Bicycle ride near Lisbon - Portugal

A wonderful bicycle ride always looking at Lisbon on the other side of the river Tejo (the Tagus).

Lisbon is crossed by the river Tagus. One can't imagine the city without thinking about the river as well.

But, like being part of the city it acts also like a barrier, not very often we think about the other side, with the exception of those that live there and have to cross the river to Lisbon to work.

For those who live in Lisbon, like myself, we look to the river and what do we see? "The other side" … well not just the other side of the river, you have to say it like with Darth Vader voice … yes you get it right.

In fact, for most of us, we just don't think much about it.

But … I started to wonder what if I design a bike trail connecting two of the several ferries that crosses the river to the "other side"?

Well, one of the ferry goes to a place called Montijo and another ferry connects Lisbon to Barreiro.

So I did it.

I started to investigate single dirt trails, way from the roads as much as possible and closer to the river banks.

The result was a 38 Km trail, very beautiful, pretty flat and with a lot of interesting and unexpected nice views over Lisbon.

After doing it with customers I also did a small video to share here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbTUjxP1se0

Enjoy the ride.

David Monteiro

Location: Montijo, Portugal

Article source: http://www.iberactive.com/2016/01/biking-near-lisbon-portugal/

River Ébron canyon – Spain

I love to think that there are trails that have a different objective than the walk itself and this one is a perfect example.

The river Ebron it's an interesting case of a river that starts and finishes in the same river. It's a tributary of the river Turia and in the same river has its mouth.

In its short path, the river Ebron crosses a canyon that was named "Estrechos del Ébron" (the Ébron strait)  and it was built here some funny iron infrastructures that allows people to walk in the canyon without wetting their feet.

Exactly, you will be able to walk almost on the water. The maximum height is about 1,5m high.

Funny isn't it?

To access to the canyon area the trail was equipped with some iron structures that helps you "climbing" some rocks … very easy.

In the way in will find some places where you won't resist having a bath in crystal clear waters.

Be sure to came here during a hot summer day because is the best time.

The canyon walls will provide the necessary shade and the water will be refreshing.

This is what I call a walk with a hidden agenda :)

Have fun.

David Monteiro

Location: Tórmon, Spain

Unknown places to walk - the river Alva dams

Crossing the river Alva dams.

The river Alva starts in the southwestern part of the Serra da Estrela and goes into the Mondego River upstream of Penacova, around 230km north from Lisbon.

At the mouth of the river Alva, and near Penacova, there are a number of small dams that allow a very interesting walk where we can cross the river several times from one side to the other, as we can see in the photographs of the various wal

ks I led there.

With a good knowledge of the region, it is possible to predict the level of water passing over the dams in such a way that it becomes possible to do the crossings without remove your boots off.

An unknown location, which does not come in tourist guides but well worth a visit and the hiking is fabulous, especially if it's finished with a typical regional dinner with dishes such as “Chanfana” or a Lamprey Rice. I will write about theses dishes later.

Let's walk?

I will be expecting you.

David Monteiro

Walking along the river Douro – Portugal

The Douro Valley is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and walking along the river Douro is a unique experience.

From the belvedere of São Salvador do Mundo (Saint Savior of the World) we can see the huge portion of river Douro.

The belvedere is at 493 m high, at the top of a long slope completely filled with vineyards from where port wine and table Douro wine are produced.

Looking around, the river dominates the landscape. Is like a long snake on its way to the ocean.

Almost all we can see from here are steep shores with vineyards. In the few little spaces that man is not be able to extract wine from the land, proud olive trees will be found whose fruit will produce one of the best Portuguese olive oils, the Douro Valley olive oil.

This is an overwhelming location, a high point from where a huge number of other summits can be spotted, there are countless mountains around here, spread as far as the human eye can reach.

Down the steep slope, very close to the river, the train slips through the railways, it looks like a toy. It's hard to distinguish it and sometimes it seems like a caterpillar being swallowed by the landscape, is in fact the train going into some tunnels existing along the railway.

The walks to the highest points are not easy, especially if you lack of training but with some patience and walking slowly you will overcome the strong inclination of the trails and finally get the reward for the effort by looking to these wide landscapes.

I prefer to walk during the first hours of day. It's usually quite pleasant with a cold breeze and even some fog because the river water condenses in the air leaving a very slight mist which gives a mystical ambiance to the Sunrise complementing this idyllic setting.

This is gold for photography lovers.

As the day progresses it starts to get  warm reaching 40º C or often higher during the summer.

Going down towards the river, we will notice an increase of temperature, especially at half hillside and we understand why these grapes ripen so early and we understand how life can be so hard around here for those who are harvesting vines.

