A Mountain Magnet

One might think that Arouca would be practically unknown to anybody outside Portugal but diehard soccer fans (its local team plays in Portugal's top division, the Primeira) if not for the "tourist wonder" - the imposing suspension bridge. As it turns out, Arouca 516 isn't the only major attraction in the area, and the small mountain town populated by about 20,000 people is a significant natural, cultural and even culinary attraction. In this triad, Nature is represented by Paiwa Walkways (on the cover picture) - a much less scary but more physically demanding experience that the neighbouring bridge.

Paiwa is literally an 8-kilometer-long boardwalk located in the Arouca Geopark - and its anything but a walk in the park! Even though it was shortened by about half because of recent fires in the area, it still takes almost an hour to complete. The reason for the "snail's pace" is that straight promenades like this

are relatively few and far between. Enough to enjoy truly magnificent views

but not really sufficient to relax because the rest of the route consists of steep and uneven steps that demand one's full attention, both mental (looking down and watching each of them to evaluate how narrow the next one is) and physical (making necessary adjustments). A great workout but a really tiring one, too.

The Nature cluster is just a stone's throw away from the town as a stone (or the arrow) flies but it takes 30+ minutes down one of the numerous serpentine roads to reach an ordinary-looking restaurant that serves anything but ordinary tasting food. So much so that people from all over the Aveiro region, and as far away as Porto, come to that restaurant on a Saturday/Sunday as if they were drawn by a magnet - and reserve a table weeks in advance to be admitted and served. Spending several hours on the road and traveling for several hundred kilometers, and doing it somewhat regularly, turns what initially looked like a more or less random experience into a part of a very particular lifestyle that is quite unique for the southern part of Europe - and as such, can arguably be considered a wonder in its own right.

To find particular - and somewhat controversial - lifestyles, one should look no further than Arouca Abbey, a 1000+ years old women's monastery. Rather unpretentious from outside 

it's as richly decorated from inside as any cathedral

but it's the human aspect of its history that is the most intriguing and illuminating. There are many exhibits and areas on display providing an insight into the nuns' daily lives - from typical food

and tools

to storage spaces

and living quarters

It's important to remember that women living in those poorly heated and equally poorly lit rooms with barely any furniture were not peasants (who might still have considered it an improvement, in comparison with their conditions outside of the monastery) but noblewomen used to a very different standard of living. A picture like this

renders the whole experience a totally different intensity by adding to it a human dimension - and suddenly a routine visit to a rather outdated socio-cultural institution turns into a powerful history lesson one hardly expects to learn from a casual acquaintance with a small town bordering on a village.