Saturday 26th January 2008

We had intended to leave today but decided that we would like another day to see some more of Lisbon and particularly Balem. This is an area on our bus journey into the centre and therefore easy to access. Like Alfama it also survived the 1755 earthquake and has two major buildings of merit – the Torre de Balem and the Mosteiro dos Jeronimos. The monastery was built by Dom Manuel “the Fortunate” as fulfilment of a vow by him after he had asked the Virgin for a successful voyage by Vasco da Gamma. And successful it was, with the discovery of a sea route to the Orient and the wealth that it generated for Portugal. The monastery is huge with a beautifully ornate exterior and a blend of the ornate and the simple in the exterior that blends very well. The tomb of Vasco da Gamma is also in the church.
Three museums are housed within the monastery and we chose to visit the archaeological museum. Although not a huge collection, it proved to be very interesting but we were just too early to see a special exhibition about the problem of the looting of archaeological sites. We got talking to someone involved with the exhibition and it was only when I talked about museum collections and the British Museum that we realised that he was Greek (“We Greeks feel quite strongly about that”). An interesting discussion followed! He was a Greek Cultural attaché to the Greek Embassy in Lisbon. It sounded like a fantastic job (he certainly thought so), moving to a different country every two to three years, getting to know the culture and living with the locals. Sounds just like my kind of job, although my lack of linguistic skills might be an issue!
We then walked to the 16th century Belem Tower, which is certainly the prettiest defensive tower that I have seen, having been built by Dom Manuel to defend the entrance to the port.
Back then to the campsite for a very late lunch and writing the blog whilst Jane uses the washing machine.
We meant to have our award-winning Dingwall Haggis for dinner yesterday (Burns Night) but eat out in Lisbon instead. So, tonight it will be Burns Night + 1.
Photos: The exterior of the Mosteiro dos Jeronimos; Interior of the church of the Mosteiro dos Jeronimos; Torre de Balem.

Friday 25th January 2008

Remarkably, neither of us had a hangover this morning!
Having taken their (possibly) glass back to them, we said “goodbye” to Marie and Michael again and then headed into Lisbon to do some sightseeing. For €4 you can buy a card that gives you 24 hours of unlimited travel on buses, trams and 'elavadors'. Considering that it cost us €1.35 each to catch the bus in to Lisbon, this is a very good deal and meant that we could hop on a bus or tram any time that we wanted to. The bus terminates right in the centre at Praca da Figueira and we caught one of the old trams that took us on a very pleasant ride up the hill and then down to the cathedral. This is rather an austere building, being built from 1150 to celebrate the freeing of the city from Moorish and has a somewhat fortress-like appearance.
We had lunch in a small restaurant, Rio Coura, a few metres up the hill from the cathedral. This was recommended in our 13 year old guidebook but it was still very good and full of locals. The €9.50 (approx. £7) tourist menu gave us soup, mixed fish (4 baby squid, 1 sardine and a large piece of another white fish, plus potatoes), sweet and coffee with bread, lots of Vinho Verde wine and water included.
Suitably refreshed, we took the bus up to the castle, wandered around the streets and continued the wander back down the hill. We stopped off at the Miradouro da Santa Luzia and admired the view before descending through the maze of old streets that is Alfama. Alfama escaped serious destruction in the 1755 earthquake that destroyed much of Lisbon and indeed many other parts of Portugal. This was my favourite part of the day – narrow alleyways lined with old multi-storey houses on the steep hill, washing hanging out of windows, builders swinging building supplies on ropes, small stone-paved squares, stone staircases, tiny cafes and restaurants (definitely for the locals not the tourists) and even a community laundry building, still in use, where the women take their washing and scrub it on the ribbed stone scrubbing boards. Real Portuguese city life!
Down near the port we came across an archaeological dig in progress. Talking to one of the archaeologists, we found out that they were digging the area of one of the 12th century town gates. They knew of its existence but has found that a second wall had been added in the sixteenth century.
We then walked back to the commercial centre and travelled in an 'elevador', which was actually a lift transporting passengers up to a point higher on the Bairro Alto hill. More wandering followed and we travelled on another 'elavador', this time a funicular called Elavador da Gloria to get another view over the town. Back then by metro to Praca da Figueira and bus to the campsite. An excellent day with plenty of walking.
Photos: Exterior of Lisbon Cathedral; A square in the Alfama district; The Elevador Santa Justa; A wheeled policeman – these were electrically operated and, we assume, allowed the police to move quickly although with only two wheels, they need to have a good sense of balance!; The Elevador da Gloria waiting to descend.

