Sara Jump - Monsanto

Monsanto, Portugal - May 2017

Monsanto - Portugal

The third historical village we visited in our trip was Monsanto. It is just across the valley from Penha Garcia, described in the previous post. Monsanto is well known and there are a lot of excursions busses stopping buy. On the highest point of Monsanto sits its castle, but instead of walking straight there we went around to see the landscape, once again made of green fields and large stones. A local man called us crazy and didn't really understand why we wanted to look at stones. Having lived there all his life he thought they were ugly and boring. We disagreed.

A terceira aldeia histórica que visitamos foi Monsanto, que fica do lado oposto do vale de Penha Garcia, no post anterior. Monsanto é mais conhecida e popular com autocarros de excursões que por ali param. No ponto mais alto de Monsanto ficam as ruínas do castelo, mas em vez de irmos lá directamente, fomos em volta para vermos a paisagem, composta por campos verdes e barrocos. Um local com quem nos cruzamos chamou-nos de doidos, e não percebeu por que queríamos olhar para um monte de pedras. Tendo vivido lá toda a sua vida, ele acha que são apenas barrocos feios e sem graça. Nós discordamos.

It was very peaceful and free to walk around and see the almost infinite horizon.

A paisagem e o ambiente eram muito pacíficos e foi agradável ver o horizonte quase no infinito.

The ruins of the castle of Monsanto, the chapel of S. Peter and its bell tower - all constructed in stone, which makes the buildings almost invisible in the landscape.
As ruínas do castelo de Monsanto, a capela de S. Pedro e sua torre sineira - tudo construído em pedra, o que torna os edifícios quase invisíveis na paisagem.

Inside the castle ruins one can walk on top of the wall and explore the different entrances and corners.

Dentro das ruínas do castelo, pode-se andar no topo da muralha e explorar as diferentes entradas e recantos.

The streets and houses in the village itself are also made of stone, since they have an almost infinite source of it in that region. However, the village is not cold as one might think as the locals plant beautiful flower pots and fruit trees, like cherry trees.
As ruas e as casas da própria aldeia também são feitas de pedra, já que existe uma fonte quase infinita de pedra nas redondezas. No entanto, a aldeia não é fria, como se pode pensar, pois os habitantes locais enfeitam as ruas com vasos de flores e árvores frutíferas, como cerejeiras.

Some of the houses were even constructed taking advantage of the stone itself, like the one on the picture above on the left. It would have been very interesting to see that house in the inside. 

Algumas das casas foram construídas aproveitando a própria pedra, como o da foto acima à esquerda. Teria sido muito interessante ver essa casa por dentro.

I hope you have enjoyed the historical villages I have showed you. If asked to choose my favourite among the three we visited I couldn't, because they all have their own charm and are all special in a different way. Our trip did not finish here though, as we continued to explore Portugal for a few more days, as I will show soon.

Espero que tenham gostado das aldeias históricas que vos mostrei. Se me pedissem para escolher a minha favorita entre as três que visitamos, não iria conseguir escolher, porque todas têm o seu próprio charme e são especiais de maneiras diferente. A nossa viagem não terminou por aqui, pois continuamos a explorar Portugal por mais alguns dias, como mostrarei em breve.

Penha Garcia - Portugal

Penha Garcia is a charming village located in the Idanha-a-Nova district. It sits on a hill and is surrounded by fields and stony mountains, the typical landscape of the region. In summary... it's gorgeous. 

Penha Garcia é uma aldeia encantadora localizada no concelho de Idanha-a-Nova. O casario espalha-se pela encosta e está rodeado por montanhas pedregosas e campos, a paisagem típica da região. Resumindo... é lindo!

The dam and the mountain which is thought to have "fallen down" centuries ago, since its layers are facing up. At the bottom there are some houses, that are now a small museum, which was closed at the time.

A barragem e a montanha que se pensa ter "caído" há séculos atrás, já que as suas camadas rochosas estão voltadas para cima. Na parte inferior, estão algumas casas, que são de um pequeno museu, mas que estava fechado.

 Penha Garcia's Castle / O castelo de Penha Garcia

Church of Our Lady of Conception / Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Conceição

The castle is surrounded by stone walls and green bushes and cactus. 

O castelo está rodeado por paredes de pedra e arbustos verdes e cactus. 

 Hiking down to the bottom of the dam / Caminhada até ao sopé da barragem

 The museum houses / As casas do museu

 The house with a thousand nests / A casa dos mil e um ninhos

It was a lovely morning that ended with a great picnic overlooking the mountains and the village sitting on the other side of the valley, Monsanto, which was where we went afterwards. Another great place that I will soon write about.

Foi uma manhã agradável que terminou com um piquenique com vista para as montanhas e a aldeia do outro lado do vale, Monsanto, onde fomos a seguir. Outro lugar encantador sobre qual escreverei em breve.

Cycling along the coast - Gothenburg

"What if we would leave work earlier today and go cycling?", he said. And she said yes.

And we spent a wonderful afternoon cycling, walking and enjoying the coast and the sunshine.
Here's the result.

Meet Pam, my best friend... yes, the bicycle

 Doesn't that seem like the perfect place to be alone with your thoughts?

 Saltholmen, where we took a shortcut, that became longer, but more fun and with a great view over the little marina. 

 Who doesn't want to cycle or walk with paths as nice as this? 

That's one of the things I enjoy the most in Sweden - the appreciation for the sun. When the sun shines you should go out and enjoy it and no one looks twice if you say "I'm leaving earlier today, it's sunny..."