Trás os Montes

[Pedro]

If you look at a map of Portugal and look at the north border with Spain, and follow the half of it most inland, that's where this ride will take place.

I had a short meeting in a bank in Vila Nova de Gaia, and only ended up leaving well after 9:30, got on the motorway north to Braga and from there got on the small roads, took the N103 firstly heading northeast to go past the edge of the Gerês natural park with it's charming old villages, it's landscape so bucolic it feels like it's manicured by god. It's  very pretty place but not one for today. This was still on monday but the start of the holly week, and Spaniards must not have saints in Spain as they all flock to Portugal, Braga being a very important catholic town is invaded by tourists so I wanted none of that. 

Stopped at a big shop to buy a charging cable for my phone right after Braga, and had some breakfast before setting off properly inland.

 

A few kms after, and although the N103 is very nicely surfaced, constantly presenting series of bends that allow you to enjoy any motorcycle from the most modest to a proper fast sports bike, I got away from it and onto smaller, narrower, and twistier roads off over the hills. A brief stop near the small village of Xertelo presented me with a very typical Gerês landscape. I was surprised that I couldn't ride through the village and carry on the other side as they only allow local vehicles inside, being a protected landscape they obviously mean for you to enjoy the place with no cars driving around, so I took a short stroll around before returning the one or two kms back to the main secondary road :

 

Back on and shortly after I needed a pee, so got 50 meters off the road and came upon this place:

 

A brief phone conversation had me stop to check some stuff on my phone and call someone back, while I talk the cows arrived back at their field and maybe one car drove past, this is quiet living here:

 

The weather wasn't warm, but it wasn't cold either, the sky was very much overcast which ruins some of the pictures as everything looks like it should when it has a blue sky above. Arrived at Montalegre (translated to HappyHill), and stopped by the castle for a visit, I had never been here before and it is worthy of a stop. This place also marks the end of the typical Minho landscape and suddenly it feels more Tras os Montes, it's a place of harsh weather, lots of cold and ice, high winds, stone houses and hard people with tough lives, it feels epic and ancient too, and VERY different to the south.

Montalegre has a beautifully fixed up castle worthy of a stop. It's on the border of Portugal and obviously served an important purpose in defending territory back in 1273, when it was firstly built. The tower came later, and sadly it was closed on my visit so had to stick to climbing one of the walls.

 

Some of the castles I've visited don't really mind safety and you climb up and down walls along narrow uneven stone steps with a drop to one side and a wall to the other, here and probably being visited by lots of spaniards they made it tourist friendly with proper steps and rails.

 

I could do with a stop for a snack but most of the restaurants were closed, I didn't feel like properly sitting down in a restaurant and having a proper lunch and couldn't find a place with seating outside, so moved on. Exiting Montalegre, I like the mix of very well kept old stone houses and the modern underground recycling bins:

 

Traffic jam in Montalegre 

 

At around 2PM, I stopped at a small village, and got into a cafe to ask for a sandwich. Took a picture while the kind sir thinly sliced some presunto (raw bacon to you all), and made me a deliciously simple small sandwich. The cafe owner was very surprised I didn't go for his recommendation of going to the local restaurant and "eating properly", a proper Trasmontano lunch would invalidate riding in the afternoon  I ate outside while chatting to an older gentleman, no pictures as the camera would have ruined the moment. 

 

For @yen_powell, a church and a cemetery

 

I rode on heading East always quite close to the border, and mostly away from main roads.

 

Another stop for a call:

 

I intended on not stopping for pictures except in places where I actually stopped for whatever reason, but this made me stop and get off the bike for a picture of the road ahead, just to have the location saved when looking for it in the future, the surface could maybe do with a refresh but it had character, and if you look at the picture below you'll surely see what I like about this

 

Another stop for urination, on an amazing location:

 

I intended to stay for a while to enjoy the place and the river sounds but started to get swarmed with mosquitoes so went away. Instead stopped in Vinhais to have an espresso and figure out where to sleep.

 

It was past 16:30 when I stopped in Vinhais, while enjoying my coffee I looked on google maps and found a few locations close by, all that interested me were either booked or didn't rent for just one night stay. Doesn't matter, I decided to carry on small roads and stop later at Bragança. The roads though the Montesinho (little hill) Natural Park (https://goo.gl/maps/nDo8TfSDmuXbK8Lz7) are gorgeous. Most of it is old chestnut tree forests, and it feels amazingly old like you could expect to see a night riding though on horseback, it feels like 3 or 500 years ago, but I feel like pictures didn't make the place justice, you loose a lot of the naked trees with the grey sky we had. I'll have to come back in prettier light, and I'm sure it's a great place to visit when the leaves are changing and in chestnut season.

Bragança is the capital city of Tras os Montes, it's got a castle, an historic center, but I got a little fed up with it. Rode up to a hotel with underground parking for the bike, and stood in a line after 3 or 4 spaniards in front, the guy at the check in desk didn't seem to get a move on, that clearly wasn't for me so I walked out, phoned a small rural place in a village about 15km ahead and quickly made it there. By 19:00 I was in my room and enjoying a shower, the place was a good deal, in a nice small village and the covered and secured parking for the bike on the entryway was a bonus. It was never going to be dangerous leaving the bike outside but it was getting proper cold and I didn't feel like having a dew covered bike in the morning.