Thursday 24th January 2008

Whenever we spoke to Portuguese people about our plans, they always told us that we had to go to Sintra and today was the day. We had noticed that then was a minor road in green on our Michelin map and this indicated that it should be picturesque, although we have found cases when this is definitely not the case. The road also appeared to be the most direct and the Garmin sat nav, on a casual inspection appeared to use that route. However although it started off on that route, it knew of another minor road that lead up through the hills. It was extremely pretty and took us past the Convento dos Capuchos (Cork Convent), which we had both read about but dismissed because it was a little way out of Sintra itself. As we were passing it, we decided to visit it and were glad that we did. The monastery was established in 1560 by the Franciscans and given the name Santa Cruz. It was built on and around the huge boulders that litter the forest here and it blends in so well to the landscape that it would be easy to pass close without noticing it. The name Cork Convent was associated with it because the monks used cork to line their cells – doors, walls, ceilings and window frames. The cells themselves are tiny (approximately 2m square) and, in contrast to the monks at Alcobaca, they were very poor and led lives of seclusion and silence. Philip II of Spain and Portugal declared that it was the poorest convent in his kingdom and it is easy to believe that.
We then drove on to Sintra passed the castle and the Palacio da Pena, because we had decided to visit the Palacio Nacional in the town itself.
The Palacio Nacional was a former royal palace until the Portuguese monarchy was overthrown. It was added to and re-modelled by successive monarchs and is an intriguing mixture of different styles with a strong Moorish influence in many areas. It was an interesting visit but I have to say that much of the decoration was over the top and I would not like to have lived with it.
We then wandered around the town admiring the many hand-painted tile workshops and studiously avoided buying any! This was obviously a fashionable place for the rich to live and there are many ornate villas dotted around, even the town hall looks like something out of Disney.
Lisbon was the next stop and the only campsite in the city – Lisbon Municipal Camping. We arrived later afternoon, set up on our allocated pitch and soon found Marie and Michael's Hymer over the other side of the site. They were obviously still enjoying Lisbon, so we left them a note inviting them for a drink when they got back. They duly arrived clutching a bottle of rosé and a wine glass identical to ours (Sainsbury – 4 wine glasses for £4.99!). The evening went very well and we decided to share a gourmet meal of Cassoulet (the French, slightly more sophisticated, version of bangers and beans) as we had two cans available. The red wine went down very well – too well if the truth be known as by the time that we said “good night” we had exhausted our supply of four bottles and had drunk another two that Michael had fetched from the Hymer.
Photos: Convento dos Capuchos blends into the rocky scenery; Three tiny monk's cells; The exterior of Sintra's Palacio Nacional with the two distinctive kitchen chimneys; Painted tile scene in the Palace – this is the way that royalty spent their time, hunting and dancing!; Hand-painted tiles were everywhere in Sintra and this, rather good, example was on the wall of the Byron café.

Wednesday 23rd January 2008

We decided that we deserved a relaxing day and vowed to do nothing more than sit in the sun and go for a gentle walk. And that is exactly what we did.
The alarm was set for 07:30 and after two cups of tea we had a relaxed breakfast – having got some real, fresh milk rather than UHT, I enjoyed some cereal. I then typed up some of the blog before Jane dragged me away (actually I was quite keen) for a walk down to the sea. We walked down the road and then over the dunes to the surfing beach. As we approached the beach I noticed in the distance a silver Hymer motorhome parked in a car park. There were two people sitting outside it but it was not until I saw the British number plate that I was sure that it was Marie and Michael whom we had met at Conimbriga. They were as surprised as we were to meet up again. We were sure that they would have been much further on but they so liked the spot that they had found that they decided to stay for two nights. We had found they as they were preparing to move on to Lisbon. This is also our next destination and there is a good chance that we will meet up there in a couple of days. They had found a lovely pitch (see photograph) but they explained that the car park was also a meeting place for lovers, which was a little off-putting.
Having said “Goodbye” to Marie and Michael, again, we continued our walk along the coast. Jane thought about joining the surfers but, realising that she didn't have her swimming costume with her, she decided just to paddle (see documentary evidence). We then walked back over the sand dunes to the campsite where we spent the afternoon sitting in the sun, reading books. It was warm enough for tee-shirts and shorts - not bad for January!
Photos: Praia do Guincho – Marie and Michael's pitch is just to the right of the large hotel on the peninsular; Evidence of Jane's paddling.

