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.
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