September 24, 2022
St Martin de Trevejo, Almeida, and Porto
Two nights ago we were at a converted convent just outside of town. The plan was to bike through town parallel to the main road and join it on the other side. Half of the group made a wrong turn and pushed out bikes up a steep cobblestone path for a few minutes. We eventually caught up the other cyclists. It was much cooler. The area is more green and there has been dew in the morning. It was our last day of cycling.
I felt better than I had the day before when my knee was painful and could have gone all day. We did a lovely 72 km (45 mi) ride to a converted fortress. The walls were very thick and no wifi in the rooms. I got it for a while in the courtyard. Dinner was at 8:30 when the restaurant opened. Except for me, there was a fixed starter and dessert and two choices for the main course. They had asked for our choices way at the start. A pretty crazy set-up. I was given no choice and don’t really know what my starter was.
The fort goes back a way and was held by Wellington who decided to destroy it rather than let it fall into Napoleon’s hand back in 1812. The rooms were very deep and not very wide. St Martin de Trevejo.
Today a big 50 seat bus came for the 17 of us. We stopped in Almeida to look at some other fortress and walled city. There was a siege there in 1810. Eventually we got to a train station in Portugal and took the train to Porto. The train followed the Douro River which runs right to Porto. There were lots of tunnels as it is rocky and steep. Many vineyards in this area.
Many of the people will head home tomorrow. Our last group dinner is coming up.
Birds seen recently include White Wagtail, Red Kite, Crested Lark, Iberian (not Azure-Winged) Magpie and European Goldfinch. Probably Chiffchaff and Stonechat and Euro Magpie.
Today's ride: 72 km (45 miles)
Total: 652 km (405 miles)
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