Penafiel - Parque Natural de Quintandona / Riding Portugal

 ##### Hello everyone and welcome to my blog :-) After walking through the illustrious Quintandona, the village slowly began to recede into the distance. The stone houses, low walls, and narrow streets gave way to a dirt path that descended the hillside. There was no clear signage or indication that this route led to any particular place. What guided us was only the sound of water, discreet but persistent, coming from somewhere deep within the grass and trees. ##### PT Depois de passar a caminhar pela ilustre Quintandona, a aldeia começou lentamente a ficar para trás. As casas de pedra, os muros baixos e as ruas estreitas deram lugar a um caminho de terra que descia pela encosta. Não era evidente a sinalização nem a indicação clara de que aquele percurso levava a algum lugar especial. O que nos guiava era apenas o som da água, discreto mas persistente, vindo algures lá do fundo do meio das ervas e das árvores. ---      We descended without great expectations; the terrain first opened up into a wider space, almost an abandoned field, with tall grass and the damp smell of earth mixed with the sandy texture of pine trees. The air there seemed different, fresher. The sound of the water became increasingly clear until, almost suddenly, we found a small, improvised bridge made of a few simple planks placed over the narrow course of a river that flowed calmly. ##### PT Descemos sem grandes expectativas, o terreno abriu-se primeiro num espaço mais amplo, quase um campo abandonado, com ervas altas e o cheiro húmido da terra misturado com aresina dos pinheiros. O ar ali parecia diferente, mais fresco. O som da água tornava-se cada vez mais nítido, até que, quase de repente, encontrámos uma pequena ponte improvisada com algumas tábuas simples colocadas sobre o curso estreito de um rio que corria com calma. ---      On the other side was a clearing. It wasn't a place prepared for visitors. It was just a natural space that seemed to have been left alone for a long time. The river flowed down the mountainside, winding between rocks and exposed roots. Its banks were covered in dense bamboo canopies, leaning slightly over the water. Around them, tall pines and cork oaks created a kind of irregular canopy of branches and leaves, letting through only fragments of light. ##### PT Do outro lado havia uma clareira. Não era um lugar preparado para visitantes. Era apenas um espaço natural que parecia ter sido deixado em paz dur […]