 

The converted farmhouse was a charming location too:

 

I think it was about a mile walk to the local restaurant in the next village, so I got out and went for a walk using up the last minutes of daylight, and enjoyed the old village as the locals were coming back home. Quite a few of the houses had life in them, but most people were already quite old, the lady driving the tractor in one of the pictures was surely well past 80, and the man waiting for her at home looked way older. He was washing cabbages outside, while the evening was starting to get colder. Hard people with hard lives.

 

This dirt "street" is the straighter way between both villages, I was surprised it had street lighting and manhole covers but no proper surface. 

 

Public clothing washing tanks is still a think in a lot of rural places in Portugal, more so where water is abundant, some are quite well kept like this one.

 

Outside the restaurant where I was hoping to find warmth and good food on a cold night. I did find both, toped with the typical transmontana hospitality and was made to feel at home immediately.

 

The house wine are perfect for the place, and the beef cut is a traditional one of the region. You won't see beef cut this way in the rest of Portugal and I don't really know why, it's delicious.

 

 

Ate and drank very well and felt happy, and went back to the hotel while chatting to a family of four out on a little trip to the north all the way from near my place near Lisbon. We got to chatting and eventually stayed up late playing pool and cards, and having some more wine for good measure. I went back to my room to sort quite a few work emails needing done but fell asleep with the laptop next to me. Slept like a baby.

 

[yen_powell]

Thank you for my church and cemetery.

What is behind the grill on this?

[yen_powell]

The eternal fight against rodents. We have exactly the same around where I live.

[XTreme]

Superb Pedro! And that beef looked good!

[Pedro]

I woke up a little hungover, but quickly made progress, not wanting to waste the morning and with a big motorcycle day ahead. Finished my emails, had a nice shower, and enjoyed breakfast, the work then called me back and turns out it was about 09:30 by the time I was leaving.

 

It was a coldish morning, temperatures were maybe around 7 or 8ºC until about 10AM, maybe later, but it felt way colder than that. Felt like even when stopped the wind was freezing cold. The roads were perfect, and I followed the border

 

Lots of trees in bloom, the camera on my phone doesn't do them justice. 

 

I didn't even stop in Miranda do Douro, although it is a charming town ideal for a stroll around and a coffee it had quite a few cars and I didn't feel like putting up with a crowd. Even saw a few british plated bikes, clearly making the best of the beautiful day.

I rode south, back south and heading all the way to Ericeira to meet up with Sofia, which is very far away and feels world's apart.

Stopped in one of the coolest Douro viewpoints for a few minutes, before lunch:

 

I thought my head was hurting from the previous day's excess drinking, but it was getting worse regardless of water drinking, and then I started getting this painful feeling in my sinus, it finally hit me that it was all the trees in bloom causing my hay fever to go wild. Quick stop by the pharmacy in Freixo de Espada à Cinta, got a few pills for that specifically as my nasal spray wasn't cutting it, and after a lunch sandwich I took a couple. 

Rode up to spend a while enjoying the views at Penedo Durão, so got there, took a few pictures and sat down for a while. The clean air and pills made their magic and I was already feeling a lot better. 

 

The vultures and griffons are amazing to watch, in person you can really see how big they are.

 

Time to go, and head down to the river, but first via possibly the dirt road with the best view in Portugal that I know off:

Last time I was here this road was more like a wide trail, seems like someone brough a proper machine and widened and flattened it. I hope they don't tarmac it, it would be a shame.

It leads to this:

 

Further south and after a few kms of a really nice twisty part of the N221, I take my final stop before pointing the GS south and jump on a motorway. Got to love my country where you're on a nice small tarmac road, follow a detour along a dirt road indicating "national monument" and end up riding down this. As always, it feels flat on a picture:

The national monument was an old stone bridge with the ruins of a water mill next to it. It's an idilic location

 

It was now 15:15, and the GS made it to Ericeira, a 4,5 hour trip according to google maps, by 19:00, including a small detour to buy the dogs a toy. Google maps indicates 470km between Freixo de Espada à Cinta (where I fueled up), and Ericeira, I took a little detour to go see the views, the dirt road, etc, and still made it to Ericeira without the fuel reserve light lighting, I love this bike.

 

[Pedro]

12 minutes ago, yen_powell said:

Thank you for my church and cemetery.

What is behind the grill on this?

Didn't check, but usually it's a little place to put a lit candle on or the figure of a saint during special dates.

[XTreme]

I'm waiting for abandoned villages and railway stations......while Yen waits for graveyards! 

[boboneleg]

I’m going to wait until I get home to look at this report @Pedro

The phone signal is pants here so photos are taking forever to load up.

From what I can see it looks a good one

[Pedro]

1 hour ago, XTreme said:

Superb Pedro! And that beef looked good!

Great quality beef is a staple of that region and its most famous food. It was very good.

[yen_powell]

This one's a frame worthy one I reckon. Loving the doormat changing it from any time since colour film came out to right now time. Well that and the perspex I spotted as I typed this!

[Specs]

Great stuff agin Pedro. Thanks!