Woke up to another sunny day in Piedras Albas. Being just 15 km away from Portugal, it would have been a shame if we hadn’t cross the border, so we headed for another excursion, this time to a place voted “the most Portuguese village in Portugal” back in 1938 – the beautiful Monsanto.

A former customs house in Piedras Albas

This was the kindest border I’ve ever crossed – no traffic, and no border control, even before Schengen/EU kicked in.
If it wasn’t for this board, I wouldn’t have even noticed we had left Spain

The way to Monsanto lead us through Monfortinho, known for its thermal springs

Passing by colourful villages on the way to Monsanto

The landscape around Monsanto

Located in southeast Serra da Estrela (the highest mountain range in Portugal), the appereance of this ancient fortified hilltop village hasn’t changed much in centuries. Enchanting granite-made houses, -some of them even carved inside the giant granite boulders or built right under them- narrow streets, all kinds of colourful flowers everywhere, lemon and loquat trees…
Walking around this village feels like being in a fairytale. Especially if you come earlier in the morning when there are no visitors around yet, so you can enjoy the silence and climb all the way to the top, enjoying breathtaking landscapes, just like I did.

So, join me on the way to the top of the hill! This is the furthest you can go by car. From here on we go on foot, equipped with a pair of good trekking shoes, of course.

Witness to some wars. Unfortunately I didn’t get the chance to try it

View of the village


The views are splendid, wherever you take a look

While climbing, you will find some boards with information about Monsanto,
for example about the curious granite giants you will see on the way to the top

The way to the top of the hill is well indicated

Would you live under such a big rock?

We’re going higher and higher. -We need to buy a nicer camera-

More rocks…

We’re almost there!

Chapel of São Miguel do Castelo

What once served as a loophole

And here we are: the top of Monsanto hill, 785m above sea level

The view of the village from the hilltop

And now we go downhill. This can be more tiring for your legs than it was climbing.

Delicious water for thirsty trekkers

We weren’t the only visitors around…

See the rooster on the top of the church bell? It’s a Portuguese national symbol

It comes from a legend, where a pilgrim was unjustly accused of murder and condemned to execution in the gallows. So he went to see the judge -who was eating at the time-, and pointing to a roasted rooster said he was so innocent that when he were to be hanged, the rooster would come to life and sing.
And so it happened, so the man was taken out of the gallows and set free.

Divine place? I absolutely agree on that

One thing I know for sure: I will be back! I fell in love with this village.

The sun was already high in the sky when we sat back in the car after checking out the village’s saturday market where they were selling local products – everything from vegetables and olive oil to ceramics and kitchenware. The prices were very low comparing to Slovene ones – I was astonished. People spoke Portuguese and we spoke Spanish with them and we perfectly understood each other.
Then we became hungry, so we drove back to Monfortinho for lunch.

In Monfortinho we stopped by a shop where they were selling cheese and honey – as indicated in the window…

… beautiful ceramics the Portuguese are famous for…

… and clay pots. This makes a nice souvenir – in case you don’t travel by plane (that can be risky)

I’ve never seen something similar: there are swallow nests all around this house, in the middle of Monfortinho

While waiting for the 1st plate, we were served fresh buns with soft ewe’s cheese, butter, sardine paté and black olives. The following plate was “bacalhau dourada”, one of the most popular cod dishes (and believe me, there are more than 365 ways of preparing this fish in Portugal)… it disappeared from the plate so fast I didn’t even have the chance to take a photo of it. Pure delight.

The 2nd plate consisted of another tasty bacalhau with cooked potatoes, simply drizzled with local olive oil, veal steak with prosciutto (or presunto in Portuguese), fries and cooked rice and wild boar steak with mushrooms and potatoes.  Do I have to say we enjoyed it very much?

And of course, the desserts, nice oven-baked puddings, cakes, fruit and ice-creams. All together with a small cups of  great coffee. Everytime Juanpi had told me about Portugal, he mentioned food. And while I thought he was exaggerating at the time, I must admit he even fell short. Point for you .

And here ended our Portuguese tour. I can’t wait to come back!