Tuesday 22nd January 2008

We were very impressed by the site's dump facilities and the area for washing motorhomes complete with power washers. However, we decided that, rather than staying for two nights, we would push on as there was nothing to keep us. Our view of the campsite improved somewhat when we discovered that it only cost €8.20 (about £6).
We wanted to see the Peniche fort and, on the advice of the campsite owner, we turned left and headed around the tip to the other side of the peninsular. This was a revelation! Here was the pretty part of Peniche with a huge tumble of fissured rocks, stacks and huge boulders with the Atlantic crashing in beneath. It was very reminiscent of Portland Bill in Dorset although that was created by quarrying and this was a natural phenomenon. There was a sign to 'Revelim dos Remedios' pointing to the rocks and the sea. I knew that 'remedios', fairly obviously, was 'remedies' but didn't know what 'revelim' meant. I followed the sign and found a large perforated rock. I remembered that in England, passing someone through a split tree trunk was meant to cure all sorts of ills, often infertility. I decided that passing through the perforated rock would cure lameness on the basis that to get there in the first place, scrambling over the rocks, the person would have to be cured before they got there! I must use the Internet to translate 'revelim'.
We found the fort and, although it wasn't terribly inspiring, it did give us the opportunity to see the working port and investigate the local restaurants. We changed our plans and decided to take advantage of the excellent fresh fish and eat at one of the restaurants. We chose one that was obviously popular with the locals, even on a Tuesday lunchtime. Jane had Sea Bass and I had Golden Bass – both absolutely delicious, served with boiled potatoes and salad rather than chips.
The sat nav plotted the route that we wanted down the coast and so we set off for a campsite at Colares on the coast west of Lisbon. Unfortunately, after we stopped for supplies at a supermarket on the route, the sat nav suddenly decided to change the route and take us in land. It was a while before we realised what it was doing and we had to enter a 'via point' to force it back down the coast. The route was however very pretty, so it was no great loss. The coastal scenery was also dramatic and the weather continued to be sunny apart from a brief period of mist when we climbed over the Sierra de Sintra mountains.
We had found details of the campsite in our old Portugal guidebook that said that it was open all year. It wasn't and it looked as if it needed a lot of work done on it before it opened again. Fortunately we had plenty of time and headed on to Praia do Guincho and a large campsite run by Orbitur that we new was open. It was not as convenient for visiting Sintra, but turned out to be a very pleasant site next to dunes and above the sea. Suddenly we were with other British motorhomes and caravans - we saw more British vehicles in the site than we had seen in the whole of the rest of Portugal. We are getting closer to the South and the warmer weather!
Photos: The rocky Peniche coastline; Sign to 'Revelim dos Remedios'; The remedy rock???; Houses on the coast at Peniche town.

