Land of Olives and Vinho Verde

vineyards and olives marble from Estremoz

The Portuguese roads are a different story. The tarmac is most often not a proper asphalt, but better described by a grid road with a thin layer of tar on top of it. Our bikes had a heavy time on this type of road. Downhill you still drive with quite some speed, so the vibrations caused by the road were testing the strength of the bikes to their limits. Recently some more major roads have been constructed, only two lanes, but they are called motor-ways and therefore often forbidden for bikes. The problem is that there are still so many donkey-carts around, that when all traffic would allowed, the number of accidents would be enormous.

forbidden for all ... ... slow traffic

A nice feature were the many small fountains with drinking water along the road. After all the Spanish and Portuguese tab-water with too much chlorine, this fresh water straight from the mountains was a nice change to fill our bottles with.

Portuguese towns are still very characteristic and unspoiled. At least in the more eastern parts we came through. A downside of this "historic character" were of course the "characteristic" roads made of rocks and stones. Very charming to look at, but on your bike a little bit uneven.

fresh spring water historic towns

At the time we went through, the harvesting of the grapes was nearing its end. Many vineyards started to color red and brown, while others were still the original green, forming a beautiful mixture. Much more than in other countries, vines are used to decorate and provide shadow on terraces and balconies. A feature that should be used more. The wine in Portugal is very nice, you drink it cold and it has a bit rough character. The only problem is that one bottle is never enough ... a real problem ???