This week had a bit of a break, as Netty came down with one of those nasty forty-eight hour bugs. But, we are a bit ahead ourselves…
We started the week by taking a trip to Oliveira do Hospital. We needed to go to the nearest branch of NovoBanco and it was situated in that town. It was a bit of a ´spur of the moment´ decision but we set off and found the bank without any problems. The parking was challenging, but we managed to find a spot around the back of the buildings where the bank was situated. We conducted our business extremely quickly and we’re surprised at the speed of the service we received. We then had a bit of a walk-about trying to find any points of interest. There wasn’t really anything that took our fancy, so we headed to a nice cafe for coffee and a croissant and checked out Google Maps. There were two points of interest that looked promising. Both were located not far from the town and quite close to each other. The first was a Roman location with an amphitheater that had been discovered and close by was an ultra modern museum of olive oil.
It turned out to be just a scouting trip. Apparently everything seemed to be closed on a Monday! But it was interesting never the less, just walking around seeing if it was worth a return trip as we needed to come back to the bank in a week or so.
The following day was when Annette started feeling a bit ill. It started off with a sore throat, but quickly escalated into sharp pains in all her joints, so she took herself off to bed with Wayne checking on her frequently to top up her water or just ensuring she was sleeping ok.
Her illness lasted the whole of the following day which she spent entirely in bed. The only thing occurring on the Wednesday, was the local Yoga club that morning. So while Annette slept off the bug, Wayne tried out a yoga session! It was certainly beneficial and made him acutely aware of his poor flexibility and how he needed to revisit some long neglected muscles. It is probably a good job it wasn’t filmed though. You really don’t need to see that!
We spent the Thursday just relaxing as Annette had finally emerged from her bout of illness and was feeling much better, if not a bit weak. So we took it easy, just popping out for some essentials and a well needed coffee and cake. All during this time Tan was loving his extended walks and lots of fuss with Wayne spending a lot of time outside with him while Netty got her rest. The roles quickly switched when Annette finally got the wind back in her sails and Wayne had a lie-in or two and Tan got some solo female company.
By Friday, we were both ready to get out and about again, and we decided to head into the hills to explore Piódão. This was a magical trip. A beautiful village built upon the ledges of the Serra do Açor. The village is harmoniously carved into the hillside and merges into the nature that surrounds it perfectly. Its schist houses with slate roofs, which blend with the irregular pavement of the streets and with the colours of the mountain, are connected by stairs and small alleyways, making it fun to explore. It’s a bit touristy but we’ll worth the visit, and we finished off by dipping our feet in the icy water at the river beach area.
We drove back down to the River Alva via the sleepy village of Avô, which was wonderful. The entire journey up and down the mountain was almost traffic free. We only passed a couple of cars the whole time!
So back for the dog walk and enjoying a nice lovely sunset and the sounds of the Forrest and the nearby village. The later always makes us chuckle. There are two churches that sound the hours. They are both out by some time. One is about four minutes early, and the other a couple of minutes late. It is as if no one really cares what time it is here.
A nice surprise was that we met up with Luise from Solo 50 plus Expat Portugal. Luise is a true YouTube influencer, as by watching her videos during the COVID pandemic, it influenced us to reach out to her to learn how she got into it. It then encouraged us to make those first steps and join trustedhousesitters. She was really interested in our experiences so far, and also was keen to learn more about our experiences in getting a new house built in Portugal too. We didn’t record anything for this blog, as she did all the recording and it will be watchable on her channel in a few weeks, so will post it on a later blog…
And so that brings us to the end of this week, and what better way to finish it with a long walk the through the forest and through the nearest village to discover a new point on the Google map which is marked as a Roman bridge. It was not to far from us, and would make an easy five or so kilometer trek and an extended dog walk. Tan really loved it and it got some well needed air into the lungs.
On closer inspection, we didn’t think it was Roman at all. But we aren’t experts. It looked to be much later as it was next to the remains of some sort of mill, and the construction was more like a schist type than that of carved Roman stonework. regardless, it makes a great picnic spot in the wonderful Plortuguese countryside.
Thanks for stopping by our blog. We hope you found it interesting and we hope you check in again to follow our journey to building a new life in what we are ever discovering a truly fascinating country.
Our Portuguese Life 