Monday 21st January 2008

Not far from Batalha is another beautiful abbey, or rather a monastery – Alcobaca – and this was our destination today. The monastery was founded by Dom Henrique to celebrate his victory over the Moors at Santarem in1147 and became immensely rich due to the huge amounts of land with vinyards and orchards. It also held jurisdiction over a dozen towns and three ports.
The romantic figures of Dom Pedro and Dona Ines de Castro are buried in the church of Alcobaca. Dom Pedro was deeply in love with Ines de Castro but Alfonso IV, Dom Pedro's father, forbade the marriage because Ines was the daughter of a Galician (Spanish) nobleman and there was great concern over Spanish influence on the Portuguese throne. They were secretly married in a remote town and Alfonso came under great pressure to have his daughter-in-law murdered, to which he eventually agreed. We can only imagine the effect that this had on Dom Pedro and when he succeeded his father to the throne in 1357 he personally ripped the hearts out of the murderers. He then exhumed the body of Ines, crowned her and forced the entire royal entourage to acknowledge her as queen by kissing her decomposing hand. More gruesome than romantic I would say. Their beautifully carved stone tombs are on opposite sides of the church in front of the alter and are inscribed “Ate ao Fim do Mundo” (Until the End of the World). On Dom Pedro's instruction, the tombs have been placed foot to foot so that on the Day of Judgement they will rise and feast their eyes on each other. I can class that as romantic.
The wealth of the monastery lead to the monks becoming far too worldly and at the turn of the nineteenth century the Englishman William Beckford commented that he became tired of the “perpetual gormandising” and he described the “fat waddling monks”. Unsurprisingly, the kitchen is extremely impressive and even has a diverted river flowing through it that delivered fish directly into a basin. Goldfish swim now in the basin, although I suspect that these don't come from the river! Beckford also informs us that the monks had a Chinese lay brother chef who cooked birds' nests and sharks' fin. I particularly liked his comment that the brothers had to file through a narrow door on the way to the refectory. If they could not fit through, they had to fast until they were slim enough.
We had spare time before we needed to get to our campsite in Peniche (just down the coast from Nazare), so we called in at the town of Obidos and were very glad that we did. Approaching the town was very impressive, a small but perfectly formed medieval walled town on the top of a hill. We parked in the car park next to the 3 km long aqueduct built on the orders of Queen Catherine of Austria in the sixteenth century.
For the third day running, it was a beautiful day and we decided to walk around the top of the walls. Although the views in the distance were quite hazy, the view of the town was really interesting and a good precursor to walking around the town. We had to come off the walls briefly at the top of the hill to go round the Old Arms Square and the castle, now a very impressive (and no doubt very expensive) poussada (hotel). In the square they were taking down the extensive Christmas Fair stands and putting up new stands for the forthcoming International Chocolate Festival. When we went into the tourists office in the town we found that it was run by an English couple and they told us that there had been over 200,000 visitors to the Christmas Fair and they had to close one lane of the nearby motorway and use it as a car park in order to accommodate the visitors. They also told us about the Chocolate Festival, which was started five years ago. The first one was sponsored by Cadbury and they totally underestimated the number of visitors. They ran out of chocolate, and the restaurants ran out of food and drink. It was so busy that, for the first time since Medieval times, they had to close the town gates as the town was full. The finals of the international chocolate competition (including life-size chocolate figures such as Batman and Robin) are held here. This has all been the work of a young go-ahead mayor who has put this small town on the international map.
Obidos up to the fifteenth century used to be on the coast with boats moored at the base of the hill. This is rather difficult to believe when we drove for forty minutes to the coast! Peniche, an island until the sea receded, sounded really nice in the guide book but our first impressions were not encouraging. The sand dunes looked good but there was a great deal of not very attractive development and a number of factories. It is a large working port, so this is understandable. The campsite was also a little disappointing and we were the only guests.
Photos: Interior of Alcobaca church; Ines de Castro tomb; Dom Pedro tomb; Alcobaca kitchen; Alcobaca refectory – sacred texts were read from the pulpit during meals; View of Obidos from outside the walls; Obidos castle from the walls.

Sunday 20th January 2008

Jane had read in a Portuguese walk book that the days for hunting were Thursday and Sunday and so, being in a rural and wooded area, we were expecting to hear shooting this morning. When dawn broke as we were drinking a cup of tea, the shots started from all directions. Shortly afterwards the artillery fire followed accompanied by more small arms fire. I was quite convinced that the revolution had started and was looking up the Portuguese for “I am on your side, whatever that is” - these phase books are useless. The other sounds were far too deep and loud to be hunting rifles – were we near an army firing range? It was then that Jane spotted flashes and smoke coming from the direction of all that music last night – they were setting off fireworks at dawn! They certainly started the day with a bang!
We started our day with a walk into the village to see the remains of the amphitheatre and followed a sign in the village that directed us to it. Of course, that was the last sign that we saw and, if we hadn't known what we were looking for, we certainly would have missed it. Hidden within other buildings, it had no obvious lane to it and we nearly had to go into someone's back garden to be able to see it. Whilst we were in the village, the music started in the party village. We could hear all of the words clearly (although we couldn't understand them) and this was from at least 3 km away.
Back then to Henrietta where we met Marie and Michael about to go into the Conimbriga site. Another long chat followed with a sharing of experiences and tips. If I ever find details of the Vodafone Internet access deal, I will pass it on to Michael! Marie told us that they had walked to the village to see the party last night but found that all of the action was in people's gardens and there wasn't even a bar or café to go to. I was quite glad that Jane hadn't agreed to go!
An uneventful journey took us to Batalha where we used the free motorhome dump facilities and parked up. Batalha (Battle) abbey is so named because the future King Joao of Portugal requested the help of the Virgin Mary to defeat the Spanish army in 1385. This gave Portugal independence and the king fulfilled his promise to the Virgin Mary by building the magnificent abbey. The abbey has similarities with English cathedrals and there is an interesting reason for this. The English helped Joao win the battle by supplying long-bowmen who played a vital part in the victory. In 1386 England and Portugal signed the Treaty of Windsor and Joao married Philippa of Lancaster (John of Gaunt's daughter). They are buried in the abbey in a joint tomb topped by sculptures of the two of them holding hands – very romantic. The abbey itself is very ornate outside with decorated pinnacles, windows, flying buttresses and gargoyles. Inside is much plainer but still beautiful with the narrow, very high church particularly impressive. The stained glass was very good and as we entered the church, the strong sunlight lit up the pillars with multicoloured light.
We then drove on the Nazare on the coast to a surprisingly busy campsite although this was mainly down to the many permanently occupied pitches. At last, we had a campsite with washing machines and tumble dryers and Jane celebrated by doing two machine loads of washing. This means that we now have somewhere to put dirty washing again!
Photos: Batalha monastery; Sunlight shining through stained glass paints the soaring columns; Stone tracery in the cloister.

