Today was a long day on the bikes although our actual mileage was only 34 miles. We did have quite a few stops along the way however. We left our hotel @ 9:15 this morning and it was already warm enough to ride without a jacket. On our way to Marvao we stopped at Coudelaria de Alter do Chao, a stud farm founded in 1748 by the king of Portugal to breed Lusitano horses. An hour later, after touring the farm and museum and learning quite a bit more than I ever thought I wanted to know about horse breeding, we were back on our bikes and headed to our next destination, a prehistoric Celtic burial chamber over 5000 years old.
This structure was in the middle of a field where a large herd of cows were grazing. At first, it didn't look like we were going to be able to get very close, as a number of the cows were eyeing us warily. They soon ambled off in the other direction however, and we toured the Celtic ruin at our leisure. The only danger in this entire expedition was stepping on a hidden "cow pie" which a few of us were unlucky enough to do. Yuck!
By this time the weather was quite warm, but we all got back on our bikes, climbed some more and stopped again at a medieval monastery built by the Knights of the Order of Malta. After visiting the monastery (now a hotel), we pedaled are way to lunch in the small town of Alagoa, where everyone had the local specialty, tomato soup with bread and egg. Delicious, but not what one would typically have on a hot summer day! Our last climb of the day was to Castelo de Vide where we wandered through the town's 14th century castle and old Jewish quarter.
At this point, the majority of us were done riding. There was however, an optional 9 mile ride climbing 1,000 more feet to our final destination for the evening, Marvao. The only rider who made it to this point was Justin, who had a good 30+ years on the rest of us. Oh yes, our 50-year old guide Raoul also made this climb, which I guess disproves my excuse about age.
Our hotel for the evening is within the medieval castle walls of the town and after dinner (aka 10:00 pm) we all headed to the castle itself for a moonlit stroll and view of the heavens from the castle battlements. What a beautiful way to end a great day!
At the stud farm
Celtic burial chamber being protected by the herd of cows
At the monastery
Monastery
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