Climbing in the Serra da Estrela

 Leaving after breakfast at Memmo, we drove north out of Lisbon. We'd planned a scenic route through the Beira Literal but switched last moment as the news filled with the terrible loss of lives in forest fires around Pedrógão Grande. It was the beginning, as it turned out, of a devastating summer of wild fires across Portugal and Spain.

Sticking to national roads we drove instead via Castelo Branco, into the Serra da Estrela. Up and up, along hectically winding roads to Manteigas in the huge mountainous Parque Nacional nature reserve ...

and from there climbing even higher to Penhas Douradas, at one of the highest points of the Serra.

Next morning we took a long walk along a mountain trail, passing occasional homes. 

While wondering whether anyone really lives up here, we crossed paths with an elderly couple who actually do live in one of these homes with extraordinary views across the mountaintops and valley. 

As we stopped to chat and asked them the way to a Miradouro we wanted to climb to, the man and his wife bickered pleasantly about which path we should take, but ultimately reached consensus, and so we set off.

With these views over the county seat (Manteigas) and the Zêzere glacier valley, with its huge granite formations and wild pine forests, it felt to me like the roof of Portugal. 

Reaching the final ascent to the miradouro and the rock climbing it entailed, we agreed we'd probably been over-ambitious ... but conquer it we did.

 

It was back to lie under the trees next to the pool for the rest of the day, before an early start the next morning.

There was time for a last look across the beautiful Serra before a long drive across the border and northern Spain ...

Serra da Estrela, Portugal

Day 15, Iberian road trip, June 2017

Last day in Lisboa

 

Last day in Lisbon, we took a cab down to the riverfront, to see the Mercado da Ribeira 

Time Out's design market with a vast open market and food hall below and a workspace area above.

I loved that it features stalls where you can buy easy street-food from Portugal's best chefs like Henrique Sá Pessoa and Miguel Laffan (whose food we'd eaten at L'and in the Alentejo).

Lisbon's best food and wines are all available at low prices in one space, with big refectory tables to eat at.

as well as artesanal shops like A Vida Portuguesa and others.

We had Sá Pessoa's fancy version of fish and chips with squid (lulas fritas, a childhood favourite of mine) and a nice glass of cold wine.

Afterwards we walked all the way up to the top of Calçada da Gloria, the funicular that connects the high quarter with the Baixa

We decided not to take the tram but walk down, watching it pass by ...

Down in the Baixa there were plenty of colourful Tuk-tuks happy to transport tourists 

But we walked instead, all the way up the beautiful tree-lined, cobble-stoned Avenida da Liberdade ...

We didn't shop here at the designer stores, but instead at an old Spanish favourite, Purificación García!

After an afternoon at the pool in Memmo, it was back up to the Bairro Alto where traffic was heavy down to the river at sunset ...

 

In the Rua Nova da Trinidade we had dinner at yet another of José Avillez's restaurants, at this point hopelessly enamoured by his food - the Páteo 

Atypically Lisboeta indeed - we agreed that Avillez's gift is that he takes traditional Portuguese staples and turns them into something miraculously light, fresh and modern while staying true to their essence and the sense of nostalgia they bring.

At the table next door a Portuguese child was learning young to enjoy good food

We loved the decor at Pateo - a nod to the traditions and culture of the Bairro, like the windows typically seen in the tiny homes of Bairro Alto, artefacts and chalk signs (volto já - back soon)

and the old post boxes under the windows ...

After dinner we walked through the Bairro and stopped for a drink at The Old Pharmacy in Rua Diário de Notícias where the eponymous newspaper began in the 1800s

and then on to By The Wine in Rua das Flores, José Maria Fonseca's bar in Misericórdia

Late night by now, the street restaurants of Bairro Alto were still packed with diners

Lisbon, Portugal

Day 14, Iberian road trip, June 2017