Saturday 19th January 2008

The challenge of the pilgrimage church called us this morning – 700 steps up to it. We walked up arriving just as the clock struck 09:00, the first pilgrims of the day. However our climb was simple compared to the many pilgrims who climb up the steps on their knees. This seems to be a very common form of penance in Portugal and when we visited Portugal before, our apartment was near a nondescript church that for some reason (that nobody could explain to us) had become a pilgrimage centre and people used to climb the very long and steep hill on their knees.
Nossa Senhora dos Remedios, as the name suggests, has a reputation for healing miracles and pilgrims come from all over the country in the hope of a cure or to thank Our Lady for a cure. We were not looking for a cure but the sense of achievement of reaching the top and the view over the town were worth it. We were lucky that the low cloud was just above the church, but as we descended, so did the cloud and the towers of the church started to disappear.
The road that we took out of Lamego climbed quickly and we were soon in fog – there were probably lovely villages and beautiful views on the way but we couldn't see them. Fortunately, about 30 km further on the fog cleared and it turned out to be a lovely sunny and warm day. The scenery was really interesting with large expanses of moorland with very large boulders littering the surface.
Then near Coimbra things went horribly wrong. We knew that sat navs have their problems and one shouldn't follow their directions blindly. As we crossed the river Mondego the instructions weren't that clear (that is my excuse) and I missed the junction off the major road. However, as always, the sat nav gave us new directions to get us back on track and, stupidly, I followed them. It started off OK but the roads gradually got narrower and narrower until I could see that I wasn't going to be able to get Henrietta down the next part of the road. I stopped and was planning my next move when a local man appeared at the window and told me in a gabble of Portuguese that the van would not go down the lane – at least I assume that is what he said. Fortunately, his son arrived and he spoke some English and I explained my plan to turn around at the next turning, just down the hill. He agreed and told us the route to take after that. However, to get to the next turning involved a very narrow part with stone walls on either side and large tree roots sticking out. The clearance was no more than 2 inches, but we made it. Fortunately, there was a large lane to back into but I still needed to get back into the narrow lane. With the expert help of the father (that is the local man not The Father) and Jane hanging out of the passenger window, we achieved it but, given the gradient, I had to slip the clutch a great deal and it was complaining. We then had to negotiate that very narrow part of the lane again but this time going up the steep hill. By the time that we got through it, the smoke was poring off the clutch. A burning clutch creates an awful smell and this permeated the van and came in through the 'fresh air' vents for many days after. As I write this on Tuesday 22nd, the smell has finally dissipated – a welcome relief. I just hope that I have not done any permanent damage to the clutch. I will be much more careful about following the sat nav in the future.
We wound our way through slightly wider lanes until we arrived at Portugal's most important Roman site of Conimbriga just after 14:00.
Conimbriga is a very large (15 hectares) and impressive site lying on the Roman road from Olisipo (Lisbon) to Bracara Augusta (Braga) and part of the Roman road is still on view complete with roadside shops. Only one third of the site has been excavated. The site is surprising on a number of levels: its size; the many mosaics; the destruction of much of the site in Roman times and the reconstruction work that has been done.
There are a large number of beautiful intact mosaics, many of which are uncovered and exposed to the elements. A few have been covered with sand, meaning that they cannot be viewed by the public and the House of the Fountains has a full-scale cover over the building. The latter is very impressive in that the garden in the peristyle has been reconstructed complete with fountains using the original Roman mechanism. The mosaics are also of a very high quality but the walkway around the house is only on two sides and it is very difficult to see the mosaics in any detail. Having said that, the reconstruction work is very effective and it really brings the building to life. There has also been much work in the southern baths complex where the palaestra (exercise area) has been rebuilt. This is also very effective but we started to wonder how much of what we were seeing was reconstruction and how much original. If they had repaired the mosaics, it was difficult to see where.
Although the site was very large, no modern buildings had been built over the centre of the site and this helped to preserve the bases of the buildings. Inevitably, the site had been used as a quarry and the local village was built using the Roman stone. This village does cover the outer part of the site and part of the amphitheatre has been incorporated into it. They have been able to determine the size of the amphitheatre and they estimate that it would hold approximately 10,000 people, the same as the likely population of Conimbriga.
This leads to another interesting facet of the site. Much of the outer part of the site, including much of the amphitheatre, was demolished by the Romans in the late 3rd or early 4th centuries AD. The occupants were very concerned about the possibility of attack, probably from the Suevi people (from eastern Germany). They decided that the original wall was too long to defend so they built a very large wall around a much smaller area at the centre of the site. This was done in a hurry and involved the destruction of many public and private buildings – pillars and inscribed stones were incorporated into the walls.
We enjoyed a drink in the restaurant before finishing the visit in the well presented but small museum on the site.
We had established from the Camperstop Europe book that we were able to stay in the Conimbriga car park overnight and decided to move Henrietta to a slightly more level area. We then met the occupants of the other motorhome in the car park. Marie and Michael were from Devon and were doing the same as us – a year around Europe. Just like us they had not owned a motorhome before setting off on their venture. They are both skiers and had therefore chosen a very nice new Hymer, fully winterised and complete with heating in the garage for drying the ski clothes and equipment. They bought the van in Germany saving 30% on the price in England and, of course, it is left-hand drive like Henrietta, perfect for driving on the continent. We spent ages talking in the car park before heading back to our vans to prepare our meals.
We had heard loud music all afternoon and asked the very helpful guard what it was. The next village 2 km away was having a party with lots of music and dancing – we could go along if we want. I was quite keen but couldn't persuade Jane. Still, we had the music as a lullaby and for much of the rest of the night as well!
Photos: Conimbriga – the huge 'Cantaber's House' with four separate peristyles (courtyards) each with a pond and gardens; The 'Fountain House' with its pond, fountains, garden and exquisite mosaics – note the Minataur Maze on the left with a bull (the Minataur) at its centre; The Conimbriga amphitheatre incorporated into the local village.

