Mishaps, marble, mountains

Technical problems to start the day.  The guy on the ebike was having some difficulty as the battery was not charging, so in the end, the leader took the problem bike, and Paul rode Jose's bike.  Now Paul had not been planning to ride seriously, but he did a great job and only opted out at the very last climb.  Way to go Paul!

Well, we certainly warmed up quite quickly with some climbing (a total of 1020m) today.  The countryside has become much more green and there are pastures everywhere with mainly cows now, attesting to the improved fertility of the soil.  The fences are actually wire and the farms are a lovely white dotting the green hillsides.  Trees of cork, are roadside and in the field, with their numbers to show the year of the last cutting.  There are lots of olive orchards too, and many vineyards.  It seems a very productive area.

Lunch was in Vila Viscoa followed by a nice warm cappucino while we were waiting for the marble museum to open.  Some incredible sculptures and samples of the marble from the hills of this area were on display along with old and current machinery used to cut the blocks.  But not even the video showing the extraction process could prepare me for the mindboggling experience of looking into one of the working open pit mines with huge excavators down about 30 stories, Art figured.  It's the only video I have taken so far because otherwise I just couldn't get the scope of the blocks being cut.  Picture today will tempt you!

Up another mountain and then into a pottery studio to see forming and painting and then pick up a sample of the beautiful, handmade wares.

Last 10 km of today's 62, finished with 2 km up to our hotel, a former convent.  The place has over 54,000 blue and white tiles lining all the walls and depicting life here and in monastaries elsewhere.  There are oil lamps along the walls, and the cloisters have orange trees.  Sampled a tiny windfall -- tangy!

I have been quite delightfully surprised by my ability to get up the hills -- not fast or beautifully, but thanks, kids, for the spinning suggestion which I have passed on.  I made it!

I didn't know........I did know

I didn't know:
-that clouds and rain come and go so quickly.  It wasn't raining at 7 am, was at 8 am but by 9 am was clearing, fog lifting and sun coming out.  We followed the rain most of the morning, riding on wet roads but never in the rain
-that cork trees are a variety of oak tree producing acorns -- very long ones -- and not having conventional oak leaves.  Note the latin name for oak -- quercus and how similar it is to "cork".  The trees need to be 25 years old before first cork harvest and after that can be reharvested every 9 years.  In the year of the harvest, the trees appear red due to a secretion which also helps remove the layer of cork from the tree
-that the colossal olives did not just grow in Spain
-that only white sheet get a bell, and not even all of them (based just on some observation this afternoon  and more research is necessary before this can be seen as a generality)
-that there were still aqueducts in use.  Elvas has a 4 tier one still bringing water into the city.
-that persimmons grow in the southern part of Portugal
-that almonds also grow in the Algarve
-that if you buy a beer in a bar (thought it was just a little store), you have to drink it there rather than taking it back to your hotel room.  They do, however, give you something to snack with it -- I had marinated broad beans, tasty.
-that things in Portugal are quite cheap (outside of Lisbon) -- my beer was 1 euro.  Yesterday my coffee and pastry were only 1.60

I did know:
- that riding uphill on cobbles would be hard, but didn't realize how hard
-that you can do lots of uphill (980m) on a day that is mostly rolling
-that spinning in a low gear is the best way to climb hills -- some of the guys still insist on just powering up and that destroys your legs
-that centuries of walking on marble stairs can make them wavy, but had never seen it in a hotel before
-that spending a long time standing at the counter,by yourself, with about 10 guys, after dark, is not a good idea, so I drank my beer and headed back to the hotel (it was only about 6 pm, so no worries)
-that the best pork comes from pigs which eat acorns, but I didn't know that they were all black skinned
-that all around the world, London Plane trees are used to majestically line roadways -- even here
-that medieval towns were on the itinerary for this trip, but didn't realize that I would be cycling over a drawbridge.

This is the longest climb of the day

....words I am not anxious to hear as it means (a) a really long climb -- about 5 km total--(a section like Sydenham hill stuck at the end) and b) there will be more hills, though not as long.

