Madrid - Lisboa by bicycle

I see a lot of older villages with picturesque houses now. Mostly white with yellow. Unfortunately they are often in bad shape. Many places invite me to rest in a bar. Every village has a bar. If the men do not sit outside, you will find some beer or coffee drinker inside. I continue to stop here and there. I had my apricots direct from the tree (drive-through-style), saw wineyards and huge fields of sunflowers. This cycling day in Portugal has come to an end. I drink the wine and eat frutos do mar

Today, I met Sean from Devon, GB. He started in Faro, at the Southern coast of Portugal and will ride his pushbike home. Following the river Tejo is not like following a river in Central Europe. The road is not always close to the stream. It is more that the river and I am following the same direction. And I know that only from looking at the maps. Today I say him once, at the end, when I crossed over to the northern bank.  The very try landscape changes slowly, I see more green now.  My place for the night is the Youth Hostel of Abrantes. It's not exactly in the town center, but I like to visit them at least once on a trip.  

Today, I crossed the biggest river of Portugal: Tejo. Its source is deep in Spain. I will somehow follow this stream until I reach Lisbon. I met my first traveling cyclists. Always a happening. We stop and talk about the road condition, the weather, where to stay and the gear. Two Portuguese cyclists and a Dutch couple who where doing a big  round  in Portugal where also suffering in the heat. I have plenty of time for the remaining 250km, so I called it a day after 50km and sat with the locals at the main plaza. The Beere that is been served here is good. And cheap. In the pub, the small bottle is only 0,75 €. I am going to take my time on the remaining way with relaxing almoço (lunch break) wherever I am at noon.

breakfast: café con leche,  zumo de naranja and the Müsli (I brought myself and hatd to mix with my miss-buy Yogurt with 0% (taste I guess)).  At 8:15 it was still not hot, so I hat a couple of comfortable hours.  The region is s parsely inhabited. Lots of olive trees and many pigs. The border crossing to Portugal was unspectacular. I crossed the very basic 'bridge' and missed the Portuguese Flags. Not even a sign. Actually I have not seen any sign of the new country till I reached my destination for tonight, and that was about 65km. Climbing up from the border, I hit temperature high-score for this trip. The Portuguese People were helpful and very friendly

After a great breakfast, I was ready to hit the last peak: Tornavacas. From where I came, it was an easy climb. The downhill afterwards was spectacular. The Valle del Jerte, is known for their cherries. I ate plenty of them. The best places are the ones, where you do not have to get off the bike to pick them. I could even get some drive-through-style without stopping. So this is Extremadura. It is hot, but a little wind helps to stay halfway cold (not overheated). After 116km I called it a day in Coria.

I slept well the first night back in my tent. It seems that I was the only guest on the camping, so beside the lawn sprinkler and some dogs barking it was quite.   I continued in the mountains, ups and downs, but no problem today. I passed  2600m peaks with little snow on the top.  I like the area. Tomorrow, there will be a little more climbing, then I am back to more or less flat Spain.