DJmotortouring – Page 19 – EUROPE BY ROAD (and other travel blogs)

Beja, Portugal August 2021 (Tour 4)

Beja is fairly large as towns go in the Alentejo Region but during the period we were there it struck me as utterly quiet and almost sleepy. The municipal campsite manager who doubles as a local tourism officer recognises this and attributes it to the summer heat and the fact that a large proportion of locals head for the coast during the August holidays. He loves this time of the year; I kid you not.

There’s been a settlement here since at least the Bronze Age and in the 1st century under the Romans, it became known as the regional capital of Pax Julia, after the peace treaty imposed by Julias Caeser on the Lusitanian tribes who had previously ruled the area. The town grew greatly under Roman and then Moorish occupation and further still when the Portuguese Royal Family moved their court to the Alentejo Region during the 1600’s. This diverse history is reflected in the many archaelogical sites and museums to be found in the area.

Nowadays the town appears to be largely of Medieval origin. The lanes and squares are full of tradional whitewashed Portuguese houses (and just as in nearby Evora they are almost all edged in yellow) and interesting historical buildings and/or monuments which just drag you in.

A typical shaded “square” in old town Beja

Typical lanes in old town Beja and some wonderful street art on a bricked in doorway

There are a great many museums to be found in Beja old town including, the Museu Jorge Vieira, Museo Botanico, Museo Episcopal de Beja, Museo Visicotico (in the St Amaro Church) and my favourite (by a long way) the Musea Rainha Dona Leonor – the Queen Leonor Regional Museum.

The ‘Queen Leonor’ was moved to the 15th century Convento da Conceicao (the Convent of the Immaculate Conception) in 1927 although, at least part of the building served as a museum for some considerable time before then. In terms of architecture and furnishings, this museum is truly breath taking. There is a wealth of artistic heritage on display. Particularly stunning is the tiling, some of which dates from when the Convent was first inhabited (i.e. when the first nuns arrived – forgive the pun) in 1473. You have to see this place to fully appreciate azulejos tiles.

One of the nuns who lived in the convent during the 17th century is alleged to have written Cartas Portuguesas (Portuguese Letters), the scandalous 17th century love story about a nun and a French soldier. Not sure about that. The book was supposedly written by Mariana Alcoforado and there was a nun named Mariana Alcoforado living in the convent at that time but … really?

My difficulty here was in deciding which of my many photos of the convent to include in this blog

The fact is, no photos can do the place justice

The cloisters were so cool and refreshing

I didn’t have the time to enter all of Beja’s museums but if you are to visit just one, I would recommend the Musea Rainha Dona Leonor.

Saw so many that I cannot remember the name of this place but once again it included a number of beautifully painted tiles

And then it was on to what at one time was the 4th century Castelo de Beja and it’s beautiful 1310 Keep, the “Torre de Menagem”. The Keep is made entirely of marble and at 40 metres high is the tallest Keep of any across the whole Iberian Peninsula. It’s an impressive tower with views to match (but to enjoy those you first have to negotiate a rather narrow spiral staircase). It is worth it (and entry is free).

The entrance to the Keep is guarded by a 14th century knight

The views from the keep are impressive. The church just outside the castle walls is Beja Cathedral, otherwise known as the Cathedral of Saint James the Great

From the top of the keep there are excellent views both over the town and the surrounding very flat countryside and this, in part, explains why the castle saw so much conflict in the wars between the Moors and the Christians.

Given how hot the summers are in Beja I was surprised at how fertile the local countryside appears to be. In addition to large olive groves and cork plantations (which are to be expected in this part of the country), there are large vineyards and huge fields of wheat. One or two interesting facts regarding the cork groves that I would share: First, 50% of the worlds entire cork production is harvested in the Alentejo Region. Second, cork trees cannot be harvested until they are at least 25 years old and, as a result, cork groves tend to be superb habitats for wildlife. Third, the extraction of the cork causes absolutely no harm to the tree which continues to grow and actually produces more cork to replace that which is lost. Fourth (and sadly) this self-sustaining crop is under threat because the growth in plastic and screw-top wine stoppers is forcing many farmers to rip up the cork groves for more viable crops (and destroying ancient habitats in the process).

