Day three - journey to Estoril and arrival

After our night’s sleep in the huge bed, we had an excellent breakfast and then packed up. Gabrielle navigated the car out of the underground car park - tight squeeze - and then we hit the road, pausing only to fill up with fuel. It was still freezing temperatures in Salamanca so the car wash was not possible - our motor is still filthy from the lanes of Bishops Offley.

It was a glorious, yet foggy and frosty morning  - minus 3C at 2600 feet. There was ice on all the verges and the trees were shining in the sun.  In and out of fog we drove and when we were in the sunshine it really appeared to be warm, but the temp was in minus figures.

Then, bizarre. As soon as we entered Portugal the temperature went up seven and half degrees, even though we had climbed to 870 metres again. Then by midday we were hitting fifteen degrees. We stopped at a service area near Lisbon and, guess what was the first thing we saw? A cash machine!

As is usual, once we arrived across the Portuguese border, at Vilar Formosa, the motorway tolls began to be ratcheted up electronically. There are no toll booths - see previous posts for details of the arcane system used in Portugal on some motorways - so you have to check your balance online and then add more cash when the card runs out.

The roads from here seemed to consist entirely of huge motorway viaducts and long tunnels as we began the descent towards Lisbon. These roads were a massive investment - a benefit of EU money, of course.

We arrived at our hotel - the Intercontinental at Estoril - to a lovely greeting from Marta, whom we have met twice before. We were upgraded twice - result! Then we took a good long walk along the seafront before dinner at the Atlantic restaurant, after the obligatory glass of pop in the lobby.