A large part of these grapes are harvested by hand and, during harvesting season, there are numerous teams of people hired from everywhere to participate in the harvest. In other post I will detail a bit more matters concerned with the port wine, the wine production and the harvesting.

Continuing to descend and already very close to the river banks is time to take another trail. Here the air is fresher, tempered by river moisture.

The trail goes quite close and along the railway line of the infrequent train and, when it passes, it's always cause for joy and excitement and I imagine what the people inside will think about the group of walkers who apparently are in the middle of nowhere.

The train stations are perfect locations for brief stops to eat a snack and we can also admire the hand painted tiles.  There is a long tradition of hand painted tiles in Portugal and we can find impressive tile works in these train stations.

In addition to the olive trees the almond trees stands out in number and, the closer we get to Pocinho, the almond trees become more numerous. Is in the Algarve and Trás-os-Montes regions where there are greater abundance of almond trees in Portugal.

When to come here? 

Between April and the end of May and between mid-September to late October the Douro Valley is just perfect to visit and to walk around. Anyway, there is no time better than the other, there are different seasons and with very different scenarios, although this is my favorite months.

Visiting the Douro Valley in September/October you will see the end of the harvesting season. The vines have dark red leaves and the scenario is an impressive spectacle of shades of red and one can take amazing photographs.

The harvesting is probably the most important time of the year and all around there are people carrying baskets of grapes in a huge frenzy.

What else to do? 

In a landscape dominated by the River, the hike could not finish better than with an excellent ride on a Rabelo boat, the wooden typical boat of the Douro River that was once used to transport the barrels of wine to Vila Nova de Gaia (Porto) from where the port was then taken for the rest of the world.

The river waters are usually calm and the Rabelo boat, with its wide hull, is a very stable and comfortable vessel, sailing toward the mouth, to the West.

Ahead of us the sunset, is the end of a fabulous day, a treasure to save.

Suggestion: Magnífico Douro Wooden Rabelo Boats for a boat ride and Quinta de La Rosa for a wine cellar visit,

Where to stay? 

A suggestion: Quinta Nova Nossa Senhora do Carmo

David Monteiro

Location: Pinhão

Please check the original article at my blog in Wordpress

Climbing "via ferrata" a wonderful adventure

A via ferrata (iron way) is a climbing route where you will find metallic structures installed on the rock walls.

According to some sources, this kind of climbing routes had their origin in Italy, where the alpine guides of Madonna di Campiglios (Dolomites) started to place some support metallic structures to facilitated their tours with customers.

This idea was than very well received by the Italian army that came to develop the concept between 1915 and 1918 allowing their soldiers to progress on apparently inaccessible mountain terrain and getting some advantage towards the enemy that couldn’t imagine such structures.

After the world wars, from a military use the “via ferratas” started to have only a touristic use and to be spread out to other countries.

More recently there was a great effort by the Spanish authorities in the direction of installing many “via ferratas” of excellent quality that allow an excellent sensation of adventure tothose that are more experienced climbers as well to those that are not so experienced.

In the area of the Spanish Pyrenees there are has a dispersed set of excellent examples of “via ferratas” and that gives the possibility of fantastic vacations.

Although the “via ferratas” allow an easier progression than climbing on the plain rock, the use of these structures respect a set of security rules that, in case you are not familiarized such techniques is preferable to use the services of a guide.

The via ferratas are graded in many ways. There are some difficulty level grading that can go from an easy level of 1, also referred as A, or an extremely difficult level or 5, also referred as E. You can find other kinds of grading that involve other criterias suchs as a psychological factor of the “via ferrata”.

During the tours I promote to climb via ferratas, concerning the lodging terms I opt to present possibilities of reasonable economic lodging but with the basic comforts as privative bath. However, is always possible to find lodgings in accordance with one needs and pocket..

A memorable adventure.

David Monteiro

The Way of Saint James

What is the Way of Saint James? How did it appear? Why is so important?

More than a pilgrimage is a spiritual journey within us, steps towards to self-knowledge.

The History of the Way of Saint James dates back to the time of the birth of Christianity.

In the middle ages pilgrims came from all over Europe on the road to Santiago de Compostela with the intention to pay a promise or any other religious intent. In this way they contributed to what would later be called the Way of St. James or, as it is known in Spain, "El Camino".

After an impressive growth over the centuries it felt abruptly to the point of to be counted 40 pilgrims, during the 19th century.

But something happened that made the flame burn again and in 1999 an impressive number of 155,000 pilgrims were counted.

What happened?

This is a long story that I will tell in a few posts.

Keep tuned.

David Monteiro