I’m now about two weeks behind with my blog entries and I am therefore going to cut this one short now and simply end with a few more photos which I took when Vanya and I returned to the old town after dinner…

The Castle looks good at night; so too do the cobbled streets and the artwork…

Hey, but I forgot the food and wine. We had a laugh that night; not least because, after enjoying some wonderful Hor d’oeuvres (Serrano Ham, Olives & Garlic Bread) and a very tasty Shrimp Mayonnaise, I ordered what I thought was a (veal) Wiener Schnitzel and received instead a doorstop size veal sandwich. My Portuguese really is bad. No matter, the Port was very good.

Evora, Portugal August 2021 (Tour 4)

Evora is an enchanting world heritage site rich in history, architecture and a great deal besides. It is a compact city almost entirely enclosed within the 14th century castle walls built by King Alfonso IV (although some of the walls are older having been erected by the Moors in 715) but, the day and a half which we allowed ourselves to explore the place was still insufficient. There is so much to see.

On arrival in Evora we saw what looked like a market filling half of the Praca do Rossio. We found a parking spot alongside the market but it was just finishing for the day so instead; we set off into the town for a beer and a quick look at the sights. We passed a couple of beautiful churches, the Igreja de Sao Francisco (Church of Saint Francis) and the Cathedral of Evora on our way to one of the highest points of the city, the Jardim Diana (the Garden of Diana), where we paused to get our bearings and that beer. The Garden of Diana is something of a disappointment being both small and very overgrown but it does sit high up in the centre of the old town, close to both the remains of a Roman Temple and the Cathedral of Evora and it provides great views over the city to the north.

We sat having a cold beer on the Jardim Diana looking at the Roman Temple (on the right) and the Archbishop’s Palace and the Convent (on the left) with a part of the Cathedral just visible behind the Temple.

Two further photos of the Roman Temple. This temple is sometimes mistakenly referred to as the Temple of Diana. It was actually a 1st century temple dedicated to the Emperor God Augustus.

Two statues from the small Garden of Diana

After a short sto on the Jardim Diana, I drove Vanya and the dogs to a campsite on the outskirts of Evora and then walked the 3 kilometres or so back into the old town for a proper look. I don’t know how many miles I eventually covered that day walking to, from and around the town, but I enjoyed every yard of it.

First rising to prominence in Roman times, the city grew further during 500 years of Moorish occupation but, really began to flourish in the 15th century when Portugal’s kings moved there. The old town mostly dates from this latter period and it is a typical medieval maze of cobbled streets and traditional whitewashed houses (almost all of them with yellow edging).

You really do need to keep a close track of your movements if you are not to get lost in the maze of streets that is old town Evora.

I saw far too many interesting places and took far too many photos to include them all in this particular entry (not least because I am about two weeks behind with the blog now) but, the Igreja de Sao Francisco (the Church of Saint Francis) which was built in the early 1500’s and was the preferred church of resident royalty is perhaps my favourite.

The magnificent Portico of the Church of Saint Francis measures some 36x34x24 metres and leads into the longest vaulted nave of any church in Portugal. Twelve open chapels line the sides of the nave and throughout the entire interior there is a mass (forgive the pun) of extravagant gilding and wood carvings and countless beautiful hand painted tiles depicting various biblical scenes.

On the left, one of the dozen open chapels to the sides of the nave and on the right, a small meeting room

Almost alongside the main entrance to the church and part of the same complex is the sinister Capela dos Ossos (the Chapel of Bones). This chapel was added to the church during the first half of 17th century with Franciscan friars digging up some 5,000 skeletons from 42 local monastic cemeteries and integrating them into the new chapel’s walls, arches and supporting pillars. It’s aim was to both create more space in the burgeoning city and provoke visitors into reflecting on the transitory nature of our lives. At the entrance to the chapel, as if to reinforce this, are the words:- “We the bones that are here for yours we are waiting”

At almost the highest point of the town is the pink granite Cathedral of Evora. Although construction of the cathedral commenced in 1204, it’s development continued over many hundreds of year and the finished product is a jumble of gothic and baroque architecture but, it is still very impressive. Unfortunately I arrived back at the cathedral as it was closing for the day and was denied entry. That was a real shame because the internal cloisters are supposedly very impressive and there are excellent views of the city and surrounding area from the roof top. (which can be accessed for 3.5 euros).

