER AN HOUR! WE FINALLY SORT OF GAVE UP AND STOPPED A TAXI. HE TOLD US HE'D LEAD US THERE FOR THE PRICE OF A FAIR, 7 EUROS. BY THAT POINT IT SOUNDED LIKE A STEAL. WE ALSO PROBABLY USED UP A BIT OF THE FULL TANK OF GAS WE'D ENSURED WHEN WE EXITED THE HIGHWAY, BUT THE AVIS AGENT DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING. ... read more

HAPPY 40TH ANNIVERSARY TO US! TODAY WE PLAN ON HIKING DOWN TO AN INTERESTING TOWN CALLED IDANHA-A-VELHA. THE TRAIL IS SUPPOSEDLY ONLY 7 KILOMETERS. AROUND 8AM, WE WENT TO THE TAVERN FOR OUR INCLUDED BREAKFAST. WE WERE GIVEN COFFEE, JUICE, TOAST WITH AT LEAST 4 KINDS OF JAMS OR SPREADS, HAM, AND CHEESE. ALTOGETHER TASTY AND HARDY. AFTER BREAKFAST, WE STARTED OUR HIKE TO IDANHA-A-VELHA. I DIDN'T HAVE A MAP, BUT SUPPOSEDLY YOU CAN FOLLOW TRAIL MARKINGS AND SIGNS WITHOUT ANY PROBLEM. WHERE I THOUGHT THE TRAIL STARTED, AT THE BOTTOM OF THE ROAD ENTERING MONSANTO, TURNED OUT TO BE THE START OF A TRAIL TO SORTELHA, 73.1 KMS AWAY! WE ASKED A NICE LADY AT THE BUILDING THERE AND SHE SAID SURE, JUST FOLLOW THE TRAIL TO THE RIGHT INSTEAD OF THE LEFT. AFTER A ... read more

ANOTHER STANDARD BREAKFAST AND WE WERE OFF TO TRANCOSO, THE FIRST AND PROBABLY MAJOR VISIT FOR THE DAY. I'D HEARD TRANCOSO HAD THE MOST TO SEE, SO WE DECIDED TO HEAD THERE FIRST, THEN SEE HOW MUCH OF THE DAY WAS LEFT AFTERWARDS. TRANCOSO IS LESS THAN 30 MILES SOUTH OF VILA NOVA DO FOZ COA, MOST OF IT ON A MAJOR HIGHWAY, IP2. WE ARRIVED THERE AROUND 10AM AND WERE IMMEDIATELY IMPRESSED BY THE WALLED HISTORIC SECTION AND ITS CASTLE. OUTSIDE THE WALLS WAS A MUCH BIGGER AND MORE MODERN TOWN. ALMOST ALL OF THE ORIGINAL MEDIEVAL WALLS STILL STAND, WITH A NUMBER OF GUARD TOWERS AROUND THE PERIMETER. THE WALLS CONTAIN AT LEAST 4 OR 5 GATES AND ONE TINY WALK-THRU WE FOUND. IN THE BACK SECTION OF THE WALLED TOWN ARE THE REMNANTS ... read more

WE PACKED UP OUR GEAR, CHECKED OUT OF THE HOSTEL, AND AFTER A BIT OF NAVIGATIONAL RESEARCH, HEADED TO OUR NEXT STOP, VILA NOVA DA FOZ COA. THE MAP AND DRIVING DIRECTIONS I'D MADE FROM GOOGLE MAP DIRECTIONS (GREAT TOOL!) TOLD US ALMOST ALL OF THE 312 KILOMETERS WOULD BE ON MAJOR ROADS. THE GAS TANK OF THE LITTLE FIAT WAS GETTING LOW, SO WE STOPPED AT ONE OF THE SERVICE AREA ON THE HIGHWAY AND BOUGHT 30 EUROS OF GAS, WHICH BROUGHT US BACK TO ABOUT 2/3 OF A TANK! GAS IS ABOUT 6.5O EUROS A GALLON, AND EVEN THOUGH OUR LITTLE CAR PROBABLY GOT VERY GOOD MILEAGE, THAT PARTIAL FILL UP STUNG A BIT. ANYWAYS, WE CONTINUE ON OUR WAY. IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT MOST OF THE TIME WE WERE ON TOLL ROADS. ... read more