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

Walking in the Serra da Freita – must see / must do

Walking in the Serra da Freita – must see / must do.

I'm a little nervous about writing this post. “Serra da Freita” (Freita’s hills) is one of the places that inspired me to start this long walk to become a professional on Active Tourism and I do not know if I will have enough talent in the art of writing in order to fairly reward this site.

However, I feel that this blog will never be complete if it does not have some something written about Serra da Freita.

I've done a lot of hiking in the hills area, repeating the same and doing many others that I never had the opportunity to repeat.

“Serra da Freita” is also an area where I did many other activities besides walking such as climbed, canyoning, hydrospeed and rafting not far from 

here. However, this being a blog of walking, I will confine myself to this theme.

The translation of “Serra” is hills or small mountains and we often use the word “Serra” for the name of a short mountain area. Here I will be writing about Serra da Freita as well as about Serra da Arada.

Frecha da Mizarela

This waterfall, with more than 70 m high, is the business card of Serra da Freita.

Is part of a system of cascades that as a whole exceeds 90m high. This beautiful waterfall landscape and the vision of many other smaller waterfalls is what we can expect when we walk in this area.

Ribeira is a small village that lies at the foot of this system of cascades and the trail that goes along this watercourse could not be more spectacular. Here you will find many small ponds where 

When we walk from Ribeira to Mizarela we can choose between walking along the watercourse as I mentioned or, from a certain point, choose a little "detour" and climb (very easy climbing) some rocks on the right side of the waterfall Frecha da Mizarela. Is a low-difficulty climbing but that of course always requires some care.you can bathe in the crystal-clear waters or simply enjoy showering at the waterfalls.

All the people who made this trail with me felled in love for place, is without doubt a fabulous  hike.

This trail requires us to cross a small pond so we better have our swimming gear with us and a nice pair of rubber sandals.

It’s so fun to walk this trail that nobody forgets it.

A rock giving birth to another rock

Talking about a rock giving birth to another rock looks like we are talking about the “Lord of The Rings” saga but this time it's really true.

There is a rare geological phenomenon which results in the granite rock releasing some crystals that will form new chunks of rock. Apparently, this phenomenon can only be seen in two places in the world, near Castanheira, a village in Serra da Freita and somewhere in Russia. I do not know if whether there will be other places but as much I investigated there is only these two places.

It is very interesting to see the new stones because they look like flattened black eggs and on the mother rock you will find kind of a nest where the “baby” rocks was formed.

See the translated version of Wikipedia at: http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedra_parideira

Tungsten mine - Rio de Frades - Cabreiros - Tabelião

Rio de Frades (River of Friars) is a small village deeply marked by what used to be a tungsten mine.

The tungsten mine’s, today in ruins, began in 1914. This metal hardens the ammunition and makes them more resistant.

These mines belonged to a German company named "Mining Company of North of Portugal", drilled more than 6 km of holes along the river from where they extracted this rare metal to be sold during the first and second world wars.

Nowadays you will only find its ruins and a small highly stratified village, as it was the standard way of living in those contexts of mining communities.

The river with the same name as this village, has fabulous landscapes hidden in its valley. Small turquoise lakes and astonishing cascades are only accessible using the techniques and knowledge to do so.

Walking along the trail from Rio de Frades we will arrive to Cabreiros a charming village with lovely stone houses, a typically village. From here we can go until Tebilhão on bucolic trail, flanked by granite stone walls.

From Póvoa das Leiras to Covêlo de Paivô

After the stone houses of the village (Póvoa das Leiras) there is a trail that leads us to a stone platform path that goes almost until Covêlo de Paivô, downhill always at half-slope.

After this long walk we will arrive to Covêlo of Paivô, but not before crossing a large natural pool ... a bath is “compulsory”. The crystal clear water with small fishes makes us feel like it should be in paradise.Despite not having any proof, this route appears to have been a work of

Romans, is one of those trails that one must put on the list of must-sees.

Arouquesa beef and goats from the hills

The sighting of grazing cattle when we walk is always an interesting moment and here these moments happen often because breeding is a strong source of income to the locals.

Around here we can find mainly cows and goats.

The arouquesa cow breed is highly appreciated and its meat reaches high values on the market is.

Arouquesa cows are docile animals with a candid look and with an impressive pair of horns that easily awakens your deepest sense of respect.

Goats are also very numerous and abundant are also the products t

hat this animal provides us such as the milk to do goat cheese ... nhummy :)

Covas do Monte is another small village with an interesting particularity: is has about 75 inhabitants and we can find here more than 2000 goats coming out every day in the morning to go graze on the hills, a spectacle worthy of seen and living as a shepherd for one day.

Gastronomy

There is no place in Portugal about which there is not a lot to talk about gastronomy and this area is no different.

I would like to point out two typical dishes: Serra da Arada lamb baked in wood-burning oven and the roasted aroquesa veal.

They are both, of course, dishes based on products of the mountains such as the veal aroquesa, the lamb, vegetables and other products, both worked with the traditional techniques and equipment as the wood-burning oven, trays and platters of clay and slowly baking the meat to be tender and without losing their juices and flavors.

Of course the wine we drink around here is the Dão doc but on this spectacular wine I'll write a post one day.

Are you willing to meet the Serra da Freita and Serra da Arada? I hope so:) Here I am to go walking with you in the Serra da Freita and share these wonders.

David Monteiro

Location: Arouca, Portugal

Link to the original article

Mudejar Architecture in Teruel, Spain

Mudejar Architecture in Teruel, Spain.