But I need to put the day in order.  After a brief walk on the ramparts(!!!) and a lovely breakfast, we met our trusty iron horses.  Mine, M1, is a roadbike, ultegra groupo, bags under the seatand under the crossbar, clip pedals -- a nice bike to ride!

We took a walk up to the castle of Marvao -- incredible views as this is the highest altitude village in Portugal.  Good thing as it meant the first 7.5 km were downhill on a good road but complete with switchbacks.  The riding was great, even with the aforementioned climb and the following lesser climbs.  With the granny gear (Oma gear?), it wasn't too bad.  Rosanne (the ironman) and Richard (the Brit who cycles the Alps) were, of course, the first up, but it wasn't as bad as I feared. Total today,  700m of climbing.

We were treated to a tasty picnic of bread, salad, cheese, roca pears and custard tarts to finish at an incredible viewpoint over the lower land all around.  Fairly perfect.The ride down was through small 2-3 home farm collections.  The fences are piles of stones which they have in abundance and there was a gentle jingle of sheep and goat bells to be heard. This area is designated a nature park meaning that a granite quarry had to be abandoned, but the logging for maintenance is ongoing.

Castelo de Vide indeed has a castle, complete with a fortress and medieval village where people still live within the 13/14 century walls, even though their green bins show they are modern too.  The town is quite vibrant with many little shops in ancient buildings and there were old and young out on the streets enjoying the sunny day.  Today's photo is a view from the castle.The hill in the distance is where we started the day.

My room on the ground floor of our BandB is very nice, but the the bathroom made of marble with a vaulted ceiling, is amazing.  Dinner this evening featured wild deer (from Spain) and chestnuts.  Yum!  Too bad I won't be here for the Chestnut festival in a few weeks.

Thinking of all of you being affected by the hurricane.  We have a bit of rain, which may be finished by the morning -- hoping!

Inside the fortress walls

Just a short update to let you know that I got picked up for the tour and now we are here in Marvao -- the village with the greatest altitude in all of Portugal -- just 6 km from the Spanish border, basically NE of Lisbon.  It was a long drive through very hilly (even mountainous)  countryside with eucalyptus, olive and cork trees.

We arrived in Marvao at 6 pm and the temperature had dropped to 5 degrees (altitude).  The van just fit into the opening in the fortress wall and with the bikes on top, just barely got under the arch.  We had a briefing on general procedure, bikes, trip segments each day and a glass of vintage port to celebrate the start of our tour.  Then it was on to dinner at this lovely little hotel stuck on the top of the mountain.

This should be exciting, especially down the mountain first thing tomorrow morning!  It is quite a diverse group, so that part will be interesting as well.

Updated Lisbon

In case you were wondering if all of Lisbon was centuries old, there is a whole district east of the old city centre (called 'Oriente', surprise!) which boasts both private and public buildings on the cutting edge of modern architecture.  The area was developed for the 1998 Lisbon World Expo and besides monuments, an amazing suspended concrete roof, buildings all done in ship motifs (the theme of the Expo was the world's oceans), a new avante garde train/metro station and a restored stack from the oil refineries which used to occupy the real estate, there is a spectacular Oceanarium featuring the second largest tank in the world.  None of these I visited, just took the tour bus through the area --maybe another time.

I had contemplated visiting the Tile museum, but my guidebook indicated that the best modern tiles were to be found in practical use on buildings and especially in train/metro stations.  Today's picture is a typical tile, in the traditional blue and white motif, which is actually the sign for an antique shop across from my hotel.

As the next part of my adventure begins with the pickup for the cycling tour (about 45 min. from now), I am not sure when I will be blogging again.  I hope that most (all) of the lodging spots over the next week will have wifi, but one is never sure in medieval villages.

With the prospect of travelling back in time several hundred years, I am glad to know that I have had this afternoon, a slice of 'the world's best chocolate cake'. (I would give it an 8.5)

Seeing the sights

The hotel works very well for a downtown home base -- nothing elaborate in terms of room or breakfast, but adequate to the cause!

