DAY 13 - MONSANTO DAY 3:

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WE GOT UP THIS MORNING NOT SURE WHERE WE WERE GOING TO GO. MANOLI WANTED TO HANG AROUND TOWN MOSTLY, ESPECIALLY WITH THE HIGH CHANCE OF RAIN. WE DECIDED WE NEEDED GAS AND MONEY ANYWAYS, AND NEITHER WERE AVAILABLE IN MONSANTO OR ALL THAT CLOSE. WE ASKED THE TOURIST LADY AND SHE SAID THE NEAREST PLACE FOR BOTH WAS IN PENHA GARCIA, A LARGER TOWN DOWN THE 'HILL' FROM MONSANTO AND ABOUT ABOUT 20 KMs ON THE MAIN ROAD. ALTHOUGH I HADN'T MADE A WEB PAGE FOR IT, I DID REMEMBER THERE BEING SOME FOSSIL STUFF THERE, AND AFTER LOOKING ON THE INTERNET, REALIZED THAT ALSO HAD A SMALL CASTLE. THIS WILL MAKE OUR 10TH CASTLE SO FAR.

WE WALKED DOWN TO OUR CAR AND HEADED DOWN THE HILL, PASSING THE LITTLE TOWN OF RELVA AT THE BASE OF MONSANTO. TURNING RIGHT TOWARDS MONTIFINHO AND PENHA GARCIA, WE HAD A SMOOTH AND UNEVENTFUL DRIVE TO PENHA GARCIA. FROM THE BEGINNING OR OUR TRIP, IT WAS RAINING, EITHER LIGHTLY OR MORE HEAVILY AND CONTINUE ALL THE WAY TO PENHA GARCIA. I TURNED INTO THE TOWN, WENT AROUND THEIR ROUNDABOUT AND HEADED UP HILL (AGAIN!) FOLLOWING THE SIGN FOR THE TOURIST OFFICE. AGAIN, THE ROAD GOT QUITE NARROW AND STEEP, WITH TIGHT TURNS, SO AS SOON AS I FOUND A WIDE SPOT FOR PARKING, I PULLED IN. FORTUNATELY, THE TOURIST OFFICE WAS LESS THAN A BLOCK FURTHER UP HILL. THE LADY THERE GAVE US A PAMPHLET, IN PORTUGUESE OF COURSE, AND TRIED TO EXPLAIN ABOUT THEIR TWO FAMOUS SIGHTS, THE CASTLE AND THE FOSSILS, BOTH OF WHICH COULD BE VISITED BY FOLLOWING THE PR3 TRAIL MARKERS. THE RAIN HAD STOPPED AND WE UNDERSTOOD ENOUGH TO GET GOING, SO WE FOUND THE FIRST TRAIL SIGN AND CROSSED OUR FINGERS, REMEMBERING OUR LAST TRIP ON A 'MARKED' TRAIL.

WE WALKED UP HILL QUITE A WAYS AND WERE SOON AT THE BASE OF THE CASTLE. CLIMBING UP THE STEEP STAIRS, WE REACHED THE RATHER SMALL CASTLE AND TOOK SOME PHOTOS OF IT AND THE TOWN BELOW. THE TRAIL WENT IN ONE GATE/DOOR AND OUT THE OTHER. FROM THERE, THE TRAIL WENT BACK DOWN TO THE TOWN STREET, UP A BLOCK OR TWO, THEN STARTED HEADING DOWNHILL TOWARDS THE DAM JUST OUTSIDE OF TOWN. THE DAM IS HOLDING BACK A GOOD SIZED LAKE OR RESERVOIR. THE TRAIL WENT PAST A SMALL NATURAL CAVE, THEN WOUND DOWN ALONG THE SIDE OF A SMALL RIVER AT THE BOTTOM OF A DEEP RAVINE. AT SEVERAL POINTS ALONG THE WAY, WE SAW FOSSILS OF TRILOBITE TRAILS, FOR LACK OF A BETTER TERM. APPARENTLY, 26-LEGGED TRILOBITES, WOULD BURROW THRU THE COMPRESS SOIL AND LEAVE BILOBED TRAILS BEHIND THAT BECAME FOSSILIZED. I'M SURE I'M NOT DESCRIBING THE PROCESS THAT WELL, BUT YOU CAN SEE THE RESULTS IN THE PHOTOS.