The Cathedral. Vasco de Gama’s flags were blessed here in 1497 just before his epic sail to India

Another impressive church in Evora is the Igreja da Nossa Senhora da Graca (the Church of our Lady of Grace), notable for it’s baroque facade. In certain articles on this church it has been written that the statues on the roof represent Atlas and others like him holding earth in place in heavens. How could this be when in both Roman and Medieval times Earth was presumed to be flat?

Another interesting place to visit and watch the world go by is the square, Praco do Giraldo. It is named after Gerald the Fearless who turfed the Moors out of Evora in 1167. At one end of the square is the renaissance Church of Santa Antao and an attractive marble fountain while at the other is the impressive facade of the Bank of Portugal (now a craft shop showcasing the work of local artisans). In the 15th century, Evora was home to one of Portugal’s courts of the Inquisition (Spain put pressure on Portugal to continue the work of the Spanish Inquisition) and the Praco do Giraldo saw many burnings of so called heretics.

Another place to visit in Evora, if only to take advantage of the shade on a hot day, is the Jardim Publico (the public gardens or park). I popped in on the place on my way back to the Van. Laid out just inside the town walls in 1863, and covering just over 8 acres, it’s main entrance is just down from the Church of St Francis. It’s a pretty enough garden with some unusually interesting features including a fake ruin built as a home for the park’s resident peacocks.

Most interesting are the remains of the once magnificent Royal Palace of King Manuel I. The palace had it’s origins in the Convent & College of San Francisco (when, in the 14th century, King Joao I evicted the resident Franciscans and started the conversion from convent to palace) but it was Manuel I who transformed the place into grandiose renaissance palace. There’s not a great deal left of it now, only the Ladies Gallery which is now a small museum.

A small guard post on the castle wall above the park and the fake ruin built to accommodate the local pheasants.

The Ladies Gallery, all that remains of the Palace of Manuel I

That night was about a feast in the Van – We decided upon a cold meal of Iberico Ham and a selection of French and Spanish cheeses (plus olives, prawns, onion pate, picles and the juiciest of tomatoes) served with fresh bread and a fine Albarino wine. It was too hot an evening to consider anything else.

The Iberico Ham was to die for and the cheeses (Manchego, Comte and Reblechon) went down really well.

A little bit about Iberico Ham before I finish. To be called iberico, the ham must come from a Black Iberian Pig or a cross breed that is at least 50% iberico. That said, there are four levels of iberico called ‘labels’ – black, red, green and white in descending order of prestige. To qualify for the black label (pata negra or black hoof) the pig must be pure iberico and fed exclusively on acorns – up to 10kg of acorns per day and lots of exercise. Red label is more than 50% cross bred fed and exclusively on acorns . Green is cross bred fed partly on acorns and white is crossbred fed grain (and no acorns). I’m advised that grain fed has a saltier chewier quality. Only other thing worth mentioning is that carving the ham is a real art!

We had the black label and ham will never be the same for me again. To coin a phrase, it is truly scrumptious.

Cascais, Portugal August 2021 (Tour 4)

Although we didn’t drive that far (Cascais is only about 40 miles from Torres Vedras) we packed a fair bit in – stocking up on supplies at a supermarket in Mafra and then walking the National Palace and Grounds and, finally, I had a look-see around Sintra. Although there is much to see and do in Sintra (it is a very pretty town with an abundance of impressive buildings – the Palaces of Pena and Monserrate, the Castelo dos Mouros, the Quinta da Regaleira, the Convento dos Capuchos, etc) the place was packed with tourists (No surprise there; it was a weekend during the height of summer) and I decided it should be left for an out of season visit.

