MOTORCYCLE DREAM PORTUGAL CPS2402
Today we are greeted by a magnificent rainbow at sunrise, which unfortunately heralds a rainy day. But real motorcyclists are not intimidated by this, put on their rain protection and look forward to riding. The route takes us inland, where we first work our way along slightly wider country roads to narrower ones. We pass monasteries and castles along the way. There is also a short stop in Fatima before we head to Tomar for lunch. In the afternoon, as the drizzle subsides, we ride through forests and small, quiet villages towards the university town of Coimbra. We spend the night here and hope that the weather will improve tomorrow.
Today is a rest day, the weather is ideal for a motorcycle ride, but not everyone comes along. For one thing, Porto is a beautiful city that needs to be explored and for another, there are seven more days on the program without a rest day. A small group sets off with Bernhard to the “Alto Duoro”. This is the deep valley of the Duoro river just before it flows into the Atlantic. The steep slopes are mainly dedicated to viticulture, and this is where the valley's famous wine comes from. After around 120 km, we reach Lamego, whose steps lead to the church of “Santuário Nossa Senhora dos Remédios” at the top of the hill. We then return to Porto via Amarante and have some time to explore the city. Some guests then have dinner in a traditional fado restaurant. That was a great day.
Today first quickly out of Porto on the fastest way to the north, at Braga we visit the good Jesus an impressive building. Which was created in over 600 years, an architectural masterpiece in the Baroque style. Today it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Continue through the National Park da PenedaGeres. 703 km² large, oak and fragrant pine forests, 100 granite villages and a beautiful lake are ready to be discovered by us
We are not deterred by a bit of fog. And lo and behold, after a few kilometers we break through the fog and ride into the mountains of northern Portugal in bright sunshine. You can feel like you're in Jurassic Park in this area, the only thing missing are the dinosaurs. Then we head into a more recent epoch, the Stone Age, and visit a dolmen and other remains from bygone times. Our route takes us along winding mountain roads to a reservoir where an excellent lunch awaits us. In the afternoon, we take the N-103 via Vinhais to Braganca. The Castelo de Braganca is well worth seeing, but the real treasure is the “Domus Municipalis”, a building built in the 15th century as an asymmetrical pentagon, which was used as a kind of town hall.
Today we are in the far north of Portugal on the road a wild stretch of land in the center of Miranda do Douro. The easternmost city of the country with traffic-free streets, we also see spectacular nature here. Unfortunately, it's raining a bit again, but we stop at a beautiful dam, as it turned out, quite often already the scene of movies, such as Fast and the Furious. Our destination today Salamanca in Spain. So we are crossing the border again. Salamanca Also called the "golden city" consists entirely of sandstone and it houses the largest university in Spain with 38,000 students.
After rain comes fog and then sunshine. Today we ride into the Sierra and then into the Serra, easier Spanish and Portuguese mountains. First we reach La Alberca where some of us buy some of the famous Jamon Iberico. We warm up with a coffee before we take the hairpin bends of the southern Sierra de Francia under our bikes. Afterwards, we ride quickly through Extremadura, stopping ocasionally to take photos of this impressive day. At the border crossing with Portugal, the Sierra becomes the Serra de la Estrela, one of the most beautiful regions in Portugal. We don't miss the opportunity to spend some time in Sortelha, a medieval village bevore we finally reach Manteigas at the end of the day's ride.
Today it's time for the Portuguese mountain culture. Literally, the highlight begins on the way to the Torre, with 1993 m the highest mountain in Portugal. And of course we didn't suspect anything of the fog up to 0° temperature and then also such a strong wind that you really had to hold the motorcycle. Well, we'll overcome this challenge. Then we drove through the nature park, naturale da Sierra da Estrela. Fantastic nature shaped over millions of years, we take one curve after another to hold a lunch stop in one of the beautiful slate villages. These villages were promoted by the EU to boost tourism and they are beautiful. Our day with sunshine and a lot of wind ends in Crato in a beautiful historic hotel
Let's go to the last day of riding. Evora is first on the agenda today. Here, after a warming coffee, we visit the famous “Capela dos Ossos”, with the entrance inscription Nós ossos / que aqui estamos / pelos vossos / esperamos (“We bones that are here are waiting for yours”). A little creepy, but this is just to remind us of our transience. Around 5000 human skeletons were used to build this chapel. Afterwards, we had lunch and then took the direct route across the Vasco da Gama bridge to Lisbon. In the evening, after our farewell dinner, we had some honors to pay. > Kalypso & Georgios - 5 Edelweiss Tours > Christine & Roland - 10 Edelweiss tours With, on the photo, Jörn with a total of 18 Edelweiss tours We wish everyone a safe journey home and hope to see you soon on a new tour with Edelweiss Bike Travel. Michaela & Bernhard