Bombarral (Portugal) August 2021 (Tour 4)

From our hotel in Obidos it was little more than 20 minutes in the Van to the Buddha Eden Gardens on the Quinta dos Loridos estate outside Bombarral. The Gardens were recommended to us as a place to see and it, truly, is worth a visit although; you need a full day to do the place justice.

The Quinta dos Loridos estate of almost 100 hectares is owned by the Bacalhoa Wine Company. In 2001, in response to the Taliban’s destruction of the giant Bamyan Buddhas in Afghanistan, Jose Berardo (principal share holder of the Bacalhoa Wine Company) set aside some 35 hectares of the estate on which to develop the Buddha Eden Gardens. This programme has seen 6,000 tons of marble and granite Buddhas (and various other Asian and African inspired sculptures) installed within a most beautiful park of landscaped fields and gardens, complete with lakes, streams and fountains.

There are literally hundreds of Buddhas of various shapes and sizes scattered across the gardens, the most impressive of which are the 21 Golden Buddhas located on and around the central staircase.

There are also some 600+ brightly coloured terracotta warriors, replicas of the terracotta army buried in China some 2,200 years ago by the Emperor Qin Shi Huang. To be honest, they look somewhat incongruous.

There’s a great deal more to the gardens than the Buddhas and terracotta soldiers. There are sculptures to suit just about every imaginable taste: a contemporary art section, an animal section, a section devoted to African sculpture artists, etc. Most intriguing are the African sculptures arranged amongst a small forest of palm trees (these are dedicated to the Shona people of Zimbabwe who have carved stone by hand for over a thousand years) but my favourites are to be found within the animal section.

A quite unique place to spend a day

Obidos, Portugal August 2021 (Tour 4)

What a wonderful place. We booked into a “hotel” in Obidos for two nights but almost immediately extended our stay to three.

Obidos is known as the Queen’s town. It was gifted to Queen Urraca of Leon by the Portuguese King Alfonso II in 1214, after she visited and fell in love with the place. This became a tradition which lasted until well into the 19th century with all subsequent queens being gifted the town on their wedding day.

Although there has been a settlement here since Roman times and the Visigoths and Moors held sway here for a while, most of the existing Obidos dates from the 13th century and the town is medieval at it’s best. Almost the whole town is enclosed within the castle walls and traditionally coloured (i.e. whitewashed with blue or yellow trim). It has been described as looking like a film set and it does. It is stunning!

From miles away you can see the castle and castle walls which encircle Obidos and I defy anyone not to get increasingly excited as they first approach the town and then pass through the castle gates into it’s incredible interior.

Inside the castle walls the town is wholly pedestrianised (except to residents) but there is ample parking for visitors and deliveries just outside the walls. We left the Van in a designated motorhome aire just two hundred yards or so from the town’s main gate. This main gate (Porta da Vila) is at the southern end of the town and has a tight double elbow entrance (to defy battering rams and cavalry in days of yore but which serve now only to limit entry to all but the smallest vehicles). Just inside the first elbow, well above head height, is a pretty Baroque chapel lined with blue and white Azulejos tiles portraying various religious scenes. It’s quite an entrance.

The second elbow in the main gate opens onto a narrow cobbled street (the Rue Direita) which is the main artery through the length of the town. From Porta da Vila the Rue Direita leads through the main square (Praca de Santa Maria) all the way to the castle. We weren’t to learn this until much later in the day as the directions to our hotel almost immediately took us off into a small alley to our left. Did I say hotel? Our accommodation, like almost all hotel accommodation in the old walled town, is a room within one of the small medieval houses that form Obidos. The only rooms which resemble anything like normal hotel rooms are those inside the old castle, which was transformed into a pousade (heritage hotel) a relatively short while ago.

