As I said in the last blog, we’re cold. We were cold from the very first evening as we quickly realised that the lovely log fire actually kicked out very little heat. The cast-iron free standing log burner in our Galician home acted as a storage heater. Once it was heated through, it continued to emanate heat long after the logs had burned to ashes. The fire here, built into the wall didn’t. Even if we were sat right in front of it, there was very little warmth & smoke puthers out if we leave the door open – we tried that…
Surprisingly, eucalyptus wood smoke did not smell pleasant!
The fire was linked to an electric pump which, once a certain temperature was reached, blew hot air through vents into the upstairs rooms in a kind of basic central heating. However, in order to do this, air was sucked in which caused the logs to blaze & burn quickly. Burn quickly they did & we knew our complimentary tonne would soon begin to deplete. There was an electric radiator in each room which we turned on, but with an open staircase, the open lounge-diner was uncomfortably cool.
So we went to bed.
I think the house had been empty a while & the bedding was chilled & felt damp. The walls were cold right through & it would take an age before they would warm up enough not to suck the warmth right out of each room. There was a strange smell wafting from the en-suite shower room too.
The following morning we woke to clear blue skies, a ground frost & mist in the valley. The house was perched right on the hillside & we saw the fantastic views for the first time. But we had no hot water & the temperature dial on the tank hadn’t moved from the position shown to me on our arrival. The house was icy cold & now we couldn’t even have a hot shower. Needing
provisions, we headed to Marco de Canaveses, the closest large town & found an Intermarche – all supermarkets in Portugal are open on a Sunday. As we set off, we’d programmed Billy so we could find our way home. However, as our house was off the main road, we’d had to choose a crossroads close-by on the lane above as the fix-point.
The Intermarche had the best view from a supermarket car park that I’ve ever seen – right across the valley towards our house on the mountainside on the other side. Unfortunately the only photo I took didn’t turn out very well 🙁
On the way back, we diligently followed Billy’s instructions which led us up a cobbled lane neither Rob nor I could remember travelling on the way down into town. Non-the-less we assumed that Billy had found a quicker or more direct route back.
No he hadn’t & this was one of the many occasions that we exclaimed “FFS Billy!”
We climbed up, closely avoiding a red sports car hurtling downhill towards us, on our side of the road, round a blind bend – Portuguese drivers! Another country & another near miss on the second day after arrival. Just so long as they continued to be near misses & no worse…
Negotiating a fallen Eucalyptus tree, we continued to climb the cobbles right to the top of the hill. The view was spectacular & the 
hillside was covered in massive rounded granite boulders. Wanting to get back with the food, we didn’t stay, but returned another time to walk the dogs & take some photos.
The cobbles eventually ended in a single-lane, hard-packed dirt track, but still up for an adventure we continued on as billy instructed. Eventually, after descending down a steep lane we actually tipped out at the crossroads opposite our lane! For some reason Billy had taken us up & over the mountain rather than the more gentle route we’d taken into town.