Day Two of our tour of the Pousadas

Following an excellent night's sleep and a good breakfast we headed off to the second Pousada of our trip - at Belmonte, some thirty kilometres to the south-west of Guarda. The journey, not a very long one, took us over the top of the Serra da Estrela mountains and afforded us breathtaking views of the surrounding parts of Portugal, visible through the clouds as we looked down whilst climbing to the summit.

The Pousada at Belmonte is also in a former convent; this had been built a little way from the existing town with its 13th century castle and its monuments to Pedro Alvares Cabral, a former resident of the town and the discoverer of Brazil, having reportedly been blown off-course whilst seeking a route to the Far East via the Cape of Good Hope. The original parts of the convent appear to be somewhat older than the Convento de Desgravo and are not as extensive with much of the modern day accommodation being in a relatively newly-built extension.

However, the bar and lounge of the Pousada are within the original chapel with its stone walls and small windows and are open to the central open-air cloisters. I have a strong desire to return there when the wind is howling and the rain is crashing into the quadrangle of the cloisters whilst I sit in the bar in my fleece with a large malt whisky to keep me warm, whilst contemplating the evening's choice of meal in the restaurant, where, with any luck, we would be the only guests.

Speaking of the bar reminds me that we again had to go in search of someone to serve us our pre-prandial drinks which were much needed after a very bracing dip in the oh-so-cool waters of the swimming pool. This pool is very dark in appearance having, as it does, a black liner as opposed to the more normal bright blue. This adds to the foreboding one feels at venturing into its icy depths - well, its pretty cool metre and a half of water anyway. But, enter we did and without the fuss made by a couple of French people who gasped and stammered imprecations to each other as they lowered their bodies centimetre by centimetre into the water. Mind you, even they did better than the two stout American girls who loudly (of course) shrieked and howled having inserted only one toe-end into the sun-warmed water at the top of the pool. So much fuss was made in fact that Toni, who is not renowned for her love of things cool, had to have another go, leaping in with abandon and putting the well-blubbered youngsters to shame.

The food that evening was at least on a par with that of the previous night and our main courses were partridge laced with bacon and an escalope of wild boar. The starters all featured olives or olive oil so did not meet with Toni's approval although I thought they were fantastic. (Does anyone know if olives are actually good for you? - they certainly seem like they should be)

The next day's drive was to be a long one so we retired post-dinner to our room with its views over an agriculture-filled valley. The sun had set behind the Serra da Estrela mountains long before and the night was peaceful except for the song of the night-birds.

Third Pousada in three days.

We set off quite early as we had decided to travel as far as possible without touching the now-extensive Portuguese motorway network. We came to an easy, joint decision not to further test the skin-tingling waters of the swimming pool before breakfast!

Given the sizeable geographical barrier of the Serra da Estrela we headed north-east even though our destination lay to the north-west. It's always strange I think when one has to go in the wrong direction to get where you want to be. It does not make sense and one's subconcious reacts against it - well, at least mine does. So, I was happier when we had skirted Guarda and made a sweeping turn around the town to pick up the road to Viseu and all points west. The clouds streamed down off the top of the hills as we followed a perfectly good secondary road, catching regular sights of the nearby motorway.

Some hours and what appeared to have been many kilometres following the rear end of gas trucks later we came to Peso de Régua and the start of the Douro Valley. This is extremely attractive with the road hugging the banks of the wide river which was noticeably lacking in any kind of water traffic. We discussed the idea of some day takig a trip on one of the boats that sails up the Douro and back to Porto and dismissed it instantly amid fears of getting stuck with people one does not like - I mean, there can't be much room on those boats and little chance to escape. Has anyone taken this trip? - perhaps you can let us know your experience of it.

Some hours and several gas truck rear ends later we decided to hit the motorway for the last stretch of the trip around Porto and up to the very north-west corner of Portugal on that other lovely river, the Minho. It was late afternoon when we arrived in Vila Nova de Cerveira, a frontier town where only the width of the river separates Portugal and Spain.

Our accommodation was in the Pousada which now occupies what was once the whole town of Vila Nova de Cerveira. The extremely old buildings, which may at one time have been houses, taverns and shops, nestling within the protection of the high and thick fortified walls, have been transformed into hotel rooms. Whilst these suffered by comparison with the rooms at the two previous Pousadas and also from the lack of a view ( except of other rooms and the inside of the fortifying walls ) it was perfectly adequate and offered a welcome chance to chill after the six hour drive.

The town itself had that air often found in frontier towns of neither being one thing nor the other - in times past there would have been a pressing need to keep the Spanish out at all costs but now every other car had a Spanish plate. We took a turn around the town and along the river bank and stared across at the foreign country on the other side. It looked deceptively similar. The town not being very large we were soon back at our hotel, getting showered and spruced up in anticipation of a pleasant pre-prandial drink in the bar which we had previously located on our tour of the Pousada and its battlements.

It was closed - with a sign on the door requesting that clients use the lounge at the restaurant. We got around to wondering whether it is an exclusively English pastime to take a drink before dinner - anyone got any thoughts on the topic? We advanced to the restaurant and were the only drinkers in evidence. Nevertheless the service was extremely efficient and, apart from the need to go to the bar (!) for the gin, prompt.

When we were shown to our table in the restaurant, which is like a large glass pimple on top of the aged castle, we noticed that we had an excellent view of the comings and goings at the local bus station. I observed that the food and service would more than likely compensate for the less than idyllic outlook and I was to be proved correct as we ate the best food of our trip. Otherwise the overall Pousada quality would not have been in evidence given the limitations placed on the rooms as a result of the nature of the architectural task undertaken and the limited scenic possibilities afforded by the modern town having grown up around the castle walls.

I cannot now remember what we ate but it was excellent and we retired to our house / shop / tavern in a sleepy and happy frame of mind which was to be further improved with the realisation that the bell from the adjoining church was also taking the night off even though it had been much in evidence during the day.

The Pousada at Vila Nova de Cerveira is a must for history-buffs who want to eat well. There is a real sense of staying within the walls of an ancient town and of the nearby river quietly performing its function of separating the two countries. This is only slightly undone by the passing of the occasional diesel-powered train on the track which dissects the route between Pousada and river. One night is enough but I am glad to have been there.

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it is just in portuguese by now, but you can see the pictures of the hotel. Wonderful and near of the mountain. You can make a walk and see the deers.

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