The next morning we were off in the Van to explore the former fishing village of Cascais. On the way, we stopped off just a few miles down the coast at a local attraction, a sea arch known as the Boca do Inferno, the Hell’s Mouth. I’d read a number of blogs on the internet which described the Boca do Inferno in quite glorious terms – “an amazing arch”, sensational location”, “must see site with amazing vantage points”, “dramatic” – Forget it!! The Portuguese coast is full of such sites and this one is barely worth parking the car for.

The Boca do Inferno (not my photo but one of the better ones I could find) – not that impressive and highly overrated

Now Cascais; that’s a totally different matter. Yes it is touristy and it is quite expensive but it is a pretty place and well worth visiting. I once described the town as “hollow” and, in hindsight, that is both unfair and incorrect. At the time I was comparing Cascais with Portofino in Italy and it is inappropriate to make such comparisons. Cascais is a fair sized town in its own right (much bigger than Portofino). Moreover it is situated in one of Portugal’s most popular tourist areas (perhaps the most popular tourist spot on the west coast) AND it is just outside of the country’s capital city. Come on, with that in mind it could never be as exclusive as little Portofino.

So what is Cascais like? It is a pleasant mix of new and old. There are still traces of the charming old fishing port with it’s narrow lanes and cobbled streets full of whitewashed and/or tiled cottages but, early in the 20th century the town became the preferred holiday resort of the Portuguese royal family and other nobility and as a result a great many far more imposing buildings were added to the town and these now sit side by side with the old cottages.

As the twentieth century progressed Cascais and the neighbouring almost equally fashionable town of Estoril were joined by a wide tree lined promenade and the combined towns then developed into a playground for the rich and famous with beautiful beaches, lively bars and restaurants, expensive designer shops and boutiques, premier international motor racing (the Estoril motor racing track ran the Portuguese Grand Prix between 1984 and 1996) and, let’s not forget, the glamorous and sophisticated Casino Estoril (the largest casino in Europe) which Ian Fleming visited before writing his 1953 James Bond novel, Casino Royale.

Surprisingly, it was easy finding somewhere to park the Van in Cascais and minutes after leaving the Van we were in the largely pedestrianised old town. Be warned however, this is not the easiest town to navigate. My initial objective was the Praca 5 de Outubro and it wasn’t easy to find. Indeed, we gave up on it for a while and made our way down to the beach for a drink and a spot of lunch.

The old town is pretty. Most of the squares and streets in the old town are paved with patchwork mosaics (calcada portuguesa) and many of the houses are adorned with beautiful patterned tiles and thick growths of vibrant pink Bougainvillea… and dotted throughout the old town are some amazing street art.

… with equally beautiful tiled properties and street art.

The beaches in this area are generally very good and the sandy Praia Da Rainha is amongst the best. It is overlooked by cafe bars and restaurants and it was at one of these we enjoyed our lunch.

After lunch we continued our search for the Praca 5 De Outubro, taking in the blue and white lighthouse and, next to it, the Casa de Santa Maria. Both are now museums although the lighthouse is still operational.

The lighthouse and the Casa de Santa Maria

Another place turned into a museum is a former property of Manuel Inacio de Castros Guimares which he gifted to the town in his will. This property, which was built by an eccentric Irish tobacco baron in 1910 has been described both as a mock Gothic Castle and a whimsical Revivalist Palace. It is quite unique. The gardens, together with land previously owned by the Viscount Gandarinha, now form the Marechal Carmona Park – a shaded public park with lush green lawns, flowerbeds and various water features. It is one of the noisiest parks I have ever visited with free roaming peacocks, roosters and ducks seemingly vying with each other to be heard.

