2020-03 Spain & Portugal Day 7: O Moinho Restaurant to Freixo de Numão

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O Moinho to Freixo de Numão

Our sleep is messed up by the time change and it’s cold; our phones show 3° outside. We wake early to the roaring sound of the water, still surging over the weir, mighty power that has driven the seven turbines of the watermill for centuries. There is fog over the water, hanging like wispy scarves wrapped around the rocks and trees. Spiders webs laden with silver jewels of dew hang like lace necklaces between forks of twigs. It is a surreal but beautiful morning.

The coronavirus is starting to cause major problems, the US has banned flights from europe and the UK and Ireland join the list in two days. The airports will be empty, but we shed no tears for them, they do not deserve help because they treat passengers so badly. It sounds like the over 70s will be told to stay home, that’s both of us, but we are here in Portugal, so maybe we are better-off here, only time will tell.

As the sun comes through it soon burns off the mist and by about 9.00 am there is blue sky and sunshine with no inkling or foreboding of what the day was to hold. Grey wagtails (with yellow feathers!) skim the water and cormorants are diving in the turbulent pools below the weir. We could spend the morning just watching nature here. We breakfast and plan our route. We hear that the ferries are being cancelled because of coronavirus lockdown so check online with Brittany Ferries. Yes, our ferry is cancelled and Brittany Ferries’ website says there are no planned sailings until 12th April (three weeks after our booked return). They will try and reroute passengers on bigger ferries, we must wait and be patient.

Sat in bed with my iPhone looking at possible routes, we had planned to go all the way south in Portugal to the Algave, the Faro area. When I work out the distance and number of days that is no longer practical, we have spent too long getting this far, so some revision is needed. One of the places we wanted to visit is the PAIVA walkways, I check that out only to discover that they closed 3 days ago for major repairs to the surfaces etc. After a lot of discussion and pondering we decide that we will head for the Douro Valley, spend the night somewhere there and then head north towards A Coruña then along the north coast back to Santander. With that in mind, we head for the aire at Vila Nova de Foz Côa, which is only about 77 miles away. The roads are narrow and winding, we don’t make very good progress but enjoy the scenery, it takes us 3 hours in the end.

We leave mid-morning and take the road back to Chaves. From here the N-213 to Mirandela where we stop at Pingo Doce supermarket and stock up with fruit, vegetables, milk and supplies, just in case there really is a lock-down and we are stranded. Pingo Doce has no queues or restrictions, I manage a few words of Portuguese, even if they are simply to say that I don’t speak Portuguese, even that little is appreciated and draws smiles and help with the pronunciation from the ladies on the counter. We now have a good stock of Portuguese wine and other foods, €85.

We consider our options: we could drive back through France and the tunnel or try the ferry at Caen. We decide to just ‘wait and see’. As the day proceeds, emails drop into our mailboxes of cancelled events: Adlington (Cheshire) spring ball, Casterton folk dance weekend, Preston folk dance club and, finally, Galliard folk dancers. All cancelled until further notice. We feel like we are in a bubble of our own.

From Pingo we continue on our way stopping for lunch in a layby, next to local allotments. The day is hot and sunny, about 21˚C and we enjoy the warmth of the day. Back on our way we turn down a small road, M578, which takes us over the mountains to the Douro valley. The landscape changes dramatically to fertile olive groves and vineyards. As we rise through the mountains, the vines and olive trees are grown on steeper and steeper terraces, acres and acres of them; dramatic and spectacular at the same time. We drop down into a green valley and follow the Douro river on the IP-2/N102 to Foz Coã natural park. We cross the river by the dam and stop to look at the hydro-electric station on the river (huge and rather ugly). From here we take the N222 along the valley and climb again to the village of Freixo de Numão.

We find the small camping area behind the rather delipidated sports stadium (must be 50 years old with concrete benches) and park up. We look at the facilities, the toilets and showers must have seen 30 years of wear too! There are two of us here for about 24 spaces, well-marked and about 16 with electric hook-up. We park up, plug in and get settled. Alan talks to a Swiss woman in the other camper who tells us the owner will close the site tomorrow morning because of the virus. He calls around 6pm to collect the €5 and tells us one night only. The €5 includes electric and the use of the shower block. We get the impression that he wouldn’t close but has been forced to. The rain starts about teatime, rain and wind batter the camper all night.

The showers and toilets are not the most inviting, we decided to use our own facilities. This is not looking good, we settled down to another super meal in the Hymer, huge fresh prawns for starters, then a stir fry made from the chicken livers and hearts that we purchased in León. Also a bottle of sparkling red wine, Portuguese of course. Unfortunately the cork shot out while I was opening it and sprayed sticky red wine all around, what a mess.

We try to catch up on the news, but it’s impossible to know what is going on. Here we are in a small town in Portugal with no way of knowing what is fact and what is BBC speculation and hype. What can you rely on? We receive emails telling us that some dancing events that we had booked places on have been cancelled. Uncertain what to do for the best we will decide in the morning. There must be hundreds of others in the same situation as us, we certainly are living in interesting times.

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