We Climbed on Granite Domes Just Below the Moorish Castle!
Clare Bathed in Sunlight On Solar
Dennis Climbing Solar
Two days of climbing in a row, how lucky am I? We drive to Sintra and park the truck. From the truck, we wander around a bit and then head up to the climbing crag. I’m just itching to sample some granite…Pedro said we would climb underneath a castle on granite and I had him repeat it to me, just to make sure I wasn’t day dreaming!
More Pictures Below:
Dennis Climbing Adamastor
Clare Leading Astrolabio (I placed a couple of supplemental cams on my way to Bolt number 3).
The View from the Top Floor of Hotel Cidadela…Not Bad!
After 6 days in country, I finally get to go rock climbing. Yay! We drive from Uchas Country House, back towards Lisbon and stop in Cascais for some beach cragging. We park the truck, grab our gear, walk down the stone steps, and we’re there!
Dozens of bolted climbs await. I have a hard time picking which one I want to do first. We head over to the easy moderate section and I fire up a climb. I climb Adamastor and Astrolabia and then it starts drizzling. The rock becomes very slick, so we decide to call it a day.
We checked into Hotel Cidadela, which used to be a 4 star hotel. It’s been knocked down to 3 stars, but it still has the amenities one needs. It also sports a very nice private pool area. We ate dinner there one night and it was adequate, but definitely nothing special! Better bet is to eat somewhere in town!
More climbing pictures below.
Pedro pointing the way. Hiking signs are color coded, so it’s relatively easy to stay on route.
The high point of our journey along the Postman’s Way!
Beautiful Fall Colors!
Our adventure of the day was to do a lovely and historically significant 13km loop hike in the Rio de Frades area. In a not so distant past, this huge area was serviced by one postman, who would routinely hike along this path to deliver the mail. In this hilly and mountainous region of Portugal, it was quite the task! I imagine the postman being a superbly fit guy!
Later that night, Jess made us a very special meal of roast lamb, potato, garden greens, and rice. The food was so amazing it’s just hard to describe the level of deliciousness. The best I can do is a picture:
And, here’s another one of Jess, Pedro, myself, and Dennis about to devour a very special meal!
For more pictures of our fantastic hike, click on the following:
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Me With Luna (Portuguese Water Dog Puppy), Guardian of Uchas Country House!
Octavio & Jess (Uchas Country House Owners!) and Clare & Dennis
We are standing in front of their huge outdoor oven. I want one!
It rained all day, so we lingered around Uchas Country House. We caught up on email and spent time reading books in the cozy main house. In between storms, we took a tour of the farm. Jess showed us how the eggs are collected from the hen house and how various veggies are harvested.
I loved Jess’ tour of farm life. Having spent a good portion of my youth living on a mini-farm, it was nothing new to me. However, for Dennis, I think it was interesting and helped to bring perspective into my adolescence. It’s one thing for me to say I woke up at 6:30am to milk the goats and when I got home from school, I brought in the eggs. It’s another thing entirely, to walk around the farm and actually see somebody doing those things!
It was also cool to see what sorts of vegetables they can grow in that part of Portugal. We noted a lot of the same fall veggies as we have; squash, cauliflower, broccoli, and beans. They had already harvested the potato and the corn, which was stored for fall and winter.
Later in the afternoon, Octavio and Jess shared a video with adventures offered by Nomades. The video was awesome! Nomades takes people canyoneering, rafting, and rock climbing. They also offer team building activities to corporate clients. It is a separate business than the Uchas Country House, but some of their Uchas clients who come for a “get away” weekend, to be treated to the bed & breakfast may also want a little adventure!
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Our adventure tour started with wet canyoneering on a beginner’s section of the local creek. Octavio at Nomadas.pt was the lead guide and Pedro was our assistant. We spent the morning rappelling down slick rock precipices and waterfalls, jumping and sliding off of mossy rock walls, and swimming through pools of water.
Octavio once said canyoneering is like an adult version of the playground and I think he’s right. Once we got used to maneuvering the creek in our wetsuits, we had a blast. The many pictures following prove the point, canyoneering is fun!
Pedro and Clare marveling at the goats in the streets!
In the afternoon, Pedro took us to a small mountain village called Covas Do Montas. It is a Nationally Protected mountain town; it’s population is dwindling but there is a very important history which must be preserved for future generations.
The village is full of goats and since I love goats, Octavio thought I should go check it out. It was a fun little half day afternoon adventure thanks to Pedro’s expert navigation of the windy mountain roads! I hadn’t seen that many goats in one place since the California State Fair in 1992!