Hungry Like The Wolf

According to my Garmin I was running a 3500 calorie deficit after yesterday's ride.  After dinner that was down to 3250.  We had what some people call 'fine dining'.....there is nothing remotely fine about a miserable little bit of poached cod with a smear of mash and a doll's house carrot!  We made up for it at breakfast which had obviously been supervised by a different chef.  There were hot dead things, hash browns even baked beans (though they were obviously rubbish).

Anyway, that's enough about food........for now.  The cretin at the BBC Weather centre had yet another off day, but this time in our favour.  The promised rain didn't come and the sun even broke through in the afternoon,  to the point that we had to have a cheeky cold one between checking and reaching our room.

It was another glorious day on quiet smooth roads, through mile after mile of cork plantation.  As far as I am aware virtually the only practical use for cork is to stop wine leaking into your spare pants when you stash a bottle in your pannier.  With the advent of synthetic corks the Portuguese have a bit of a problem.  Rather than cutting the trees down and growing something else their solution is to make other things out of cork......generally things that would be better made out of a material other than cork.  Drinks mats....fair enough.  Purses.....stretching things a bit.  Hats.....f@#£ing silly.  Visit any tourist tat shop and you will be staggered at what they can make out of the stuff.

The splendid castle in the picture is perched on the hill above Arraiolos*.  This was the only place of any size all day and we are becoming adept at ordering coca cola and tasty things in little local cafes.  Well, when I say 'adept' what I mean is that we usually end up with SOMETHING and we have not yet been thrown out of a place.

Tomorrow we enter Spain and lose an hour.  This shouldn't matter as they don't start serving diner until midnight.

*because we are 12 and it makes us giggle we pronounce this place Areolae.