Rue Direita has a handful of bars and restaurants but is filled mostly with craft & tourist shops selling ceramics, embroideries, wine and especially the local cherry liqueur Ginjinha d’Obidos (more of that later). The side streets and alleys leading off the main street are quite remarkable, often being filled with purple, red or mauve coloured bougainvillea scrambling more than 2 metres up the sides of some of the cottages.

Two thirds of the way down the Rue Direita is a small square (the Praca de Santa Maria) containing the Town Pillory (the Pelourinho de Obidos) where criminals were publicly punished and; the 12th century Santa Maria Church (the Igreja de Santa Maria) which was one of the first buildings to be put up after the town was retaken from the Moors. The inside of this church is spectacular, clad with painted Azulejo tiles which were added some time during the 17th century.

A short walk beyond the Praca de Santa Maria, the Rue Direita ends at an old church, now a bookstore – the Igreja-Livraria de Santiago

Behind the Igreja-Livraria is the castle. Ordinarily at this time of the year (the last week of July and first week of August) the town holds a fair, known as the Mercado Medieval de Obidos, when stalls are laid out in the area immediately surrounding the castle and jesters, dancers and minstrels re-enact life in the middle ages (including jousting on horseback by trained stuntmen). We had chosen the right time to visit but unfortunately Covid halted the festival this year.

With a head for heights it is possible to walk almost a complete circuit of the castle / town walls and the views both inside and outside of the walls are magnificent…

Both Vanya and I liked Obidos best at night (I was going to say first thing in the morning and last thing at night but Vanya hasn’t seen early morning in years); that is, before and after the tourists arrive in numbers (although to be honest, the place was not that busy during our visit – Covid again?).

Oh, and the drinks! We were drinking white wine most of the time during our stay and the local Casa das Gaeiras white proved to be very refreshing and quite tasty. My favourite drink however was not a wine at all but a Cherry Liqueur. Ginjinha d’Obidos is a local sour cherry liqueur which is served in a chocolate cup. You drink the liqueur and then eat the chocolate cup so there is no washing up afterwards. Felicidades!

Staying in Obidos for three days we were able to visit some other places in the area, most notably Bombarral (see next blog entry) but I also really enjoyed almost a whole morning walking just outside the castle walls. The area is full of vineyards and both cherry and pear orchards and there’s a large lagoon to swim in when it gets too hot. Of most interest however is the 3 kilometre long 16th century aqueduct (there are a further 3 km of tunnels underground) which brought water into the centre of Obidos for more than 200 years. Also in the immediate area and of interest is the small 16th century church of Our Lady of Monserrate and the more imposing, if a little run down, 18th century baroque gem the Santuario do Senhor Jesus da Pedra. This latter church is wholly unique with (a) it’s unusual hexagonal interior and; (b), it’s 2nd century stone sculpture of the crucified Christ (it is this sculpture in the altar which gives the church it’s name) and; (c) the little red fire engine parked inside the church – I kid you not!

What a place! Well recommended.

Estela, Portugal August 2021 (Tour 4)

The poor weather we experienced in Vigo prompted a radical rethink. Our original plan upon crossing the border into Portugal was to head for Braga and camp there for a few days while we enjoyed both the city of Braga itself and a couple of outlying towns, Guimaraes and Amarante. However, all the weather forecasts suggested the poor weather was going to be around the north west of Portugal for at least a week and we therefore decided to head directly south to the Lisbon area. We could always return another day.

We chose to do the journey in two steps stopping first at a coastal camp site near the Estela Golf Course for the night (simply to break the journey) and then in a town called Obidos (where we booked two nights in a hotel – time to treat ourselves).

Estrela, just north of Agucadoura, is okay as a rest stop but there is nothing else in the immediate area other than the golf course, not even a shop. The campsite we stayed at was an Orbitur site (a chain we would see more of during our time in Portugal and not one I would generally recommend) but it gave easy access to a massive beach which the dogs loved.

We only stayed the one night but I found time to walk the very pretty, albeit totally deserted, golf course. Perhaps it is still closed because of Covid? What a waste!