Portugal, Serra da Estrela

Wed 9/21

We arrived in Lisbon early in the morning to sunshine and warm weather at last!

Kenna, our LLL coordinator, and her husband Alan, an ecology professor, had invited me to go with them outside the city to see nature and landscapes for a change asI had told Kenna that I far preferred the country to the city

We rented a car and were given an upgrade to an Al Romeo which was not as fancy as it sounds.  (I think they make a cheap european model)  and set out to Serra da Estrela, a National Park about  300 Km from Lisbon.  We drove swiftly through Lisbon onto a toll road .  The scenery was unremarkable for the first two hours. We stopped for lunch at a roadside cafe and had a vey dry sandwich without any butter or mayonnaise.  The landscape then changed as we came to the town of Covilha at the foot of a range of mountains.   Many of the mediteranean style houses had red tile  roofs with white stucco walls There  were also some large apartment buildings   and an "old town"  which  extended up a hill  .The streets became narrow and the buildings old. A sign pointed us upward to the park on a very steep road with hairpin bends and steep overlooks. Luckily Kenna was very good driver so I only had to curb my backseat driving tendencies a couple of times We reached the summit  above treelike and the road straightened out somewhat .  It was very beautiful and stark reminding me of the highway from Estes Park to Salt Lake over the Rockies. Alan took many photos of the vegetation for his class.  We arrived at  the Posada and fell in love with it  and decided to stay there. Posadas  are all across Portugal and are nicely renovated hotels that have some historical significance, This one had the friendly feel of Alta Lodge in Utah.

After a whiskey sour and a portugese dinner (I am such a conservative eater,I really only like stuff that is familiar!) we had an early bed and an early rise to explore some more.  I have a wonderful video of goats and sheep crossing the road with their bells making lovely sounds because they all had a  different pitch- an orchestral meditation. My editorial team edited itfor me. Hope yu  like it.

.We drove onto a little side road with big rocks to sit on and trees for shade.  Alan said the trees were not ponderosas, but resembled them. We  had a picnic lunch of red wine, chicken sandwiches and cake which the posada had prepared for us .

After lunch we continued our journey down back to  Covilha ,  going through several little white villages with red roofs that appeared pasted to the mountainside, and back to Lisbon, arriving well before dock time..  Another memorable trip

Later that evening we received a mandatory call for a meeting to announce a change in our plans.  Because of the international situation the State Department and I.S.E. have decided to reroute the ship.  We shall now stay in Cadiz an extra three days and then go to the Canary Islands for two days before resuming the trip as previously scheduled. My thought is that this is a very good idea.  I don't particularly like Morocco.  Our co-eds might also cause another international incident by their scanty dress (even though they had been warned)  This change of plan has caused consternation at our Travel Desk  because all  our shore trips have to be changed.  Carol, however, doesn't look at all frazzled.