In 711 AD Moorish troops crossed the Strait that today we know by the name of Strait of Gibraltar and in less than 20 years they conquered almost all the Iberic Peninsula with the exception of some Christian strongholds like the case of Covadonga up north in the Picos da Europa mountain range.

Obviously this occupation brought profound changes to the local Christian Visigothic civilisation. In terms of the architecture, nowadays we can visit some magnificent monuments left by this Muslim people like the Alhambra or the Cordoba Mosque.

This occupation last for around 700 years, if we count the time between the Guadalepe Battle in July 711 AD and the War of Granada that took place from 1482 until 1492 where the Moorish definitely defeated.

Immediately after the Moorish invasion the Christian started a process called "Reconquista", reconquest that had the objective of regaining their lost territory. Apparently it started with a rebellion lead by Pelayo in 722 AD.

Well, from 722 until 1492 is the period of the Reconquista, around 700 years of a slow transition returning to a Christian society and is during this time and this process that a new architectural style emerges, the Mudejar style. It includes both gothic and Moorish architectural elements.

I truly love History and the period of the Moorish occupation is one of my favorite times in the Spanish History so is not too difficult to imagine how much I love Mudejar style.

Teruel is a city located halfway from Madrid and Barcelona, in the province of Aragon, and an extraordinary example of Mudejar architecture. I love to walk here and imagine how life was back then.

It worth to travel here … oooh yes it does. The Mudejar architectural style is classified as World Heritage by UNESCO (please check http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/378) and Teruel an extraordinary example.

There are plenty of monuments to visit in Teruel and there no need for me to list them here because the information is widely available. However there are three monuments that are my favorits:

The Lovers of Teruel - http://www.teruelversionoriginal.es/Turismo/home_eng.nsf/documento/los_amantes_de_teruel

The Historical Archive of Teruel . http://www.patrimonioculturaldearagon.es/archivo-historico-provincial-de-teruel

Torre de San Martin - http://www.patrimonioculturaldearagon.es/bienes-culturales/torre-de-san-martin-teruel

In future posts I will write about walking trails not too far from Teruel.

Have fun.

David Monteiro

Location: Teruel, Spain

Link to the original article

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

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

Active vacations in the Pyrenees

We look at the Pyrenees as a great natural border between Spain and France, a border with about 400 km of mountains that frequent exceeds 2000m of height.

It is in this mountainous chain that you can find the highest peak of mainland Spain, is the Aneto peak with 3.404m high. This peak is located in Natural park Posets-Maladeta near the  Benasque, a small village of the province of Huesca, autonomous community of Aragón.

The landscapes that we can find in the Pyrenees very are diversified and, if you consider the great differences of scenes between the stations of the year, the diversity will be even wider.

With more than 400Km' extension and with such diversity of landscapes, I find always quite odd when someone tells me that knows the Pyrenees having been there once or twice … that is, at least, very strange… is the same as to know the Museum of the Louvre in one hour.

I do not intend to cover all the diversity and extension of the Pyrenees in this post, such task was ridicule, but only to awake your curiosity concerning these mountains.

In this mountainous chain you will be able to find several Parks, National and another type of protected Natural areas where each one of these areas has its proper beauty and you will easily find many reasons for a visit.

Between those protected areas, I will write more frequently about the following:
- National Park of Aigüestortes;
- National Park of Ordesa and Monte Perdido;
- Natural Park of “Sierra y Cañones de Guara” (Pre-Pyrenees);
- Natural Park of Posests and Maladeta

Also I do not intend to all cover the type of activities that you can do around here but only to tell a few stories  and some curious things that happened during my tours.

I will be writing about walking, trekking, via ferratas, wine, gastronomy, History and culture in general.

I will also waiting to guide you in the Pyrenees to live some adventure.

David Monteiro

Walking the river Cares Gorge - Picos da Europa

Walking the river Cares Gorge will give you a day to remember.

You can locate Posada de Valdeon on the map, "Google it", in the heart of Picos de Europa National Park, in the autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain, and from there you will take your way to Caín ... where the road ends.

Can we go somewhere from here?

Not driving for sure, only walking we can move forward.

Returning to our map, we will see a river that unites Caín to Poncebos, is the River Cares.

The space between these two locations appears on the map as being a mountain range with peaks over 2.000m high and with many steep slopes surrounding the Cares Gorge.

Can it be crossed?

Yes, we can cross this gorge and you will find one of the most interesting walking trails of the National Park and probably of Spain, the Cares Gorge / La Garganta del Cares. It is a very deep canyon where runs the Cares River through all its extension, uniting Caín to Poncebos.

It’s a 12km / 7.5mi walk, without much elevation gain or loss, always following along a trail that is, for most of its length, about 1, 5 m wide.

Between 1915 and 1921 the "Sociedad Electra de Viesgo" built a canal that would drive the Cares River waters from Caín to the hydroelectric of Poncebos. The result of this work is the canal that nowadays we can see along the trail which has 71 tunnels and where the water will be constantly appearing and disappearing.

However, there was always many conservation problems and between 1945 and 1950 a new canal had to be built next to a new trail and that is the path that we can walk. In some photos you can still see the old trail on a lower lever along the river.

After walking the 12 km long trail we get to Puente de Poncebos where we can find some terraces and then will be the perfect time to drink a beer and eat some tapas, preferably from Cabrales cheese, a local cheese made with milk from sheep's, goat's and cow's with very intense flavor and a characteristic mold, typical of the region.

This walk is part of one of the tours I'm constantly offering due its natural beauty and also because it is one of a kind.

I'll be waiting for you.

David Monteiro

Please check the original article at my blog in Wordpress