 |
| Old ruins in Curalha |
Last night we chatted with the guy in the restaurant (we
didn’t get his name) and he suggested we visit the village of Curalha where he
lives to see the ruins of an old roman fortress. It was only about 4 kms away
so this morning we drove back to the village and wound our way through some
rather narrow streets but his directions were really good and we found a good
spot to park. We continued on foot up quite a steep hill in the pine trees and
arrived at a rather impressive site. The remaining stone walls show where this
fortified settlement was first established in the late Roman Empire, and it has
been suggested that it is on the site of pre-roman settlement. It is easy to
see why it was built here as there are 360 degree views of the surrounding
hills. We wandered around imaging what it must have been like all those
hundreds of years ago. Having a local tell you about these places that are off
the tourist trail are just so good, it’s such a shame that with the language
barrier this is not normally possible.
 |
| Views from the ruins. |
Back into Chaves and needed to exchange our Spanish Propane
bottle which ran out last night. The first station only had Portuguese bottles
so headed off to a Repsol garage which turned out to have rather “difficult”
access!!! Thankfully they had a Spanish bottle so all sorted and we were on the
road continuing on the N103 to Braganca.
The road was wider than yesterday and quite a different
landscape. There were olive trees everywhere but the biggest surprise was to
see huge plantations of chestnut trees all laden with very large nuts. And
there were many areas being developed with recent plantings. These trees
obviously like the soil and arid conditions. Picking the olives and chestnuts
must be really labour intensive on these steep hilly slopes. There were also grapes vines dotted
everywhere and we saw a tractor towing a trailer loaded with drums of grapes so
obviously the harvest has started. These vines are not the neat tidy pruned
vineyards we are used to seeing but are sprawling low growing bushes.
 |
| These bikers lost their way.. stopped in the roundabout!! |
 |
| Laden chestnut trees, |
 |
| Untidy grapevines. |
 |
| Another lot of washing for you Sarah!! |
 |
| Olive trees |
There was very little traffic which meant we could just
amble along enjoying the drive. There were clusters of houses and little
villages all with their terracotta tiled roofs. And then we arrived in
Braganca, with its multi storied apartment blocks, such a contrast.
Tonight, we are staying in a purpose built campervan parking
area beneath the towns iconic castle, a very popular site which was almost full
when we arrived. It is on the side of a hill and even though it has been
levelled and we have ramps under our front wheels, we are certainly a long way
from being level. It was a very steep walk up to the castle, a pretty
impressive building surrounded by a huge wall. The castle was closed, but read
that it is now a military museum.
Enjoying the temperatures at the moment, rather warm during
the day but cool enough at night to need to pull up a blanket. I am still
battling this beastly cold, almost three weeks since I got it. Feeling quite a
lot better but my cough sounds like a long term smoker, gets a bit embarrassing
at times!!
 |
| The castle |
Comments