I suppose you remember rule #1? "Don't go east of Loule".

Today we went east of Loule in search of Sao Miguel - which is a hilltop climb to an elevation of 380m. (AL07 66km 880m)

Oh so promising .. but something happens to the natives on Fridays and they all get in their cars and race around all the back roads creating havoc!

By the time we got to the decision point at Estoi, we looked at each other and said "we are not having fun" .. so we jumped on the return leg saying good bye to Sai Miguel .. maybe another time!

On the return we finally found a quiet place to stop and have our sandwiches at the church close to Almancil : "Ingreja de Sao Lourenco". We paid our 2 euros and went in to see the amazing tiled walls and impressive gold altar. No photos allowed but Google it and you will see .. but no photo can capture the altar!

Today's route was essentially the same we took to Aportel which we quite liked .. and ofcourse we had the reward of the interesting town. I've modified AL07 now to remove some of the busier roads .. but Fridays seem to be special .. or it's just tourism picking up as we get warmer temperatures.

So we will follow the rule now and concentrate west of Loule.

The weather continues to be exceptional with yesterday's hi of 30C in the interior (a memory day .. no camera .. well, except when we left Purgatorio).

Cheers all!
Harold and Marion
(We still did 48km and 670m!)

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