Friday 18th January 2008

Relative to other Western European countries, Portugal is poor and this had been noticeable as we travelled over the last few days. However, in Porto this is much more obvious and contrast between the wealth of the Port lodges and parts of the city contrasts sharply with the shanty town appearance of much of the city, even right in the centre. We often passed run-down buildings that appeared to be derelict, only to see that a family was living in it.
Having had the bus ride through all those narrow streets yesterday, we ensured that we stuck to major roads when heading up the Duoro Valley. When we visited Northern Portugal many years ago, we did a day trip down to Porto but did not have time to see the Duoro Valley. We always said that we would see it next time that we came to Portugal and this was our opportunity. Our rather dour, cynical guide at the Vasconcellos Port lodge had asked what we were doing after Porto and, when we explained that we were going up the Duoro, she said that there was no point as we wouldn't see anything. In my usual optimistic way, I said that the sun might be shining tomorrow and she said “And I suppose that you believe in Father Christmas. Not even the kids believe in him now!”. Well, Father Christmas is real because the sun shone today – admittedly it was only sunny intervals but it didn't rain and the views were reasonably clear. And what views – especially when the road ran high above the valley. We meandered along this road and ended up at the most important pilgrimage centre in Portugal – Lamego.
There were no open campsites in the area but the Camperstop Europe book advised us that we could stop overnight in the large car park at the foot of the steps to the pilgrimage church, so this is what we did. This was right in the centre of the town and this meant that we were able to explore the town after we arrived. The very helpful lady in the tourist information office told us about the highlights of the town – the cathedral, churches and the views from the castle hill, and we spent a pleasant couple of hours exploring.
The circus was in town with performances on Saturday and Sunday. Unfortunately they were setting up at the other end of the car park that we were in and this involved lots of banging and crashing and very loud music being played. They also had a loudspeaker van that went round the town advertising the shows and this regularly returned to the fair around the car park perimeter road shouting out its incomprehensible message. We had visions of this continuing well into the night but, fortunately it had stopped by 22:00.
Photos: Bend in the river Douro at Meires; Douro view from picnic spot; The vine terraces in the designated Port area; Distressed door in Lamego old town; View from Lamego castle hill of Nossa Senhora dos Remedios and its 700 steps.

