2020-03 Spain & Portugal Day 6: Molinaseca to O Moinho Restaurant

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Molinaseca to O Moinho restaurant

A cold night at Molinaseca, with a misty start to the day, almost foggy. We’re up and have breakfast fairly early, generally it seems to take us around 2 hours from the time we wake up to the time that we’re ready to drive away. That time includes servicing the Hymer of course. Experience tells us that it’s best to empty the toilet cassette and grey water at every opportunity, and take on fresh water too. You can never be sure what facilities are going to be available because our route is never fixed in advance. Many motorhome owners like to plan exactly where they are going and have all the overnight stops booked; that would drive us to distraction, like being on a coach tour where you are regimented. Our way is to plan the first couple of nights, and even then we have multiple potential stops in case we drive further or are delayed.

We should enter Portugal today, the first part of the journey is on excellent motorway type road, we stopped for lunch on the roadside in a lay-by overlooking a deep valley with mountains in the distance. A magnificent view. The road is very quiet. Lunch on fresh bread, Serrano ham and sheep’s cheese. Gill drives the next section, we fill up with diesel again, €0.99 per litre, about 88p a litre. As we enter Portugal we remember to put our clocks forward an hour, so we’re back on the same time as the UK. Clock changes at land borders are very easy to miss, then you end up being out of step with the local way of life.

It is not very busy today despite being Saturday morning. We take the A-6 to Villamartin and then N-120 all the way to A Rūa following the Rio Sil most of the way. We cross from Castillo-y-Leon to Gallicia at La Barosa, where the Rio Sil feeds into the reservoir. There is a spectacular view over the reservoir as the water is so still. Gill takes photos (and hopes that they have captured the view). We drop down into A Rūa and at Petin, take the OU-533 south over the mountain pass, stopping at the summit near O Bolo for lunch. We stop too soon before the best viewpoint that overlooks Viana de Bolo, where we will cross the Rio Bibei at the reservoir.

On our way through Rias Baixas (reminding us of the white wine we particularly like) and onto A-Gudiña where we join the A-52. From here we follow the A-52 and cross the border into Portugal to the medium sized down of Chaves (we smile at the name!). We continue through Chaves on the N-103 to our overnight night stop just before the village of Curallha at the Restaurant O Moinho (The Mill in Portuguese). We stop to take stock, then follow the narrow-paved track down to the river behind the restaurant and next to the old water mill on the Rio Tãmega.

Here we park on a level paved area, facing the river and good-sized weir that has driven the water mill and its seven turbines in times past. Water surges over the weir with a continuous roaring sound. It is still surging through the seven basement arches, where old metal turbines (long de-funct) lie unused with evidence of the huge granite millstones that the turbines used to drive. What a piece of history and of water engineering, probably used until about 100 years ago. It is a wonderful spot, an oasis full of trees and birds and a full sun shining through dappling the shadows on the rocks and… we are the only ones here.

Like Spain (and England) there is evidence of major flooding. Quite recently the river has covered this whole area to a depth of several feet and carried whole uprooted trees down river, now deposited across the lower rocks. It makes an untidy mess in places but looking at the power of the water coming over the weir it has done little damage. The restaurant stands about ten foot above the river so was probably spared any flooding. We sit by the river in the sunshine slanting through the trees and read, a very welcome break after the driving of the day, only 85 miles, but through the mountains.

The woman at the restaurant gives us permission to stay and we organise an evening meal in the restaurant. We go back to the Hymer and watch what’s going on, birds are plentiful, kingfisher, shag, stork, grey partridge, black and red kites, mallard, grey wagtails – all seen today either en route or at O Moinho.

Two local fishermen walk down to the river edge and fly fish on the rocks, maybe just for the relaxation value as we don’t see them catch anything. Later, we walk up to the restaurant and have the best meal I can ever remember. €15 each for a three-course meal with wine: serrano ham with rye bread, rump steak (so big each must have weighed at least 400 gm . . . best part of a pound of steak each), cooked to perfection with fried potato patties with loads of salad, cheese with quince jelly for dessert. The carafe of wine is local Portuguese, rich and dark violet, reminiscent of cabernet sauvignon. We are the only diners and our hosts chat amiably with Alan in French (not Spanish of course!). Being able to make conversation in another language is something that Alan feels is really important, even when you don’t get it entirely correct it makes all those hours spent learning the languages worthwhile.

We walk back down the track to the river in a total black night, the water over the weir still roaring, the stars so bright and so many. No moon but a brilliant planet (probably Venus) like a spotlight in the sky. The clocks have changed back to UK time and it is only 7.40, it feels like bedtime. We play Bananagrams word games and have an early night.

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