DAY 12 - MONSANTO DAY 2:

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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 PLEASANT STROLL DOWN, WE ENTERED THE TOWN OF LAGAR DE JUNHO, WHERE EVERYTHING WENT WRONG. HERE, THE TRAIL CHANGED TO SAYING PENHA GARCIA AND HEADING IN THE WRONG DIRECTION. WE ASKED A GROUP OF OLD LADIES STANDING AT THE INTERSECTION AND GOT ALL SORTS OF ANSWERS, TO THE POINT WHERE THEY WERE ARGUING WITH EACH OTHER. WE STARTED IN THE DIRECTION I THOUGHT WAS RIGHT BUT DIDN'T SEE ANY TRAIL MARKS, SO WE TURNED AROUND AND HEADED UP THE TRAIL THAT WAS MARKED FOR PENHA GARCIA. SHORTLY UP THE ROAD, WE MET ANOTHER OLD LADY THAT INSISTED WE WERE GOING THE WRONG WAY AND TOLD US TO GO BACK WHERE WE HAD BEEN HEADING, BUT THAT IT WAS A LONG WAYS.

WELL, IT TURNED OUT TO BE THE RIGHT DIRECTION, BUT ALL OF IT WAS ON A ROAD AND STRETCHED OUT SO LONG THAT WE STARTED DOUBTING WE WERE RIGHT. MANOLI FINALLY STOPPED ONE OF THE FEW VEHICLES COMING DOWN THE ROAD, AND THE GUY TOLD US IN EASY TO UNDERSTAND PORTUGUESE THAT YES, THIS IS THE RIGHT ROAD AND TO TAKE THE NEXT LEFT THEN ANOTHER LEFT. HE ALSO SAID IT WAS ANOTHER 2 OR 3 KILOMETERS! WE'D ALREADY WALKED FOR OVER 2 HOURS, BUT FIGURED WE MIGHT AS WELL CONTINUE. FINALLY, AFTER ANOTHER HOUR (2 OR 3 KMS?), MAKING THE TWO LEFT TURNS HE'D TOLD US, WE ENTERED THE OLD TOWN OF IDANHA-A-VELHA. IT WAS A FAIRLY GOOD-SIZED ROMAN TOWN CALLED EUGENIA, I THINK, BUT WAS NOW A VERY SMALL TOWN WITH ALMOST NOTHING BUT ANCIENT BUILDINGS. QUITE INTERESTING ACTUALLY. THE ONLY DRAWBACK, BESIDES THE LONG WALK THERE (AND BACK!), WAS THAT THERE WERE NO STORES AND ONLY ONE CAFE. THEY HAD APPARENTLY HAD A FESTIVAL OF SOME SORT LAST WEEKEND AND WERE CLEANING UP THE TINSEL PIECES ALL OVER THE PLACE. WE FOUND THE CAFE, CAFE LAFIV, AND EACH HAD A CUP COFFEE WITH MILK (PRETTY MUCH CAPPUCCINOS) WHILE WE RESTED. AFTERWARDS, WE WANDERED AROUND THE TOWN A BIT, DISCOVERED THE TOURIST OFFICE WAS CLOSED ON MONDAYS, AND THEN FOUND THE ROMAN RUINS. IT WAS A PRETTY GOOD SIZED PLACE, WITH A LOT OF INTERESTING STONEWORK ABOUT.

