Through the Serra da Estrela

We drove inland from the campsite at Coimbrão, which inspite of my teasing about Claudia, is a very nice site and is recommended (www.portugal-camping.eu). We headed for a little sightseeing in the Serra da Estrela, to the east of the town (city?) of Coimbra (not to be confused with the camp village of Coimbrão.

and to the little hamlet of Piódão which was only accessible on foot or horseback until the 1970s. The buildings are made from the local Schist and give it a very distinctive look.

There’s been some renovation works and some opportunities remain but I think they are cheating just a little with the stone facing, where they are using the Derbyshire “Davey Block” method of exterior rebuild...

It’s a lovely hill hamlet nevertheless

We spent an unsatisfactory night at what should have been a great campsite just to the north of those Serras. It was a restored farm with a great bar and atmosphere, spoilt by the sheer number of tents, caravans and campervans they were squeezing on. When were were shown the available pitches they were so close to the others it was like being on a Caravan Club site in the UK.
During the night I could hear the woman in the T5 camper next door snoring very loudly, How this didn’t wake her husband I don’t know.
So we left and went north to Vila Real. Lunch on the way was at a picnic spot next to a river in which we were somewhat surprised to see a snake, then another and another.

They were all over the bank next to the water. There’s one in here too.

At a guess these snakes were at least 50cm long and fair enough, we didn’t have a swim.

Vila Real has rapidly expanded to the current population of circa. 50,000 and it is amazingly situated in a bowl within high hills. It has a long legacy of motor racing having held road races since the 1930s. There were massive preparations going on for the forthcoming FIA WTCC “Race of Portugal” at the end of June. For the second year running they are hosting the world event and are busy turning key roads into a street circuit.

The camp site is in the middle of town. It was such a surprise to find one in a great location but very convenient. We wandered into the old town area, hoping for a refreshing beer but our efforts to sit at the table outside a bar and order one were thwarted when no-one came to serve us.
This has happened a few times and I’m not sure quite what we are doing wrong. We had more success in the cake shop and bought an example of the Portuguese egg & almond filled pastry which was delicious. The beer was eventually located a little later in the Landy cooler.