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We had intended to visit Estremoz today but the campsite leaflet tells us there is a Saturday market. Suspecting this may limit car parking, and because it is a sunny day, we decide instead to do a round trip to see the scenery on the 'wine route' which also takes in some of the marble towns. If we can see bits of the towns we have picked as pinpoints then all the better, but we don't plan on lengthy visits.
The route goes to Estramoz - Borba - Elvas - Juromenha - Alandroal - Redondo - Freixo and back to the site at Evramonte.
At Estramo we can see the fort high above the town. Next to a roundabout is a huge, almost empty carpark so we stop and Ali takes a quick walk through the porta to look inside. being a marble town Nick wants to know if there are any 'alleys' [bad pun for anyone who ever played marbles] Without doing a full recce it is clear that we should see it, probably tomorrow. In brief, almost anything not moving is made of marble.
As we drive up out of the town we pass piles of huge, rough cubes of mined marble alongside piles of irregular, shiny, patterned rubble.
Borba produces the regional fruity red wine we drank in Ferragudo. The town is also constructed largely of marble but it is all a bit run down and unloved. Arount the town we see the vineyards spreading into the countryside and we pass a couple of adegas or tasting houses and we also see some of the granit standing stones and menhirs scattered around this area.
The road to Elvas passes through rich, fertile green scenery with a mixture of cork, eucalyptus, orange and newly blossomed almond trees. Again there are ridges and outcrops of granite as well as a few more marble mines.
We stop outside Elvas for a quick lunch then drive around the massive arched city walls. Like many of these towns the inner streets are not really suitable for bigger vehicle but we make note of parking areas as we see them.
Juromenha is on a yellow road n the map but it is well surfaced rising and falling through more rich green countryside flecked with yellow flowers, sheep and cattle. Inn the warm sunshine it could be an April day in the best of rural England. The ground appears sodden, yet every time we cross a bridge the riverbed is dry. The ruined fort at Juromenha stands high on a hill watching over the Spanish border. Up in the sleepy village there is a bus parking area, really a sandy/muddy space near the sportsfield. Ali gets out for a quick look. Passing a little courtyard she hears chatter and laughter and as she peers in she is invited to join the party. It turns out the village has slaughtered the first fatted pig of the year and a slab of it is roasting over wood. The offer her some and she takes a piece to the van for Nick. They ask us to stay, but it is up steps and by the time we unload/reload we would lose too much time. Anyway, the roast pork is tender, salty and beautifully flavoured and their 15% wine would be a no-no for the driver.
At Alandroal we are diverted by some sort of road race; athletes running to and fro and roads coned off. The diversion takes us past Intermarche where diesel is 89.5 cents/litre so we take the chance to fill up.
Our last stretch is along a minor road through even more fabulous rural scenery. At Freixo we pass a man waking his sheep and carrying a bundle of asparagus. Asparagus is very much in season here as we've seen loads of people carrying it or selling it on the roadside.
We reach the site at 17:10, service the van and return to our pitch as the sun starts setting at the end of a memorable road tour.
Steak for dinner with a bottle of the Borba wine.
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