A Medieval Fair, Castle, an abandoned Castle and stray dogs

We stumbled across a small medieval fair at Agoso where some Walnut liqueur was tasted, distilled there and then in a small Still and served in half a Walnut shell. The Portuguese bagpipes were again being played.

Portuguese bagpipes

A merry-go-round powered by a bike

Lovely view from the castle

We then visited the ruins of the church of Saint John Batista and just beyond, the ruined Castelo e Vila Muralhada de Ansiaes.

Graves carved out of the rock

Entry to the ruined castle

We stayed out of the way nearby and met a couple of stray dogs in the morning. The rough coated Podenco was quite brave but his friend, what looked like a Leonberger, was very timid and kept well away.

We gave the Podenco some dog treats, bread and a couple of raw eggs, which he lapped up. Even taking some bread from Dees hand.

Mogadouro and Miranda do Douro

This was a huge steak that Phil had at a restaurant in Mogadouro. Dee had Bacalhau a Bras, a cod fish dish, which was also lovely. She took half hers back to Muy.

We were at Mogadouro for a few days over Easter and saw a small procession by the local Bombieros (firemen and women) and band. Mogadouro is a very nice small town, not really on the tourist trail but has a lot going for it. We made the most of their lovely wildlife walk through a small valley and their modern indoor swimming pool.

There was a bit more on at Miranda do Douro for Easter, with an Artisan market and displays by Los Pauliteiros de Miranda - a bit like English Morris Dancers who accompany the gaita-de-foles - bagpipes - the region's traditional music. 

A few animals indigenous to the area were also on show including, goats, mountain dogs (didn't look very happy to be there), pigs, donkeys and this massive bull. The Miranda Donkey is the only recognised breed of Donkey in Portugal and we have seen them working as well as living a good life in lush fields. They all look in good condition which is nice to see.

The top left of this photo below shows blue sky - quite rare on a lot of this trip. It hammered most of the afternoon and well into the evening!

A Capa de Honras - cape of honour

The view of the Douro river from the town of Miranda do Douro. At this point it is more like a gorge.

A much better view of the Douro from a bit further upriver at Saint John of Arribes viewpoint.

From here we retreated to a campsite where we could plug in and warm up! By this time it was 6 degrees and hammering with rain!

The impressive fortified town of Almeida

Located in a vast high plain overlooking the Côa River. The walls were built in the shape of a twelve-pointed star, which you don't get to see if you are on the ground so we found a photo below which shows it. The walls are all intact and you enter through various gates.

We stayed just outside the walls in a free Aire including electricity! Just as well because at 760 m it was a bit chilly. In fact, most fortified towns we have visited recently are at similar altitudes, including our previous stop at Meda.

The weather was very cold - ignore the shorts, they are just for show! This is one of the entrances.

We were able to look around the Picadeiro Del ́Rey stables and see the very well kept horses in their very posh accommodation. You can do a horse and carriage ride but there didn't seem to be any going on. The horses were lovely and there was a very handsome stallion there.

Before we left, Dee went for a run and logged her path - looks familiar!

We left Almeida to visit the museum at Vila Nova de Foz Coa, located on a peninsular just outside town where the Coa river meets the Duoro river.

The museum is a brutalist designed building on the cliff - quite impressive but inside it is like a dungeon! It was very modern with lots of exhibits of findings from the Côa Valley including replicas of the rock art that we have already seen. The ultraviolet lighting used for the outlines made us look like zombies!