WE RETURNED TO THE CAFE TO SEE IF THEY HAD ANYTHING TO EAT, SINCE IT WAS LUNCHTIME AND WE'D HAVE A LONG WALK BACK TO FIND ANYTHING ELSE. FORTUNATELY, THE LADY TOLD US SHE COULD MAKE HAM (ACTUALLY PROSCIUTTO) AND CHEESE SANDWICHES FOR US. AFTER EATING MOST OF OUR SANDWICHES (THEY WERE QUITE LARGE), AND HAVING A COLD COKE, WE ASKED ABOUT THE TRAIL BACK. ONE YOUNG LADY SPOKE BROKEN ENGLISH AND TOLD US THAT THERE WAS A PERCOURSO (HIKING TRAIL) JUST ON THE EDGE OF TOWN. WE THANKED HER AND HEADED THAT WAY. WE EASILY FOUND THE SIGN STARTING THE TRAIL, WHICH SAID IT WAS ONLY 7 KILOMETERS BACK TO MONSANTO. WE HAD PROBABLY JUST WALKED 15 OR MORE KILOMETERS ON THE ROAD, SO WE WERE HAPPY TO SEE THE MILEAGE ON THE TRAIL. SHORTLY AFTER STARTING, WE THOUGHT WE'D LOST THE TRAIL SINCE WE RAN INTO CLOSED GATES IN BOTH DIRECTIONS, BUT SAW TRAIL MARKS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF ONE GATE AND I NOTICED I COULD EASILY SLIP THE STRAP OFF THE GATE, SO AWAY WE WENT. WE CONTINUED TO FIND TRAIL MARKS (WHITE BAR OVER RED BAR), PASSING THROUGH TWO MORE GATES THAT WE UNDID AND REDID. I ASSUME THE GATES WERE TO KEEP THE SHEEP IN THAT WE STARTLED A COUPLE OF PLACES ALONG THE WAY. WE MISSED ONE TURN AND HAD TO RETRACE OUR STEPS, THEN FINALLY REACHED THE SAME ROAD WE'D WALKED ON GOING TO THE TOWN. WE BOTH REMEMBERED SEEING A TRAIL MARK ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE ROAD ON THE WAY TO THE TOWN, AND IT MADE SENSE THAT THE TRAIL WOULD PICK UP AGAIN DOWN THE ROAD TOWARDS MONSANTO, SO WE TURNED THAT WAY AND WALKED DOWN THE ROAD. APPARENTLY, THE TRAIL STARTED, ILLOGICALLY TO THE LEFT WHERE MET THE ROAD, SO WE NEVER SAW IT AGAIN AND ENDED UP RETRACING OUR WAY BACK THE WAY WE'D COME FROM MONSANTO IN THE FIRST PLACE. THE PART OF THE TRAIL WE'D FOLLOWED HAD APPARENTLY CUT A LOT OF TIME AND DISTANCE OFF THE TRIP AND WE REACHED THE FIRST TURN SOONER THAN EXPECTED. WE CONTINUED TO THE TOWN OF LOGAR DE JUNHO, AND PICKED UP THE TRAIL WE'D COME DOWN FROM MONSANTO ON. IT WAS A BIT GRUELING GOING BACK UP HILL, AND WE WERE ALREADY A BIT TIRED FROM ALL THE WALKING, BUT WE MADE IT BACK TO MONSANTO AROUND 4PM OR SO, HAVING WALKED OVER 6 HOURS, INCLUDING THE TIME WE SPENT IN IDANHA-A-VELHA.

ONE WORD OF ADVICE HERE. ANYONE THINKING OF TAKING THE TRAIL FROM MONSANTO TO IDANHA-A-VELHA SHOULD DEFINITELY GET A MAP SOMEWHERE ONLINE. I'M SURE THEY EXIST, OR MAYBE THE MONSANTO TOURIST OFFICE HAD THEM, BUT THEY WERE ALSO CLOSED ON MONDAY. IDANHA-A-VELHA IS WORTH A 14 KILOMETER WALK, ROUND TRIP, BUT NOT A 30 KILOMETER WALK. OH WELL, IT WAS OUR ANNIVERSARY AND WE ENJOYED THE SCENERY AND EACH OTHERS' COMPANY. WE HAD HOPED TO HAVE A NICE DINNER AT ONE OF THE 2 OR 3 RESTAURANTS IN MONSANTO, BUT I'D CHECKED OUT ADEGA TIPICA AND WASN'T IMPRESSED (PLUS IT WAS A LONG WAYS BACK DOWN THE ROAD FROM OUR ROOM), AND THE PETISCOS E GRANITOS RESTAURANT APPARENTLY DIDN'T OPEN FOR DINNER TODAY. SO, WE HAD ANOTHER PIZZA FROM NEXT DOOR. THEY ARE QUITE GOOD, BUT NOT WHAT I'D WANTED FOR AN ANNIVERSARY DINNER. WE FINALLY GOT THE TAVERN OWNER TO SHOW US HOW TO USE THE TV IN OUR ROOM, SO WE NOW HAVE ALL SORTS OF CHANNELS TO WATCH, MANY IN ENGLISH WITH PORTUGUESE SUBTITLES. I THINK WE ARE GOING TO WALK AROUND THE TOWN A BIT AFTER IT GETS DARK, THEN TURN IN FOR THE NIGHT. TOMORROW, WE ARE PLANNING ON VISITING ONE TO THREE OF THE INTERESTING NEARBY TOWNS, BY CAR THIS TIME.

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Photos

THE MAIN CHURCH AND BELL TOWER
NOTE LARGE BIRD (STORK) NEST ON RIGHT SIDE OF BELL TOWER