Day 7 (16 March): Mafra

In 33 days, we will be once again waking in the house of our excellent friends, and we’ll no doubt be up for more adventures. Who knows what’s in store for us - we have left the complete Mafra itinerary to Tim and Carmen to sort for us. Whatever we do, we can expect to dress for 12°C. Less than 15 minutes drive to the coast, might today be the day we spot the North Atlantic Ocean?

We’ll be as far south on this trip as we’ll go while we are here. We’ll be on the 38th parallel (north), which is also the location of Napa wine country in California, and the original line which separated the Koreas into North and South. I hear Portugal is also excellent wine country. Maybe we will test that out!

The Mafra region of Portugal is also pure gold for outdoor people like us, with lots of cool hiking and cycling trails. One of the places I hope we can visit is the Tapada Nacional de Mafra, a former royal hunting ground now transformed into a nature reserve. In this park we might be able to spot deer, wild boar, and a variety of bird species while traversing the dense woodlands.

Tapada Nacionale de Mafra (National Park of Mafra)