Weather: A bit of rain to start, then mainly overcast but with a bit of sun every now and then.
What an interesting start to the day! We may not have been able to visit the museum, due to it being Monday, but the trail around the external parts of the old mine workings made our visit to Lousal worthwhile. A substantial distance of wooden boardwalk guides one around the remains of the open pit, via a number of information signs. Here are some snaps:
The green lagoon:
The red lagoon (which is only a couple of hundred metres away from the green lagoon):
The photo doesn't do justice to the pink hues in that rock. The variety of colours was impressive:
Perhaps a little too technical and detailed, as information signs aimed at the general public go...
The series of cascade pools and reed beds that have been installed to help deal with the environmental pollution caused by ground water running over the old mining area:
Yesterday afternoon, when we took our first quick stroll around, a stray dog joined us the moment we left Bertie and accompanied us for our entire walk. Today these two joined us for the final stages. They were very good - the little one walking perfectly to heel, with the big one a little ahead:
When we got back to Bertie, yesterday's dog was sitting on our neighbours door mat. It obviously knows what it needs to do to increase its chances of being fed (all of these dogs were grubby, but not skinny). A multi-lingual sign at the service point implored motorhomers not to abandon their dogs there, although I find it hard to believe it can be something that happens often.
What to do with the rest of a grey day? Laundry of course! That involved us driving about an hour and a half eastwards, not because there were no nearer laundry facilities, but because I'd identified, only a stone's throw from our onwards route, a parking spot in an interesting-sounding town, right next door to an Intermarche supermarket that has laundry facilities in its car park.
With roads with great stretches that tested the firmess of our fillings (they're not potholed, but so uneven that it's as if the road laying method involved eight thousand people all coming along with a bucket full of tarmac each, dumping it on the road and tamping it down as best they could) we arrived here in Serpa and headed straight for the Intermarche.
We've many a time seen these al-fresco laundry facilities in supermarket car parks, but this is the first time we've used them. My observations: 1) handy that you can put a wash on and either go shopping or sit in the comfort of Bertie whilst waiting for it; 2) good quality machines, with a good spin cycle; 3) not enough tumble dryers (they have two washing machines (8kg & 18kg) and one dryer), particularly when so many people bring their wet laundry from home to dry. We ended up having to wait an hour and forty minutes for the dryer, and then only just managed not to lose our place in the queue to two new arrivals.
It all took long enough that we didn't feel inclined to then go for a look around the town. That'll have to wait until morning. Thus, we just moved next door to the swimming pool car park. Considering there are supermarkets on both sides of us, and the town centre is not far behind us, it was a bit of a surprise to have a flock of bell-toting sheep come through a while later:
(Bit of a random aside: I noted on today's journey that the Portuguese have a love of road signs. The best example is that when encountering a 'no overtaking' stretch of road, not only will the dashed centre line become solid, but there will also be a 'no overtaking' sign on both sides of the road. At the end of the section, not only will the line go back to dashed, but there will also be a 'end of no overtaking' sign on the right side of the road. This can be repeated every few hundred metres on a wibbly bit of road. Add to that a 'warning, bend ahead' sign for even the slightest curve and the multiple changes in speed limit for every junction, and one has to conclude that road-sign making is a good business to be in.)
No comments:
Post a Comment