Today was a wonderful day! Jesse and I planned two small hikes with waterfalls and emerald pools instead of a long, grueling hike to a peak. The drive itself was steep, at times terrifying but with picturesque vistas that can never be captured fully and only experienced. Man we love Portugal! What a beautiful country and warm people.

Finally seeing some towns and we barely made it through some of the tightest little roads. We had to pull in the mirrors and just hope we did not scratch the car. Seriously, Apple Maps why did you take us this way!?!

Phew – finally made it to Cascata de Pincães! You’ll see, it was all worth it! Even in this tiny town there is amazing graffiti. Unless you are a resident you need to park your car outside town and huff it up to the trail’s start.

We take the trail to the waterfall that is 1.8 miles in and out. The path is pretty and on the way to the waterfall we pass colorful flowers and shrubs, shy lizards and pretty vistas. We even bumped into a group of locals clearing the blocked water channels of sand from the winter so the water could flow into the irrigation system. Two old men in particular were sweet and chatted with us and with them was a friendly white dog that kept following us and allowed us to pet him – so cute!

Lizards

flowers, ferns & Shrubs

Then we reached the waterfall – WOW! For like 30 minutes we had the place to ourselves, then a few couples showed up. We swam, took pictures and had our lunch of peanut butter & jelly sandwiches on a dry rock. This is the life!

Now to hike down and drive over to the next trailhead for our 2nd hike of the day!. We arrive at Fafião Viewpoint and Green Well Trail and by this time it is hot! We park the car in the shade and start the trek on the Green Well Trail to the emerald pools.

Along the trail we see mini waterfalls, beautiful flowers, and amazing vistas. The views from this trail were more dramatic than Cascata de Pincães but the waterfall not as prominent.

Upon reaching the emerald pool, we are amazed how crystal clear the water is and we immediately see schools of fishes swimming everywhere. By this point the sun is blazing but the water is cold – colder than the waterfall. We still go in. Why not, this is an experience of a lifetime. The group of youngsters who were there when we arrived leave and once again, we have the place to ourselves for a solid 30 minutes.

Jesse jumping into the emerald pool

What a beautiful afternoon. It is now after 5 PM so we head back via the steep route since this trail is a 1.9 mile loop and we want to check out the Fafião Viewpoint. The viewpoint is a 360° vista of magnificence!

OK that was a full day and we are now hungry so we make our way back into our Vieira do Minho but we cannot find a restaurant that is serving dinner. In Portugal, restaurants serve lunch anywhere between 10 to 3 depending on the restaurant and then they close down until dinner which usually is at 7 PM. Depending on where you are, you may find a restaurant that is open from morning to evening but that is primarily in cities such as Lisbon and Porto. Less so in small towns.

We instead head back to the house to change and grab our piles of laundry to take to the laundromat. In Lagos, we had a washing machine but none since we left weeks ago so the public laundromat in the mountains it is! Seriously, this was a cool laundromat. The place was clean and the machine used the latest tech. We had a beverage next door while we waited and caught up on our devices. After an hour, we were super happy to have clean clothes and finally get dinner!

Finally made it to dinner at 9 PM but the restaurant Arijal was bustling. The server did not speak English but a little Spanish and between that and my little understanding of Portuguese via Spanish-like words, we managed to order dinner and get exactly what we ordered. The waitress was this sweet older lady that was super helpful and accommodating.