John: Our last two days of riding originally were going to take us more inland into a national park area for an evening at a place called Artvilla. Very funky looking, not too expensive, kind of in the middle of nowhere.
As we got further south in Portugal I began to be concerned about longer distances and higher climbs with increasing heat and sun exposure. So, at about 2am one night about a week and a half ago I cancelled the Artvilla reservation and routed us through Torres Vedras for the last evening before Lisbon. This reduced the last two days from over 80kms and almost 1000m ascent each to a more doable 60kms and 800m ascent each day. We’re sturdy, but still …
Torres Vedras is a mid-sized city about 30 kms from the sea and 60kms north of Lisbon, it’s fairly industrial. It features an old castle up on a high hill. Our downtown hotel was very basic – sort of a ‘Days Inn’ kind of place – but with a very warm and welcoming staff. They happily walked with us to make sure our trikes were secure in their parking garage and helped us upstairs with our gear and batteries. We had the dregs of a bottle of red wine spill into a pannier during the previous day’s ride so we needed to wash some laundry. Luckily, the room’s balcony was in full searing sunshine. No wonder nobody here owns driers. Dry in no time.
We had a warm bottle of white wine that needed a bit of chilling. The front desk wasn’t too intuitive with ice, but the little I got went into the bidet with the bottle. Not very effective.
There was no restaurant at our ‘Days Inn’, so we ventured out. The intended joint was closed, but a continued stroll to the central plaza led us to a small restaurant which was half full of families. No tourists here, and no English spoken. We kind of guessed at – with Google translate – our order, and got a fabulous dinner of plates of octopus, veggies, roasted cheese and dates, thinly sliced beef, french fries, and the best butter-soaked bread imaginable. Reasonably priced, and accompanied with the soundtrack of multi-generational families, with several mostly happy babies and toddlers. Sublime.
Patti here: the jacaranda trees continue to impress the closer we get to Lisbon. Imports from Brazil, they bloom in Portugal when the weather here most closely approximates that of their growing season in Brazil. They are spectacular in the sunlight.
Below, the first photo in the galley is of Portuguese Custard Tarts, a.k.a. Pastes Belem (Google that, you’ll be drooling) at the divine Storyteller’s Palace on the beach in the morning before we set out. They were fresh baked but the real deal is in Lisbon where we will visit the source. Crunchy flaky pastry? Custard filling? What’s not to love.
Oh, and my dinner at the end of this day was octopus. How much octopus is too much octopus?
P.S. None of this fun and frivolity could happen without support on the home fronts. Claire continues to be a constant support for John’s 93 year old mom, Marny. And our incredible neighbour, Johan, is doing his utmost to make our home look inhabited while we’re away, moving front porch furniture around, checking for flyers, even SWEEPING! We are so, so lucky.