JUST BELOW THE DAM, THERE IS AN OLD WATER MILL AND FOSSIL HOUSE, BUT UNFORTUNATELY BOTH ARE CLOSED ON MONDAYS AND TUESDAY. OH WELL, THE SCENERY WAS VERY NICE AND THE FOSSILS WERE PRETTY COOL. THE TRAIL SORT OF FOLLOWED THE LITTLE CREEK TO THE BOTTOM OF EDGE OF THE TOWN, THEN CLIMBED BACK UP STEEPLY TO OUR STARTING POINT. WE DID ENCOUNTER ANOTHER COUPLE (ENGLISH SPEAKING) ALONG THE WAY, THE ONLY OTHER HIKERS WE'VE SEEN ON ANY OF OUR HIKES.

WE NOTICED WHAT LOOKED LIKE A MARKET AT THE BOTTOM OF PENHA GARCIA, CLOSE TO THE MAIN ROAD, BUT WHEN WE WENT TO CHECK IT OUT, IT WAS ALMOST ALL CLOTHING WITH ONE LITTLE PRODUCE TENT. I TRIED TO GO BACK TO THE MAIN ROAD ON A DIFFERENT STREET AND RAN INTO A DEAD END, ON A STREET ABOUT 8 FOOT WIDE! I MANAGED TO TURN AROUND, AFTER ABOUT 5 BACK AND FORWARD MANEUVERS. WE STOPPED AT THE FIRE STATION TO GET SOME MORE MONEY FROM THE ATM (YES, AT A FIRE STATION!), THEN WENT DOWN THE ROAD ANOTHER MILE OR SO AT THE GAS STATION AND BOUGHT 40 EUROS OF GAS, WHICH ALMOST FILLED OUR LITTLE TANK.

IT HAD STARTED RAINING AGAIN (GOOD TIMING?) WHILE WE HEADED BACK TO MONSANTO AND A MUCH NEEDED LUNCH. I DECIDED TO PASS MONSANTO TO SEE IF THERE WAS ANYTHING MUCH IN THE NEXT TOWN OF MEDELIM. IT WAS A QUAINT TOWN, KNOWN FOR THEIR BALCONIES (163 OF THEM I BELIEVE), BUT NOT MUCH ELSE OR ANYTHING INVITING-LOOKING FOR LUNCH. WE TURNED AROUND AND HEADED BACK TO MONSANTO, STOPPING AT THE LITTLE TOWN OF RELVA AT THE BASE OF THE MONSANTO HILL TO GET A MUCH NEEDED COFFEE. WE'D DECIDED WE FINISH WHAT WAS LEFT OF OUR TWO PIZZAS AND HAVE A DECENT DINNER INSTEAD. IT CONTINUED TO DRIZZLE THE WHOLE TIME UNTIL DINNER, AND BEYOND. MANOLI LIKE THE TAVERN'S CREPES SO MUCH THAT SHE WANTED ANOTHER ONE. I HAD A PORK STEW THAT WAS QUITE GOOD. ALTHOUGH THE MEAT WAS A BIT TOUGH, THE BROTH MADE UP FOR IT, ESPECIALLY WITH LOCAL BREAD TO SOP IT UP.

AFTER DINNER, WE RETURNED TO THE ROOM TO PACK AND SHOWER SO WE'D BE READY TO LEAVE TOMORROW BY 7AM. WE NEED TO RETURN THE RENTAL CAR IN LISBON BY 11:30AM AND IT WAS SUPPOSEDLY A FOUR HOUR DRIVE, ON AVERAGE. YOU WON'T HEAR FROM US AGAIN FOR ABOUT TWO DAYS, BECAUSE AFTER DROPPING OFF THE CAR, WE'LL BE HANGING OUT AROUND THE BUS STATION THERE UNTIL OUR BUS AT 10PM TOMORROW NIGHT. THE BUS GETS INTO SEVILLE AROUND 6:15AM, THEN WE HAVE TO TAKE ANOTHER BUS FROM THERE TO GRANADA FOR OUR FINAL VACATION STOP BEFORE VISITING MY WIFE'S FAMILY AND HOMETOWN FOR A FEW DAYS. I'LL POST ONE BLOG ABOUT 48 HOURS FROM NOW WHEN WE GET SETTLED IN THE HOSTEL IN GRANADA WITH A DESCRIPTION OF OUR LONG TRIP AND MAYBE A FEW PHOTOS. SPAIN HO!

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