The Portuguese lady who guided us at Canada do Inferno for our Côa Valley Archaeological Park tour was, it turned out, also a forager/ edible plant buff. She pointed out a variety of seasonings & salad ingredients, so there were things to look at (& sniff) on the trail before we even got to the rock art. We also spotted some pretty non-edibles. Prunus amygdalus | the almond (📷1); before the young nuts harden they taste sour, so are dipped in salt in the Middle East to make them more palatable. Wild Lavandula pedunculata | Spanish (or French) lavender is native to Iberia, Morocco & western Türkiye (📷2). Umbilicus rupestris | the wall pennywort is edible in small quantities—more of a wild garnish than main vegetable (📷3). Ophrys tenthredinifera | the sawfly orchid is native to the Mediterranean region (📷4); we also re-identified Himantoglossum robertianum | the giant orchid.

🇵🇹 #portugal 🇪🇺 #europe 🚀 #travel 🚐 #camperVan #nomad #roadTrip #vanLife 🌸 #bloomScrolling

Parque Arqueológico do Vale do Côa | Côa Valley Archaeological Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is home to the world’s largest concentration of open-air Palaeolithic art (1,400+ engraved rocks, although the majority are now submerged). We began in Museu do Côa | Côa Museum, which catalogues art as old as 30,000 years & displays some replicas, such as “Quinta da Barca 3” (📷1). This ibex is depicted with two head positions/ overlapping horns, indicative of artistic experimentation with frame animation to simulate movement 20–15,000 years ago! The museum’s motif (📷2) is a filiform etching (i.e. composed of thin grooves), likely also an ibex, made ~12–11,000 years ago. Older examples mostly depict large animals, but people are also seen in more recent works. The in situ petroglyphs on schist canvases along the banks of the Côa River are concentrated in 4 main areas, to which access is permitted only via pre-booked guided tours. The site you’ll see depends on the time of day (shadows change etching visibility) & language of the tour: we were allocated to “Canada do Inferno”, accessed by 4x4 & foot. The first of ~40 engraved rocks known here was discovered (more accurately, recognised) as recently as 1991 (📷3). Rocha 1 works are 30–22,000 years old & clearly depict aurochs & a two-headed horse. Rocha 14 features the museum motif, almost invisible; it was easier to make out the front of this horse, etched using a pecking technique (📷4). We viewed two other rocks, 2 & 15, during the 2.5h tour.

🇵🇹 #portugal 🇪🇺 #europe 🚀 #travel 🚐 #camperVan #nomad #roadTrip #vanLife 🌍 #unesco

Nouvelle petite annonce à vendre en ligne:

Fourgon Elios 54T Sky-Lift, toit relevable avec installation Lithium et isolation renforcée
https://goodspots.app/fr/marketplace/01KN2NX1EWGGZS25DDXD7MTDEQ

#AVendre #Vente #PetitesAnnonces #Fourgon #Voiture #VanLife #GoodSpots

The Alto Douro Wine Region is a UNESCO-listed cultural landscape that has produced wine for some 2,000 years; the region’s best known product is Port, a sweet, full-bodied fortified 🍷 wine. We intersected the Rio Douro | Douro River at Mesão Frio, where we parked at a cemetery for lunch with this awesome view from the van door (📷1). Our drive continued up the Douro Valley between the towns of Peso da Régua & Pinhão, which local intel had informed us was the most scenic section (📷2&3). We came back to the river at Parque Arqueológico do Vale do Côa | Côa Valley Archaeological Park, near the town of Vila Nova de Foz Côa—still in the upper part of the wine region (📷4).

🇵🇹 #portugal 🇪🇺 #europe 🚀 #travel 🚐 #camperVan #nomad #roadTrip #vanLife 🌍 #unesco

The centre of Guimarães, founded during 10th–12th centuries, is a UNESCO-listed World Heritage Site due to its well-preserved medieval layout & importance in Portuguese history; it’s billed as the "birthplace of Portugal" on account of links to nation building & its first king, Afonso I. Castelo de Guimarães | Guimarães Castle was initially built by Countess Mumadona in the late 10th C. likely from wood & for the purpose of protecting the monastery from attacks; its present form dates to the late 13th C. (📷1). Paço dos Duques de Bragança | Palace of the Dukes of Braganza was built c. 1420–30 CE for Afonso I, Duke of Braganza; as a large, fortress-like noble residence, it required considerable heating—as reflected in the multitude of tall conical chimneys on the roofline (📷2). Largo da Oliveira is a public square in the heart of the old town, surrounded by historic architecture & religious landmarks (📷3). In the narrow yet impeccably maintained & clean medieval streets (📷4) we found a delicious selection of cakes to bring back to the van.

🇵🇹 #portugal 🇪🇺 #europe 🚀 #travel 🚐 #camperVan #nomad #roadTrip #vanLife 🌍 #unesco