Algarve - Day 19

We drove up to Monchique and parked to the north of the town. We noticed the marquee where the Sausage Festival that we intended to visit later was being set up.

We went for a walk, route 16 from the book, first steeply up out of the village. We were joined by a friendly dog which tagged on to us and refused to leave.

It ended up walking with us for about 3 miles. We called it Rex. The walk went up through eucalyptus forests, some of them still burned from last year's forest fire.

Just before we stopped for lunch, we passed another family with dogs and Rex tagged on to them. We hope he made it home!

We walked up to a sunny peak.

On the way back down to the village we passed an abandoned convent. There was a man there who encouraged visitors to go in and see the inside.

We then got down to the village and went to the sausage festival. There were lots of free samples, but most seemed to be like cold fatty black pudding. We had a beer, then some of the local cakes, they were much better.

After this we decided we could have another walk, so we drove to the village of Marmelete. From there we did circular walk 13, first up to the Picos viewpoint.

Then round lots of eucalyptus forest, this time much thicker as it was untouched by the forest fire. There were some abandoned farmhouses, some with interestingly arranged furniture...

Back at Marmelete we had a beer at a café then drove home. For dinner we had vegetables and pasta.