Day 9 Castelo Branco to Penamacor

Day 9 Castelo Branco to Penamacor. 61.82 kms cycled. 4.40 hours cycling. 36.51km/h max speed. 13.22km/h average speed. Weather sunny but very cold with a very strong head wind from the north all day.

After waking to an extremely cold morning, I decided to make the most of the free internet in Castelo Branco to send a few emails, use skype and generally get on top of things.
And certainly after running out of food the previous night restocking my panniers was an urgent matter to attend to.
So it wasn’t until close to 11.30am that I finally set out for Penamacor brimming with food and raring to go. But unfortunately the vicious northerly that I battled with all the previous day was back with a vengeance and right in my face.
Undeterred I battled on, but it was a battle I must admit.
To help me take my mind off the wind, I started to jot down in my notebook a few random thoughts on some of the occasions I stopped (which was very frequently).
Here are a few……..
(a) Why are camping grounds in Portugal always on a sloping site, which makes it impossible to find a flat surface to be able to sleep properly?
(b) Why are all the oranges I help myself to from yards along the way always much tastier than the one I buy in supermarkets?
(c) Why is Portugal so well signposted yet there are no signs to be able to find the tourist office until you are actually there?
(d) Why did the ancient Portuguese road builders go over every hill they could find instead of around them (believe me if there is a hill anywhere in Portugal there is a road right over the highest part)?
(e) Where are all the children in the towns – I could count on one hand the number of children I have seen in the smaller country towns?
(f) And finally for today, why does the wind blow all day into my face, but as soon as I stop cycling it stops blowing all together?
Anyway, with no campground in Penamacor I found a lovely wild campsite next to a natural spring in an olive grove a short way out of town.
After setting up camp I enjoyed a great meal of lamb, vegetables and egg and am praying that the wind won’t blow so hard tomorrow.
Am exhausted after a very tough day, so am hitting the sack.

captions   Pic 1 and 2: Interesting buildings along the way. Pic 3 & 4 A fantastic venue to stop for lunch. Pic 5 And we think a couple of hundred years history is` a lot in Australia. Pic 6 Camping in the Olive Grove. Pic 7 I can still smile despite the wind