Linhares da Beira - a medieval treasure

Inatel Linhares front view

Looking down from the mezzanine

What a surprise - we found the Inatel hotel in Linhares de Beira on Booking.com, and it was one of those hidden treasures.  The older facade of the buildings has been preserved, but inside is a combination of very modern furnishings with old stone walls, high ceilings, huge fireplaces, deep windows and it all works beautifully.  Our room was large and airy with two deep bay windows overlooking the old village, the castle and the valley.  The bathroom was huge and modern, the free wifi worked very well, the hotel had a lovely swimming pool and tennis courts and the staff were excellent - no complaints.

View of the castle from our window

The village was established as a Portuguese village in 1169, and has a Roman, Visigoth and Muslim history.  The castle that overlooks Linhares was partially rebuilt in the 1300s and has a magnificent view over the Serra da Estrela.  It is a total step back in time - all the streets are cobblestoned, winding, hilly (of course), and most of the homes look like they've been plucked from a storybook and have remained unchanged through the centuries.


We were unable to eat at the hotel that evening, as the restaurant was not open, so we drove back into the nearby town of Celorico, where we had a good meal - veal casserole with rice and beans, tornados of veal with salad and chips, filet of veal with casserole vegetables, and fish steaks with salad and potatoes.  Very nice, washed down with a good bottle of wine.

The one and only cafe

Next day we walked around the town, had a coffee at the little coffee shop (the only one in town) and climbed the hill up to the castle.  Wonderful 360 deg. views, and from there we also spotted a cemetery, which Lorraine has been looking for ever since we arrived.  We headed in that direction and were joined by a little old lady and her husband out for a walk.  They must both have been well into their eighties, and the lady insisted on speaking to me in Portuguese, with a big smile.  I managed to get across to her that we were going to have a look at the cemetery, and she proudly led us to the grave of her grandparents - her grandfather was born in 1812 and lived well into his eighties.  Most of the people in the graveyard had lived long lives - must be all the walking up and down the mountain on twisting, cobbled roads and clear mountain air.  We also stopped at the one and only 'Artisan' shop where Lorraine bought herself a pair of woollen slippers (in the heat of the Spanish sun) and I bought an interesting locally produced blackcurrant liqueur - I say, 'interesting' because although I love the colour of it (a brilliant purple/blue), I'm not so sure about the taste.  Oh well, we're supporting the local economy.

Back to the hotel for a swim in the nice cool pool, then a catchup on my blog before making the increasingly difficult decision about where to go for dinner.  However, as there is only one restaurant in this tiny little village, on this occasion it was easy.  We walked up the hill to have a bottle of champagne as we watched the sunset over the castle before dinner.  On the way we stopped at the restaurant Cova da Loba and were told that they were full - we've done it again.  But they said they could fit us in around 9-9.30 so we grabbed it.  We headed to the castle just in time to catch the sunset through one of the arches, and we enjoyed our bottle of wine in the tranquillity. 

Returning from the castle we saw welcoming lights in the Festa Social Club, a club whose sole responsibility is to prepare the village for a festival in August each year.  A committee is elected each year (and surprisingly, it is usually the same people, the same as it works in any club throughout the world) and they have to raise money by selling drinks and snacks in their little club.  A man was in the doorway having a smoke, and we asked if we could come in - he was happy to invite us in, as he had spent several years in the US, and wanted to keep his English up to date.  We had a great chat with him while he sold us some drinks, and he insisted that that I try their local liqueur, 'Licor Beirao' - I was happy to, and he gave me a very generous glass -it was good.  We told him we were going to Cova da Loba for dinner and he said we would be surprised at the restaurant - it was not a typical Spanish restaurant, but fine dining, and very good food.

To say we were surprised would be an understatement.  You walked into an old stone building, down a wooden ramp surrounded by barrels of beer and wine bottles artfully lit and arranged, then into a cavern which was tastefully furnished in a mixture of old and new.  And the restaurant was full.  I think we had the best meal of our trip so far at this place.

We started with crispy prawns with garlic sauce, and chicken pie with salad - they were all delicious and beautifully presented.  Next, we had duck breast with cranberries, pork cheek with mushrooms served in a crusty cob loaf, grilled goat with vegetables and potatoes and grilled minted lamb, potatoes, rice and beans.  We had a nice bottle of red and white wine, and coffees.  It was superb.  And so unexpected in this location.  A big tick to this restaurant, and in fact to the whole village.  It seemed they had worked out that they could only support one cafe, one restaurant, and one hotel.  So the hotel didn't have a restaurant, but did breakfasts, the cafe did breakfasts, snacks and lunches, and the restaurant only opened for dinner.  Wonderful cooperation.  

We loved this place so much we tried to book a further night, but it was fully booked for an upcoming festival (we always seem to get our timing wrong, it would have been lovely to stay for the festival), so it was on to our next stop at Valladolid in central Spain.

And so it continues....

After leaving Lisbon we headed North, hoping to find some accommodation on the coast - yes, in the middle of high season, in Spain - talk about optimistic.  We headed for Lourinha, where Kate (our GPS) had another hissy fit and drove us around in circles a couple of times.  Trev was driving and was getting a little tired, so we gave up on Lourinha and headed for Peniche, a beautiful rocky outcrop on the Atlantic Ocean.  

Again, it was very busy, so we headed just out of the main town towards a camping area that also had cabins.  We found they were sold out - no accommodation at all.  The young girl on reception was helpful, gave us a map and circled a couple of hotels that we could try.  Off we went, found the first hotel, which was looking hopeful, they were in the middle of checking a family in.  Unfortunately, that family took the last three rooms - oh no!  The young man on reception was helpful and checked out what was available in the area - the answer was 'nothing'.  Things are not looking good, we might all be sleeping in the car.  He then recommended a small 2-star hotel in Serra del Rei, about 15 minutes out of town.  We tried to punch it into our GPS, but Trev couldn't remember how to spell it, and no-one had written it down.  So we were winging it.  

Kate again had problems getting us out of town, but at last we escaped and got onto a road to 'somewhere else'.  It was getting close to 5.00pm with no accommodation, so the pressure was on.  We wound our way through yet another little village when Trev spotted a church next to a hotel sign saying 'Mar Azul' - yes, we had found it.  All we had to do now was actually get a couple of rooms.  The lovely lady on reception said 'yes, we have only two rooms left, one is a double, one is a triple', so we yelled 'Yes, we'll take them' - finally, we had somewhere to stay after a very long, very frustrating day.  The rooms were basic, but clean and we were happy to have them.  Next problem was finding food for the evening.  Nothing seemed to be open in the village apart from the Pizza shop directly downstairs, so we opted for that.  We tried to order and were told 'no food', despite the fact that people were eating around us.  We tried again, and the manager changed his mind and said he would get food for us.  Then one of the staff had an argument with him and we were told no, nothing for at least an hour and a half.  Very confusing - we left and looked around for something else.   We ended up a little way down the road having a toasted sandwich and a beer/wine.  On the way back to our room we saw the pizza shop all set up with a big group of people eating - obviously they had a big booking and could not accommodate us as well - we just can't get this eating business right.  

Back at the hotel we booked our next 2 nights accommodation at Linhares de Ribeira in the Serre del Estrela mountains.