On this morning of inaugural clarity, high up among the ruins of the castle, our eyes flickering with amazement, we sensed the slow breathing of history in the murmur of the wind.

And we can feel it throbbing as we slide our hands over the stones that form what remains of the fortress built on this impossible site in the early days of the founding of Portugal and in the centuries later.

In fact, in this mountainous borderland, the entire landscape exudes history: be it in the abundant megalithic monuments, the Roman and Romanesque remains or the dazzling granite shapes sculpted by eternity.

In between there are memories of a very peculiar culture. There are tales of smuggling, of lives moulded by wandering between "brandas" and "inverneiras", of ingenuity and resistance to the aggressive climate or of the chocolate factory, long extinct, but which reflects the perspicacity and entrepreneurship of those who gave it life.

There's the burly, docile shepherd dog. There's so much to see and hear while walking at a slow pace and keeping an eye out. Or savour a delicious meal that harkens back to mountain tradition. Castro Laboreiro, to fill your whole heart.