The Yellow hop-on bus leaves just a few blocks from the hotel and I was out there when they started.  I   began on the Tagus line which wove it way around the central avenue and up into a newer section before turning back to the south (by the river Tagus) and heading along the north shore to Belem.  Many of the historic buildings are located west of the city as the ruler who survived the 1755 earthquake vowed not to live in a stone building again and established a "Royal Hut" out of the city.  That meant, of course, that Belem had to be included in the city proper, but the royal palace was built in Belem.  This was also from where most of the explorers set sail and the new monument to those brave adventurers is spectacular.  But the much older tower of Belem, built as a fortification on the river is as  impressive in a much older style.  There are museums for art, ancient architecture, astronomy, naval matters, etc.  I chose to visit the Coach museum (claiming to be the best in the world, though I think the British one is superior) which enlightened my about the evolution of carriage design.

The waterfront here is that wonderful combination of leisure, tourism, entertainment and function.  (Hamilton, can we finally get it together?)  Today I saw an 8s rowing boat, huge freighters, new sail boats, and even some vintage multimasted schooners.  The water seems to have quite a current, judging from the waves and the jellyfish.  The suspension bridge (Vasco de Gama) built in the 1960s is both for cars and trains, reaches the opposite shore close to the statue of Christ with open arms.  The south shoreline is much less developed than the north.

Today's picture is of a church I visited late this afternoon.  It was not the only church on my itinerary today, but it was the most unique in that it was an archaeological site.  Much of the building was destroyed by the 1755 earthquake and the restoration projects ran out of money.  Therefore, the main part of the church is without a roof, though the ribs from the pillars are still present in some places.

So far, I have chosen not to try the typical Portuguese custard tart, nor had any fish.  I am assuming that will be common in the next week.  I did however, same some lovely cookies at a pasteleria in Belem.  Love what they do with almonds!

If Europe is in economic crisis.....

If Europe is in economic crisis, then no one has told the airports.  Construction is everywhere at Heathrow so that travelling from one terminal to another by bus is a maze-like adventure through fenced and pyloned paths, around new multilevel parking garages and glassed terminal structures.  Almost every flight out of Terminal 1 today was delayed -- we actually left almost 3 hours late for Lisbon.  And we had been stacked up in the air for about 15 minutes coming in, so the problems just multiply. There were travellers everywhere.   Maybe choosing London as my transfer point instead of Newark, was not such a good idea.

Lisbon airport is also undergoing improvements on many fronts.  But the 20 degrees at touchdown and the palms greeting you on the tarmac, make for a very different feeling.  There is a bit more easy-going feeling, but maybe that was me -- treking into town on the bus like a local.  I guess I missed the 'backpack through Europe' phase in my 20s, and am making up for it a bit now.  All of the officials and service people here speak English well, so there is no problem with finding the right bus and bus stop.

Did my favourite supper -- bread and cheese!  Had a hard time finding darker bread, not nearly so common here as in Germany.  And so far, the local cheese have been quite mild.  However, add the Iberian touch -- a litre of gazpacho to accompany!  Hotel is basic but fine and close to the main routes I wish to access tomorrow.  

Ah yes, some sleep -- managed only a total of 3 hours in the last 24.

You've come a long way, baby

Sorry, but no picture with this post.

I am sitting here at the airport contemplating how air travel has changed in the last years.  I booked this flight strictly online, choosing from a variety of routes and carriers that were searched for me; the hotel was an online booking, not chosen from the internet but rather recommended by a friend, the 'hop-on-hop-off' ticket was found and done online and the tour which I will be taking was booked in cyberspace.  Through email, I have conversed with the hotel people, the bus people and the cycling tour leaders, having questions answered and conditions clarified.  I paid for all these items while comfortably sitting at my desk, with just my credit card or in some cases, Paypal.    I love the internet.

I checked in at a kiosk, got boarding passes for both legs of my trip and a luggage tag for my suitcase all the way to Lisbon.  Around me there are dozens of people with their computers, tablets or smart phones, and the TV just had a blurb about the launch of Windows 8.  Thanks to American Express, there is free Wifi here and Terminal 1   has lots of plugs for power.  I am no Steve Jobs with a vision of where we go from here, but it is exciting and I don't want to be left behind.  (OK, my cell phone is a dinosaur.)

Hope you all are optimistic about the future too!  And of course, I am looking forward to this particular new adventure.