We packed up in heavy fog in our hayfield campspot, convinced Axel to get riding with the last Oaty Chomps oat bar in the bag and ride the 5k into Ourique for coffee.
No pastel de nata’s at this Café (!?) so we headed to a grocery store and picked up lunch supplies and breakfast baked goods at the grocery store bakery – their chocolate hazelnut croissants were on par with most cafés so far!
The signs said “10min to Castro Verde” by car but we had 25km to bike on gravel farm roads so off we went. The fog burned off but it stayed overcast and a bit breezy. The hills were constant but rolling and we moved through mostly farmland – lots of sheep, cows, many many barking dogs mostly fenced, and even one farm with chickens, turkeys and a goose! Axel was into it all but really into the sheep.
This was a way more chill day knowing we had about 30km to go to a planned stop at 4b’s – the BnB run by the couple who created the EDT alternate route we are following. Compared to the last 2 days of 1000m climbing each, 400m over 34km felt pretty breezy! It was overcast again and cooler than when we were on the coast which is nice for riding.
We stopped under a tree for a lunch break, stopped to chat with two Dutch cyclists finishing the EDT, and made it to our bnb around 2:45pm.
We hung out on a pedestrian only street at the entrance waiting for our hosts, and chatted with 2 more cyclists from Colorado also staying at 4b’s.
Our hosts arrived around 4pm, we got settled (showered!) and did a “short” walk (1km) to do laundry at the intermarchè. 1km is short for a motivated adult but long for a non-motivated toddler so it was a bit of a trip. We got back to our bnb around 6:45pm then went looking for dinner.
It’s hard to find a restaurant open before 7pm! We ended up very near our accommodation at Páteo da Villa, where we had a mixed charcuterie board, Black Pork steak with prawns, Bulhão Pato mushrooms (mushrooms and garlic in broth), and a glass of house red. It was all amazing and the meal of the trip so far I think.
Despite the late dinner and Axel hitting the end of his rope, he was very into dinner when it arrived. We hopped across the lane back to our bnb, put Axel to bed, drank some rosé then followed shortly!
https://strava.app.link/8sAfrmtM6Mb
Wow this looks amazing
I’ve been wondering about the language – how are you finding speaking with locals?