Sunshine Distractions

The wonderful warm sunny weather has overtaken us and I’ve not been near this blog, oh and we’ve also been distracted by online discussions with our Architect in Shetland.

We’ve spent time walking some of the paths around the reservoir, then decided to head to the nearest town (Alcacer do Sal) for a very reasonable night on the municipal campsite to do those sort of domestic things that have to be done. Then this morning we walked into the town and had another history walk around the mediaeval remains – this meant walking down the hill into town, cobble stones all the way. The town is steeped in history and there are still ancient communal washing places (we think clothes rather than bodies, and just about stopped the Tollers from a morning swim).

After a bit of civilisation, and the temperature heading towards 20C we decided to head back to the Pego do Altar dam Aire for another night before moving on again. We’re still trying to decide which way to go to avoid ending up in Lisbon traffic…we’ve been warned it’s a free for all!

Fascinating tree shapes….at a lunch stop near the town.

This time back at the Aire there is almost “little England” this end…with multiple other UK vans, people sat out basking and English chat being the predominant language. We tossed up whether to leave as that really wasn’t  what we were looking for in having decided to head south for the winter sun. We’ve definitely got the sun, and while we’d been warned that there were loads of other Brit motorhomers down in Portugal for the winter….well, we never intended to join them ….we’d read about sites down on the south coast of Spain & Portugal with thousands of pitches and organised entertainment…not our scene at all!

We do now both have suntan marks on our arms when we take off our watches….and have agreed that this is a first for both of us …in February! Shorts on for most of the day, our legs are in shock! We are just going to “have” to go out star gazing this evening….as there is almost no light polution and a clear sky…the stars were out the other day when we were here, but as it’s Valentine’s Day, well that’s going to be our celebration under the stars.