Rural Portugal:Exploring Ribatejo and Alentejo

L.

                                           A platter of Cocido with Amelia

   Roughly in the middle of nowhere, like our home town of Blanchard, Vale da Mo lies between here and there and everywhere!  Similar in size and 10 minutes from the closest town of any size, VDM is a small community in central Portugal that has one claim to fame: Termas de Vale da Mo.  Scattered across much of Portugal are mountain springs that are high in iron or other minerals and are places where people from all over make annual pilgrimages to drink the water for medicinal purposes.
Vale da Mo is one such place isolated in the hills above the town of Anadia in central Portugal..  We are here for a week of relaxation and as a central spot to explore places like Aveiro, Coimbra, and the more rural areas nearby.  We had a great stay with our host Amelia who is an 83 year old wonder woman who has traveled extensively her whole life and still camps in a caravan over the winter in southern Morocco.  She has an amazing house that has 2 apartments as well as 4 other guest rooms besides her own space.  We enjoyed exploring the area with her doing a local wine tour and being part of her family when one of her daughters and her family came for a visit.

            Aveiro: the Venice of Portugal

        The Bussaco Palace near VDM


After leaving Vale da Mo we headed south to Portugal's largest province the Alentejo which is one of the largest producers of wine and the breadbasket of the country.  It is a beautiful area of open plain and rolling hills covered with a mixture of vineyards, olive trees and cork trees. Here we had an amazing and unique airbnb outside of Reguengos de Monsaraz in the middle of a working vineyard in a traditional Alentejan home- all to ourselves.  Our 4 days here allowed us to explore many of the fortified castle towns perched on high hills  along the border with Spain.  Monsaraz, Estremoz, Moura, Marvao, to name a few.  Since arriving in Portugal we have logged more than 4000 kilometers on our little red Seat and it has been almost all on back country roads.  It has been a blast and we have seen some amazing countryside and beautiful towns and villages.  We both prefer the more rural experience and though it is amazing to be in grand cities like Porto and Lisbon the rural areas are so authentic.

                  Our house in the Alentejo

         Castles of the Alentejo:

Landscapes:

......and the food.....

  We have really enjoyed Portugal but we are really excited to head to Spain  Although our Spanish is minimal we stand a chance at communication whereas the language barrier in Portugal has been tough.