{"id":3561,"date":"2012-05-28T21:11:42","date_gmt":"2012-05-29T01:11:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tourdebocrie.com\/?p=3561"},"modified":"2015-07-02T15:02:06","modified_gmt":"2015-07-02T19:02:06","slug":"day-3-tuesday-may-29-porto-covo-to-aljezur-portugal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tourdebocrie.com\/?p=3561","title":{"rendered":"Day 3, Tuesday, May 29 – Porto Covo to Aljezur, Portugal"},"content":{"rendered":"

This ride in southern Europe is so different from our previous European adventure. \u00a0 Gone are the castles and cathedrals, instead we enjoy the beauty of the countryside and the majesty of the mountains and the sea.<\/p>\n

Another cool and beautiful morning; though the sun was warm the sea breeze kept the morning air near 60.\"\"<\/a>As we biked out of our village this morning, so too did we bike away from the sea. When we turned south, we could see the ocean in the distance, either the blue from the sea or the cloud bank that was hovering off the coast. \u00a0We were also bordered by mountains to our east, hopefully they would not get too close.\"\"<\/a>With the exception of crazy Hans (did we mention he does the JFK 50 Miler, every year<\/em>) & Anna that we met yesterday, the only bikers we’ve seen have been road\/racing bikers. \u00a0They always greet us with enthusiastic waves and the drivers with happy honks.<\/p>\n

The countryside, once again, proved to be beautiful\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a>\"\"<\/a>occasionally dipping down to a cove\"\"<\/a>and then climbing the gently rolling hills,<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>at some points, however, the only way we knew we were climbing is the strain on our legs.<\/p>\n

After one such climb that seemed to go on forever, we decided to take a lunch break and rest our legs. \u00a0Immediately after lunch we were greeted with a five mile fly down, sounds great at the time, but we knew we would pay….and dearly. \u00a0Sure enough the two mile climb to follow was steep with sharp hairpin turns.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> At one rest during our climb, we were pushed with a nice breeze whipping up from the sea, so forging on was a little<\/em> easier. \u00a0Thankfully, at noon we had decided to stay in a town only 15-20 miles away, because the afternoon hills looked to be very challenging….INDEED!<\/p>\n

Our hotel was lovely, with a roof top view of the hills of the town,\"\"<\/a>of which there were plenty.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Once we checked in, we took a short stroll around the town, found an old church\"\"<\/a>and an old farmer, still working the land!\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Since arriving at our hotel, we have been smelling the delightful smells from the kitchen of the attached restaurant. \u00a0So we knew we had to travel no further than down two flights of stairs<\/strong><\/em> for dinner. \u00a0It was SO worth the trip! \u00a0Oddly enough (to us, anyway) salmon has been on the menu every night since arriving in Portugal. \u00a0Independently, we both decided to order it…….it was THE most incredible meal we’ve had so far….perfectly cooked and deliciously accompanied,\u00a0I didn’t even long for ice cream!!\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

50+ miles today and steep hills in our very near<\/em> future, time to turn in.\n\t\t