Milan or Madrid, the main thing is Italy

In our case, more like Portugal. After passing our southernmost point, Lisbon, we now head towards Madrid. Yes, why Madrid? Christian is an enthusiastic football fan and since LASK was drawn against Liverpool as an opponent in the European Cup, the good gentleman decided to watch the game with friends. The cheapest flight connection takes us to Madrid.

But we still have a little time, stress is far away from us these days and so we drive across the country. We come to Marvão via the small town of Foros de Salvaterra. Marvão is a small town located on an 800m high rocky plateau and is quite old. There are finds from Roman times and records that this area has always been courted by various warlike peoples. So it's no surprise that the city consists of a fortress and many small houses surrounded by a huge city wall. Actually, our plan was to look around a bit and hike, because November was declared hiking November. Of course we do this too, go on two wonderful hikes and, through our research, find out that the chestnut festival is taking place at the weekend. After a moment's consideration, we realized that we couldn't pass up this opportunity to see a cultural festival in Portugal. We won't be disappointed. The small town with its 3000 inhabitants comes to life, there are music and juggler groups running around everywhere, there is food and drinks, from cake to suckling pig (Christian loves it, but his jacket still smells like it a week later) and of course hot chestnuts and red wine. Is it the ambience? We will never know but since that day Christian has been tasting hot chestnuts. The wine, or rather the combination of both, was more likely to convince Christine.

After 3 wonderful nights in this cute city, we set off again and took a detour to Spain. Not far from Marvão is the Puente de Alcántara. The 71 meter high bridge from the 2nd century is considered the most important bridge structure of the Romans. After some war damage and subsequent restorations in the last few centuries, the bridge stands virtually as original and is still in use. Of course we drive over it twice, as we all know that twice is better.

After this little detour we head straight back over to Portugal. Well actually to the border, because after a little lap of honor we have to refill the gas supply and find a beautiful place on the Rio Erges right on the border. The surrounding area invites you to go hiking, which of course we do and we are rewarded. Barren landscape with lots of herbs, a small village, an over-motivated shepherd dog that helps us set a new speed record, a river and an incredible view give us unforgettable impressions. We decide to take advantage of the warm autumnal weather and continue hiking in November and are therefore looking for a new starting point for the same.

Our choice falls on the Parque Natural da Serra da Estrela. The national park includes the roof of Portugal, the highest point, at almost 2000 meters. Yes, there is even a ski lift there and the snow symbols and the “Low Gear” traffic signs remind us a little of home. The only difference is that in mid-November we don't need skis, there are no snow cannons working and the hut landlord doesn't sell goulash soup for €10. We put on our hiking boots, are adequately dressed with a T-shirt and set off for Covão dos Conchos, a waterhole in the middle of the mountain lake. Of course this is not the case, the lakes serve as a huge water reservoir for the entire area, but it is still spectacular to look at. By the way, we spent the night before in Loriga, a small mountain village with a great infrastructure for us campervans. In general, Portugal and this region can't be bothered with parking spaces, which we confirmed the next night in Gouveia.

From here the journey continues to Castelo Rodrigo. Because we have declared hiking November, we are also setting off here, up the mountain, to the Jesus statue. A truly great view over the area and the small medieval town (we even see our Womberta from up here) make the steep climb forgotten and we hike back comfortably through the fields and a small forest. The next morning we make a nice acquaintance. Ewald, that's what we call the lovable stray, lies comfortably in the disposal area of the parking space and lets the sun shine on his stomach. Lilli also recognizes the good spirit and even lets him come up to the motorhome and take a look. The reason for our stay soon became clear to us: Ewald is thirsty and thinks it's great when you turn on the tap for him.

With a little sadness we leave Ewald behind and drive to Miranda do Douro in the Parque Natural do Douro Internacional, where a new, breathtaking hike awaits us. The Douro winds through the national park in a steep gorge, separating Portugal and Spain. Even the journey to Miranda makes us stop once or twice and enjoy the view, which reminds us a bit of the Wachau. In addition to the vineyards, there are also huge cacti in bloom and tons of orange trees, complete with fruit. In short, a wonderful piece of earth. By the way, we also make another funny acquaintance on our hike: Pastor. At first we think it's a stray, but then we discover the tag with the name on its neck. He runs along for a bit. At least we think so for a while, but after 5 or 6 kilometers we start to think a bit. We finally stop a passing man in a white van (there are millions of them here) and ask him if it isn't his dog. Of course not, but the man is incredibly friendly and finds a phone number on the dog tag, which he finally calls. After a short back and forth, pointing and speaking in 5 languages, we go to a meeting point where the pastor is picked up by his master. Pastor apparently does this more often and the nice dude with dreadlocks is already used to picking up his four-legged friend.

Our next stops are Villadepera and Mieza. The associated hikes are canceled due to heavy fog, but we find a great alternative along the way that leads us once again to a Roman bridge. Then we continue to Salamanca. We like the university town with the 2 huge cathedrals. Christian tastes the famous Iberian ham and we enjoy empanadas in the Plaza Mayor. Of course, the decorations on the cathedrals and the university will be examined more closely. We discover the astronaut and the frog, cool. Maybe it will help us, we'll see, but we've certainly served one of Salamanca's many legends in a positive way. But Christine's real highlight was that she was finally able to see a Lucky Shop, or they are often called Hyper Asia or something similar, from the inside. We dare to say that it feels like EVERYTHING is there.

Now it's not long until we have to be in Madrid. But it doesn't really get any warmer, which is why we're taking a little weekend trip to the south. Just cross the country to unwind on Isla Cristina in Andalusia in 20 degree temperatures. A good decision, as we immediately sense the change in mood between sun and fog. Here too we get to know nice people and Paco. Paco is the neighborhood macaw who likes to eat signs. On top of that, Christine also found her highlight: flamingos in the wild, cool.

But then the time has come, Madrid, Madrid, we're going to Madrid. We drive to Madrid via Puerto Lápice, where we have breakfast high up near the windmills, settle in at the campsite and Christian flies to Liverpool. Next time you'll find out what it was like there and how we spent Christmas and the New Year.