The Gothic Castle and a lovely little chapel in it’s grounds, the Capela de Sao Sebastiao

There are some odd features inside the park

Mafra, Portugal August 2021 (Tour 4)

We were travelling south through the saloia (the rustic area – so called because it has long provided Lisbon with its garden produce) towards our next stopping point of either Sintra or Cascais when we detoured slightly into Mafra for some supplies and lunch. That was when we noticed a most imposing building which needed further investigation. I quickly read up on the town and learned that the building was formerly the Royal Palace built by order of Joao V way back in the 18th century and which was renamed the National Palace after the Portuguese royal family was overthrown in 1910 and sent into exile. Of particular interest in the palace is, arguably, the finest collection of Italian Baroque sculpture outside of Italy; the large Capuchin Convent and Infirmary and; a spectacular library of more than 36,000 ancient books. Even without those things the building itself was sufficient to interest me and so off I went to explore the Palace…

With a facade some 250 metres long and two bell towers standing at 68 metres high, this is one imposing building

At the centre of the building is the Basilica of our Lady and Saint Anthony of Mafra. The square towers at each end of the building are, as you look towards the Palace entrance, the King’s Tower to the left and the Queen’s Tower to the right.

To the front and centre of the building is the Basilica of our Lady and Saint Anthony of Mafra and it is one very impressive church both inside and outside. It is built in the Italian Baroque style of limestone which was mined mostly in the Sintra area. The first stone was laid in 1717 and the church was consecrated in 1730 although the rest of the Palace was not completed until 1750.

To the front of the Basilica are the statues, sculpted by some of Europe’s finest artists, of various saints who were among the founders and the reformers of the main religious orders – these include Saint Dominic, Saint Benedict, Saint Clare of Assisi and, most appropriate (given that the Palace includes a Capuchin Convent) Saint Francis of Assisi.

Saint Bruno of Cologne was the founder of the Carthusian Order in 1084. Saint Teresa of Avila reformed the Carmelite Order. Saint Sebastian was a Roman soldier converted to Christianity and martyred by Emperor Diocletian in the 3rd century – see my blogs on Split, Croatia.

The inside of the Basilica is tremendous. I’ll let the photos do the talking…

There is a unique set of 6 organs inside the church. Oh to have heard those kick off!

The sculptures throughout the Basilica are amazing

The Palace was supposed to have been completed well in advance of 1750 but with wealth taken from the Portuguese colony of Brasil, the original plans were continually updated and the Palace grew and grew. For example, the Capuchin Convent (female equivalent of the Franciscan Order) was originally intended to accommodate just 13 nuns but when finished there was room for 300 nuns.

Only a small portion of the Palace’s 1200 rooms are now open to the public. Principal among these are the king’s living quarters, the library, music room, games room and a trophy room and; not forgetting the convent and it’s infirmary.

The King’s State Room and the Convent Infirmary. Patients in the infirmary were close enough to the church to hear Mass being recited

The 90 metre long library. A colony of bats has resided in the library for over 300 years. They are released every night to feed on the insects which would otherwise devour the 36,000+ ancient books.

The (yellow) music room and the trophy room. Some of the furniture in the trophy room (e.g. chairs) is made from animals hunted in the Palace grounds.

A scale model of the whole palace – it is unbelievable. The sad thing is it was rarely used by royalty other than as a hunting lodge

To the rear of the Palace are the Palace Gardens, the Jardim do Cerco. Entrance into the gardens is free. They are extensive and parts of them are quite pretty (and there is a small aviary) but there is clearly too much work for the handful of staff currently employed. There is perhaps a case for levelling a small charge at least to tourists. Behind the gardens are the former hunting grounds, the Tapada Nacional de Mafra, which is now a deer park and plans are afoot to create a protected area for Iberian Wolves.

Some of the prettier parts of the garden

And the rest of the town of Mafra? There really isn’t a lot to it…

Soon enough we had completed our journey to Cascais. We even had time for a brief walk around Sintra – too many tourists, we’ll return in the Winter.

Torres Vedras, Portugal August 2021 (Tour 4)

Vanya discovered something called Portugal Easycamp – an organisation not unlike France Passion but with the aim of showcasing Portuguese products and crafts through motorhome stopovers. She wanted to visit one Easycamp place, the Quinta da Almiara Vineyard (just outside of Torres Vedras) and that, for me, was an absolute no brainer – a private wine tour and tasting session followed by free parking in the vineyard at a site near one of the Duke of Wellington’s first headquarters during the Peninsula War. That ticks a lot of boxes. Vanya booked us in and arranged for us to start with a wine tasting session at 4pm the next day.

