Vila Nova Groundhog Day!

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Well, well, well. What can I say about Vila Nova De Foz Coa? It is a very small town of about 2800 up in the mountains, that is part of the 'Hot Country' in summer but I can attest to the fact it is very much the opposite in December.

The claim to fame for this district are the Palaeolithic rock engravings that are in the nearby beautiful Coa Valley, which are really worth going to see and despite having to wait twice as long as we had planned, it was awe inspiring.

We arrived in town mid Monday morning and checked into the biggest hotel the Albergaria Vale do Coa. It was comfortable and clean and the rooms were more like chambers, it would have to be the biggest hotel room I have every stayed in! Outside our window was an electronic sign running various messages like Merry Christmas, the time and what was to keep us amused for our entire captivity in town - the temperature (sitting on 6 degrees upon our arrival).

Our first stop was at the Tourismo office to book onto the next available tour to the carvings. Much to our dismay, we learnt that the Park office closed on Mondays and we would have to wait until Tuesday.

What in the hell were we going to do with ourselves, this wasn't exactly the most exciting town to be stuck in. We strolled down the main cobbled shopping street, with small shops and a few cafes but all strictly essential like a bakery, newsagents, groceries, no bric a brac, antique or junk shops we could poke around in for a few hours! With nothing else to do, we headed back to the library and fought for space with the high school kids at the Internet Cafe. We blatently ignored the 20 minute rule and I left Mac after an hour to go and read back at the hotel. This killed a few hours until we went for lunch and had another walk around town. One very cute and redeeming feature about this place was during Siesta, the shop owners didnt bother to bring in their wares from outside their shops, but just left it all there until it was time to reopen - if nothing else, we knew we were in a very safe place.

By late afternoon the temperature had risen to the mighty high of 15 but was dropping rapidly. Mac was looking for a route to take for a 10km run and with a lack of anything else to do, we walked to the outskirts and the boundary of  town. We did find some nice churches and it was nice walking through the Old Town to see how it all looked originally and lets face it, it neatly got rid of the afternoon for us!!

At about 8:00pm, we went back to the same cafe we had lunch as it seemed to be the happening place in town. At night time, it was very much a male dominated place, it wasnt hard to guess that a Woman's place is in the home and not out after dinner. I was the only woman in the cafe. The men stood at the bar smoking and drinking beer and I really began to appreciate how much freedom I have in my own society. They kept looking at us, so we must have provided some form of amusement for them. The fact we are both so fair, the fact Mac was actually talking to me and I was out after 8:00pm  must have screamed Foreigner.  At about 9:30pm, the football came on and as more local men poured in, their evening was complete and ours had come to an end.

The next morning, we awoke to see our trusty sign telling us it was -2 and my god it was cold. When I flew out from Adelaide, it was about 28 and humid, the weather in Portugal so far had been cool and the nights cold but I really, really felt this -2 business. Our breakfast was on the fourth floor which turned out to be a big disappointment. The breakfast room was like a crypt, absolutely freezing cold with marble lined walls and floor that just made the room that much more cozy. The only thing on offer was bread with cheese or jam and after an eternity we were able to get some hot water for our Peppermint tea, which was thankfully something warm to hold.

At last we were able to book our tour for the rock carvings at the Park Office but still had to wait until 3:30pm. Mac bought us a cool tshirt each of rock carvings and we read all the information we could, ready for the tour. I really cant remember what we did with ourselves for the day, but it did involve lunch at 'our' cafe and more than likely another trip to the Internet Cafe!

At last it was time to drive down to the departure office. Mac and I were the only guests on the tour which delighted us no end, our guide was a young local woman whom was extremely knowledgable and just a really pleasant person to be around, whom answered our many questions and bought past to life. We hopped into the 4WD and began the descent to the valley floor which was stunning. At one time, this area was full of Quintas (farms) but most were no longer in existence as the new generations had left for the cities, leaving no one to carry on the tradition. If nothing else, it would have been a beautiful place to grow up or live.

We reached the chilly valley floor and admired the beauty of it in the late afternoon sun, which bought out the winter colours of the trees and hills. The river Douro ran quickly past with cold, clear water and you could hear the otters splash and play.

Our guide took us over to the first engraving of a bull with two horses carved over the top of it. There are no barriers so you can actually stand in exactly the same spot as the artist did thousands of years ago. For a split second I got a feeling of how it must have been to live in this beautiful valley and it was a humbling experience.

We spent approximately an hour in the valley and there are many, many carvings to look at each quite different in it own way. My favourite was the 'practise' carving, which had many animal carvings over each other and lots of chips out of the stone face - because this is where the hunters had their target practice.

Unfortunatley, our tour came to an end and we headed back into town for our last night of captivity!

Why didnt we leave after the tour? Well, in my brilliance, I had dropped off some laundry which wasnt going to be ready until 7:00pm. The drive to our next town, Evora, was a good 4 hours away through icy mountain roads and neither of us felt confident about the drive. I have to say though, the laundress did a brilliant job on my clothes. A white tshirt I had given up for dead came back spotlessly white and clean and is still enjoying its new life!

We went to 'our' cafe for another dinner and the testosterone filled atomosphere, watched the Portugese news, which Mac translated for me as best he could. The news showed the riots in Sydney and it was with disbelief and even a touch of embarassment I watched the report which gave no real detail but it looked incredibly violent. It wasnt until I came home I found out what had happened.  We ate a huge meal we didnt really need, watched the same men come back for more beer and football and then retired to the hotel - looking forward to leaving the next morning!