We needed a break. We couldn’t go far or for long as we had to take the dogs and leave the chickens (we couldn’t get our regular house sitter to look after the house in our absence). We decided on a couple of nights just across the Spanish border from Marvao in Extramadura at Casa Rural Quinta de Luna, (Edit 2024: It is no longer available for rent) an attractive collection of three cottages nestled among a landscape of neolithic monuments and an area famous for its griffon and Egyptian vultures. It was also perfect for walks and bird watching and a place where we could leave the dogs to do a bit of exploring by ourselves.

Sounds idyllic but it didn’t quite turn out that way. Jussi who was then 13 didn’t settle at all and kept us awake most of the night and Betty kept us on our toes during the day. She loves a walk but lacks patience when we want to stop – for instance to explore a dolmen or observe any wildlife. She barked as soon as she saw anything out of the ordinary, including the one time we saw some deer – fortunately however she was on the lead so couldn’t go haring off after them.

On the way we stopped at Castelo de Vide for a coffee and a short walk.

Here is the cottage at Casa Rural Quinta da Luna:

And here’s what we were looking at:

It wouldn’t be one of my posts without some food photos. This is in the nearby town of Valencia de Alcantara at Restaurant La Serrana. We got there at 8pm and not surprisingly we were the first customers of the night.

The next day we went on an exploration of our surroundings including a search for the nearby neolithic monuments – namely the Cajiron dolmens. The trail starts at the small village of La Acena de la Borrega.

 

We also noticed a few of these strange looking nests. We think they were made by storks and then small birds had made their own nests underneath.

We also visited the town of Albuquerque with its famous castle, which was unfortunately closed when we were there. But we still had time to wander around and have lunch.

And then the long, hot drive home but we had time to see the Tejo near Herrera de Alcantara and the deer (un-photographed – thanks Betty)

And some more vultures circling above the bridge at Alcantara. (Puente Romano de Alcantara)

 

More photos of our trip here