Torres Vedras is an unassuming town some 40 kilometres north of Lisbon. It came to prominence in the early years of the Peninsula War when the Duke of Wellington had a huge network of defences constructed in the area so as to protect Lisbon from the invading French Napoleonic army under Marshall Andre Massena. The Torres Vedras Lines (there were actually three lines of defences) stretched a total 100 kilometres and included 152 fortresses. What was particularly impressive about this feat of engineering was that it was all completed within a year and it was kept totally secret from the French. Massena reached the line(s) with 65,000 troops and was so shocked by the scale of the defences that he immediately retreated back into Spain. There’s not a great deal left of the Torres Vedras lines now but the largest of the forts, Forte de Sao Vicente, which could house 4,000 men and 39 cannon is to be found just outside of Torres Vedras. For the real Peninsula War buff, there is also the Grande Rota das Linhas de Torres Vedras, a walking trail which follows the old network of defences.

Overlooking the town are the ruins of another much older military installation, the 13th century Torres Vedras castle which was built on the site of an even earlier Moorish Castle. The Torres Vedras castle was almost totally destroyed in the 1755 earthquake but some significant reconstruction in 1809 saw it become Redoubt No 27 of the Torres Vedras Line and it was occupied by 500 men and 13 pieces of artillery under the command of Colonel Edmund Mulcaster.

The front entrance and a section of the walls of Torres Vedras Castle. This castle was built on the remains of a Moorish Castle and, even earlier than that, a Roman Fort (although there is very little left of either of the older fortifications). The place is full of history. It is said that the castle was captured briefly in 1589 by Sir Francis Drake.

It is a fairly short walk down from the castle and through the medieval lanes of Torres Vedras old town to the main square, Praca de 25 Abril. Walking through the town, a number of interesting churches are to be seen. The first is the pretty little Church of Santa Maria de Costelo which sits within the castle grounds and was built in 1148 on the instructions of Alfonso I immediately after he evicted the Moors from the area. The second is the Igreja de Sao Tiago (a simple but very attractive design on the outside but in need of work on the inside ) and the third is the Igreja de Sao Pedro which needs tidying up on the outside but has a beautifully tiled interior.

Typical Torres Vedras old town street scene leading to the Igreja de Santiago

The Praca de 25 Abril is a pleasant area to sit and escape the hot midday sun. There’s an obelisk in the centre of the square commemorating the Peninsula War and on the south side of the square is the 16th century Convento de Graca (now a museum) and it’s church, the Igreca da Graca. There was an older convent on this site but it was destroyed in a flood.

On the left, the Obelisk commemorating the Peninsula War. On the right a monument remembering the Portuguese soldiers from Torres Vedras who lost their lives in colonial wars in Guinea, Mozambique and Angola.

Four 4 pm came soon enough and we had a very informative and enjoyable tour of the family owned Quinta da Almiara. We tried 4 wines and without a doubt my favourite was the Touriga Nacional red. I bought a 3 litre flagon (it cost just over 10 euros – that’s for nothing) and it went very quickly. No surprise that Vanya favoured the white wines.

I read that in the past this area of Portugal has been renowned more for the quantity of wine it produces than the quality and that the white wines are generally low in alcohol. If the wine we drank is anything to go by, I would say that Quinta da Almiara is bucking both trends. The Quinta retain and bottle just 1% of the 4 million litres they produce every year. The rest is sold on. The wines we came away with are 100% Quinta da Almiara and the red is 14% and the white is 13%. Both taste fine.

That’s a view of the Quinta from across some of the vines. It’s a relatively new building designed by a local architect. The cladding was inspired by the vines.

Jose Constantino bought the vineyards as a going concern in 1980 but has since totally remodelled it and expanded it to 180 hectares. All 4 million litres of the wine they produce is made with home grown grapes and there are now three generations of the family working in the business. Good luck to them.

