Nur wo du zu Fuß warst, bist du auch wirklich gewesen.
(Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)
Only where you were walking, you have really been.
Today this quote felt so true again, while we were hiking through the mountains near Vila Real.
We drove up into the Serra da Alvão from Vila Real until we reached the dam called Barragem Cemeira where we could park and start a hike of nearly 4 hours around the plateau of this Serra (41.357233, -7.795408)
You can find this route on Wikiloc or use an online guide like we did. There are way marks, but very sparsely.
You can find this route on Wikiloc or use an online guide like we did. There are way marks, but very sparsely.
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| Heather in bloom |
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| Mating time ? |
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| Old bridge hidden underneath |
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| Olo river |
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| Old farm house made of giant stone blocks |
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| Old bridge over the Olo river |
While hiking, you see so much more and its such a different experience than driving through an area. At the little parking where we started I watched many cars stopping, people with their phones in hand jumping out, taking a picture of the lake and one minute later they were gone again. That was when the saying from Goethe came into my mind. Where you really experience the truth of this saying is when walking to Santiago de Compostela. Together with my parents I walked from Porto in 10 days to Santiago. You can never experience the feeling of arriving in this town if you would drive there.
At the moment we manage to do a lot of hiking or cycling and I love it!
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| Flower of another day (Camellia of the Mateus garden) |