We had breakfast on the balcony of our Pousada enjoying the scenery again. We left the hotel and headed to the only National Park in Portugal, the Peneda-Geres National park.
It was a morning of mountains, curves, forests, and incredible views of the surrounding mountains, valleys, rivers, and lakes. Pure zen and the best way to start a new day.
A song I was listening while riding through all this incredible nature seem to be speaking to the moment ... "I am in this world for just a moment, what an incredible coincidence that all these things are here with me also, in this very moment ... especially when so many centuries have past, so many worlds have existed, with so much space in the universe ... what an incredible coincidence, we are all here and now"
Throughout our travels in Portugal, water seems to be low in all the reservoirs, rivers, lakes, and damns. In some areas, critically low, almost all the way down. It made me think about what a country like Portugal, or the world for that matter, will turn into if water becomes a precious scarce commodity. Not a good scenario.
We stopped at the famous Santuario de Peneda inside the national park to see the church. Apparently, Our Lady of the Snows showed up here in the Middle Ages and now is a big pilgrimage site for people around the region and from Galicia, Spain. It has a massive staircase that leads to the church from far away, a granite rock behind, and a waterfall. Magical.
After exiting the National Park, we decide to head to Viana do Castelo, our destination for the day, as soon as possible as rain was coming over the mountains.
Viana de Castelo is a port city with a beautiful hill overlooking the city below. At the top of the hill is the Santuario do Sagrado Corasao de Jesus and our Pousada. A beautiful setting.
After checking in, we decided to go visit the church and go down the mountain to see the city. We also climbed the highest tower of the church in a very narrow staircase for a 360 view of all our surroundings.
On our way down the mountain, we met some people from Galicia, Spain, who gave us some masks so we could board the funicular that goes down to the town below. They were telling me about the magnificent beaches in the islands of Cies and Ons off the coast of Galicia as a place to visit next. Interesting.
We walked around town for a while and had dinner back up the hill at our hotel in the main grand room. Very old world.
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