From this to that. Included in the wines we came away with is a Reserva Touriga Nacional – a numbered bottle of just 3,000 produced to celebrate the owners 50th wedding anniversary.

We stayed in the Van on the estate and awoke after a quiet night’s sleep to the most beautiful sunset…

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 literally hundreds of Buddhas scattered throughout the gardens

Most impressive are the 21 Golden Buddhas located on and around a 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.

The terracotta army is coloured a little too brightly for me

Some of the exhibits, especially those around the central staircase, are massive; towering above already tall trees

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 couple of sculptures from the Contemporary Art section

My favourites (Storks & Cranes) from the Animals 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.

The views of the castle and it’s walls become more impressive the closer you get

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 small chapel inside the Porta da Vila

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.

The first photo is a view down the Rue Direita. The second photo is of our hotel-house; the building on the left with the yellow trim. That’s the main entrance.

There was a small verandah alongside our room with a view down to the Rue Direita. That’s Beanie taking in the view from the verandah

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.

The first photo is of the Rue Direita and was taken from high up on the castle walls. The second photo is of one of the many lanes leading off the Rue Direita, complete with brightly coloured bougainvillea

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.

The Igreja de Santa Maria and, in front of the church, the Pelourinho de Obidos

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

Yes, we ate and drank in this particular restaurant on more than one occasion. The view on the right is towards the north end of the Rue Direita where the Igreja-Livraria de Santiag0 can just be seen.

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.

The castle grounds where the Mercado Medieval de Obidos is usually celebrated.

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…

There are almost two kilometres of castle walls to walk…

… and the views both back across the town and outside the walls are great

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?).

We love the quiet of Obidos after the majority of tourists had left…

… just sitting, drinking and making small talk until the bars closed

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!

The local white wine and, best of all, Ginjinho d’Obidos served in a chocolate cup

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!

Part of the 16th century Aqueduct which carried water into the town for more than 200 years

Inside the Santuario do Senhor Jesus da Pedra and, yes, that is a fire engine parked there!

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.

Access to the beach was through some large tunnels (pipes) which went under the golf course…

The beach stretched for miles in both directions

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!

The Estela Club House. Not my photo – the place was deserted while I was there.

Arcade & Vigo (Galicia), Spain August 2021 (Tour 4)

For a while now I’ve wanted to try Vigo oysters. A Spanish chef I saw on tv claimed they are the best in the world so; I have long wanted to compare them with my favourite Cancale oysters. The waiter whom we met a few days ago and who seemed to know this part of Galicia well (despite originally having come from the Angel, Islington) suggested the Arcade oysters are as good, if not better, than the Vigo ones and so it was that we headed towards Arcade (which is pronounced ar-kah-day).

The weather in Galicia was set to deteriorate within 24 hours and it suited us to continue south through Arcade and Vigo towards the warmer weather. So, we drove through Sanxenxo and then on down the coast road with a view to having lunch in Arcade and dinner in Vigo. Another person we met on our travels had provided us with the address of an aire in the centre of Vigo which would suit our needs.

Arcade is a relatively small fishing town (about 5,000 inhabitants) on one of the less well known pilgrimage routes to Santiago (the Portugal Way) and as such the place has not yet been badly affected by tourism. It is not a pretty town but it has a genuine feel about it and the people seem very welcoming. There is a basic but large parking area down by the harbour and nearby are a number of pleasant looking cafe-restaurants all of which were open and advertising oysters as we arrived. We had a brief wander around the town (to exercise the dogs as much as anything) before returning to the cafe-restaurants for a light lunch.

There’s a quaint 12th century church in Arcade but the most notable feature of the town is it’s bridge, the Puente Sampaio. A quite significant battle was fought here in 1809 when Spanish forces commanded by Colonel Pablo Maorillo defeated a French force under Marshall Michel Ney. Maorillo inflicted more than 2,000 casualties on the French, against just 300 of his own and compelled the French forces to withdraw from the area, never to return.

