Parque da Fonte Férrea

OK, don’t hate me when I tell you it was 26 degrees here today!!!!!  What a truly magnificent treat, totally unexpected.

Our friends, David and Marion, had mentioned a nearby park to us, which we had attempted to find without success so this morning I sent Marion a FB message and she was kind enough to send me a link that contained the GPS co-ordinates.  We were set!

The park is only about 15 minutes from here and I can’t tell you how delighted we were to find it.  Acres of eucalyptus forest, cork trees, pines, a river, the Alportel, and I swear, a million medronho trees in various stages of fruit or flower.  The scents were almost unbearable they were so intense, especially the eucalyptus.  As they say, a photo says a thousand words.

The eucalyptus trees shed their bark because of how quickly they grown, sometimes up to six feet in a season. The scent is heavenly and believe it or not, it cleared my sinuses!!

We parked on the side of the road and walked into the park.

You can see the medronho trees tucked in around the eucalyptus.

This was one happy man today. He enjoyed every moment of the explorations.

Massive areas with harvested cork trees. The entire valley was full of them in every imaginable size. We won’t have to go far to show any of our friends the cork trees when they arrive.

The trail was sheltered in places, which really helped keep the heat down.

We came across several patches of heather still in bloom.

This new eucalyptus tree had such a lovely colour of leaves. Apparently there are many varieties and they are different colours.

We crossed the river at a couple of places……..good balance!

I didn’t realize I had a “hookers pose” until I saw this. It’s my demure side!!!

We followed three different trails, each one for about 30 minutes.  In each situation, it was the steep incline that deterred us from continuing as the trail was a bit wet.  I can’t wait to return and explore it in different circumstances.  Next time I will certainly wear long pants as in places the trail is dense with flora and narrow.

Once saturated we headed into Sao Bras to hit Intermarche (they carry a particular wine we like) then decided to head back to Estoi for lunch.

I liked this shot as we walked to the square.

Meatballs and spaghetti.

Marc decided to skip the spaghetti and Ana pampered him!! It was delicious, a faint hint of curry in the sauce and the meatballs made of veal.

People sitting close to us and Marc was certain one of them was from Quebec. She was and he had a wonderful chat with them.

While Marc chatted, I people watched. I wonder if they would like to hike with me?

All that exercise, combined with good and plentiful food, we headed home for a bit of siesta with plans to return later.  We love the routine of going back to enjoy an aperitif with Ana and Simão.  Things start to wind down for them around 17h00 which is perfect for us and the traditional cinq à sept….which is a French term for activities taking place after work, and before returning home or having dinner.

The Nativity scene is being assembled, this year, entirely made of cork.

Apparently this is the Virgin of Estoi!!!!!

These three go side by side…..it’s the window at the funeral home on the square. Ana had helped make some of these Estoi landmarks to help set the display up.

And now we have returned home, dinner is being prepared as I type……..I think I just heard the pop of the wine bottle…..that means it’s time to head downstairs.    And speaking of wine bottles……I saw a bunch of drunks in the square as I was leaving tonight…….