Tom`s travels: Serra da Estrela (06/12/2014)

I found a guy on Blablacar, Antonio, that was going up to the Serra da Estrela for a ski trip so I contacted him and got 2 seats for Jurgis and I. Antonio was also a student in Coimbra and told me he would more trips in the future. Waking up early on the 6th we waited for Antonio to pick us up and were introduced to two other passengers, two Brazilian girls. We left Coimbra at 8 and reached the mountain at around 10. The first stop was at the ski slopes, the only ones in Portugal, where they were just starting to shoot artificial snow because even though it had snowed the week before the snow had already melted and there was only some still remaining in shaded areas. We then got back in the car and headed up to the highest point of the mountain range, at 1993m, that tanks to a tower of 7m made it to 2000m. At the spot there were a few mini markets which sold various things such as cheese and ham of the area, clothes that kept warm and other touristy objects. I had to buy a woolen hat because despite the hot sun the air was very cold and windy and my ears had started to freeze. We then headed east and down the mountain on the other side stopping at Lago do Viriato, an artificial but really pretty lake with views across the plateau and towards Torre (due to the tower) the highest point. We then got back in the car and traveled further heading down the glacial valley of Zezere, the only part of the Serra range that has trees and really ancient ones too. Then further down we stopped at the camping site of Covao d'Ametade with a small creek running through and birch trees all around with beautifully coloured autumn yellow leaves. After that we moved on to our next stop passing by the town of Manteigas where we took a right and followed the road to reach the Poço do Inferno or Hell's Well, a small but nice waterfall. After that we headed all the way back up to Torre where Jurgis and I walked around the plateau while the two girls with Antonio went to try skiing for their first time. We took a few pics and had fun, then around 3:30 we got back in the car and headed back to Coimbra marking the end of our trip.