And so to oysters, otherwise known as the truffle of the sea. Although I hadn’t heard of the place before, Arcade is famous for it’s oysters, so much so there is a world famous oyster festival here on the first April weekend of every year. What sets these apart from so many others in the region is, I am told, the confluence of freshwater coming from the Verdugo River and salt water coming from the Ria de Vigo. These water conditions are, it seems, “perfect for farming the particularly succulent, soft tasting mollusc that is the Arcade oyster”. The Arcade is small, no more than 5 or 6 centimetres, with a shell which is almost circular in shape (although nowhere near as rounded as the Cancale oyster). They were served raw with lemon on the side and went superbly well with my Albarino wine. I’d most certainly have them again (and again and again and again) but, for my part, they don’t have as much body and taste as the Cancale.

The Arcade Oyster (not forgetting the Albarino)

Statue in Aracade of it’s most famous product. A photo (not mine) of the mixed shellfish dish served in the restaurant we visited in Arcade, the A Casa do Muelle. If I’d seen that beforehand…

And Vigo? Well, shortly after settling in to our aire in Vigo (and that was a saga in itself but for another time) it started to rain. Not to be deterred (that’s not true; it was so wet and miserable outside of the Van that I and the dogs would have been happy to stay put but, Vanya insisted) we set off into Vigo for some oysters. Forget it. It was a wet, dismal Sunday night and; while there were a surprising number of people out and about, all prepared to sit and eat under dripping umbrellas, only a few restaurants had opened (and none of those did oysters – we were in the wrong part of the city). No matter, we did what was necessary (burgers washed down with the ubiquitous Albarino) and we made a good fist of it. After all, we are for somewhere else tomorrow – Portugal!!

Punta Faxilda (Galicia), Spain July 2021 (Tour 4)

From Cambados we moved just 12 miles further south to Camping Monte Cabo, a small campsite on the Punta Faxilda . It is best described as a back to nature type of campsite at the end of a rocky promontory looking out over the Atlantic. Vanya chose it because other visitors had reported seeing dolphins from where they were parked on the site and for that reason she somehow persuaded the Dutch owner to move us to a cracking pitch overlooking the sea. If Vanya wasn’t going to see dolphins while at Monte Cabo, it would not be for want of trying.

That’s the view from where we were parked. And that’s the view from the Monte Cabo restaurant where I did most of my dolphin watching

The campsite occupies a secluded and beautiful spot just yards from the end of the headland and it was a real pleasure taking the dogs out there some two or three times a day.

The views to the left and right of our promontory. During our stay I would end up walking to both of the headlands at the rear of each of the photos

The very tip of our headland and yours truly posing out there. Some people just never grow up.

I’m not sure if we stayed two or three nights at Monte Cabo (I’m six days or so behind with this blog and losing all track of time now) but, does it matter (?), we weren’t going anywhere until Vanya saw her dolphins and; anyway, it gave us the opportunity to sample some of the excellent food in the campsite bar and restaurant. Ordinarily I’m not a great fan of croquettes but I particularly liked their homemade octopus croquettes.

The track to our campsite from the main coastal road was sufficiently long for us not to be bothered by any noise from the road but short enough for me to walk so as to explore the bays either side of our headland. The road in both directions is full of bars, restaurants and small hotels. There’s no getting away from the fact this is a tourist area.

I walked first to the Nosa Senora de A Lanzada, which is the headland on the other side of the Poza dos Barcos (the bay to the west of our headland). The Chapel of A Lanzada sits at the end of the headland. During the last weekend of every August, the festivity of the Virgin of A Lanzada is celebrated here and “women who wish to end their fertility descend into the sea from here to be bathed by nine waves”. This Celtic rite was presumably adopted by the Christian Church because it worked. In Celtic numerological symbolism, the number nine is sacred and symbolises the nine months of pregnancy. So now you know.

That bay is the Poza dos Barcos, which is to the west of our headland, and the building we could see at the end of the headland is a chapel – the Chapel of A Lanzada.

Having completed the walk to and from the chapel I immediately set off in the other direction to view the bay to the east of our headland. This is a much more commercial area which leads on into Portonovo and then Sanxenxo.