Thursday 17th January 2008

We made a mistake yesterday. The weather was very good when we arrived at the campsite and it was warm enough to open up the doors and windows of the van. Jane had also washed out some clothes, so we hung them in the bathroom and put on the electric heater to help them to dry – with the bathroom window open, this works very well. This meant that we had windows open after dusk, not advisable in Summer due to the mosquitoes but in January not a problem. Wrong!! We were plagued by mosquitoes during the night. We ended up putting the electric mosquito killer on but this takes time to take effect. I killed at least 9 mosquitoes, a number of which had obviously bitten. In the morning I woke up with 3 bites on my face and Jane discovered a number of bites during the day. Once again, I had the look of a prizefighter with a swollen eye and this would take three days before it went down.
Off then to Porto to visit the city and the Port lodges. There was a direct bus from just outside the campsite to the centre of Porto and we caught the 09:40. The bus was quite busy and quite exciting. Porto centre was probably about 15 minutes away by the direct route but, even given that we had to stop at all of the bus stops, 45 minutes was excessive. I had my suspicions when we turned away from Porto as soon as we started. I think that we saw almost every street in Madalena, and there are many of them. The bus driver was very skilled, we went round very tight bends with houses on both sides giving only a couple of inches clearance. This was done quite slowly but when we had plenty of space, i.e. at least 9 inches on either side (no pavements, so it was the house fronts that we were just missing), he was able to speed along at 30 miles per hour. I nearly closed my eyes at times and decided that a second career as a Portuguese bus driver was not an option. I have to say that if I had been driving the, much narrower, motorhome along these lanes, Jane would have been having a fit!
We arrived safe and sound in the centre of Porto and got off the bus near the railway station.
We walked up to the Torre dos Clerigos, which has a fantastic view over Porto and beyond. We were surprised to find it closed but, given the misty conditions, the view would probably not have been worth seeing. As we walked back down towards the station, Jane remarked that she had seen two clocks that showed the time as an hour earlier than we thought it was. One incorrect clock would have been understandable but two was suspicious. I suggested that the station clocks would certainly be correct. And that is how we gained an hour and were very impressed that we had woken up at 06:45 for the last two days and had got into Porto centre before 09:30. We decided that we would leave our clocks as they were – getting up early gave us the best of the daylight and, as the saying goes, early to bed and early to rise ......
We walked around the centre but, given that it was now raining considerably, we decided to take a guided tour around the Stock Exchange building. This proved to be very interesting and, as we were the only people on the tour, we were able to have a good chat with our guide. We learned that spoken Portuguese is very difficult to understand (we already had an inkling of this!) and, even though the Spanish can understand written Portuguese, they cannot understand it when it is spoken. This is because there are so many different sounds in the language, many more than in Spanish.
In the same building, there is a area devoted to Portuguese wine where they promote it by giving free tastings. This was very enjoyable and we had another long chat with our hostess, leaving with a free wine thermometer (of course we won't drink wine unless it is at precisely the correct temperature) and a clever little device called a 'drop stop' that you put in the bottle so that you can pour the wine without it dripping over the table or down the outside of the glass – a gift for someone who has everything!
On then to church of San Francisco next door (it was still raining), that had a fascinating burial area in the crypt with tombs and an osseria – thousands of bones stored ready for the day of judgement.
We stopped for lunch at a tiny restaurant called 'Adega S. Nicolau' in a side street on the way back to the bridge Ponte Dom Luis I. The food was of excellent quality and came in large quantity – I had to leave some of the very tasty beans and rice that came with my sardines. I can thoroughly recommend this restaurant and we will certainly find it again when we are next in Porto.
We wanted to visit two Port lodges that were not British owned but only managed to find one that was open – most of the smaller lodges and some of the larger ones were closed. The Vasconcellos tour was quite interesting but the tour at Graham's was far superior. The young man who greeted us spotted my Bath Rugby shirt and said that he had been in Bath a month ago and went to watch his first ever live rugby match – Bath v Parma, which Bath won by a large margin. He was a big rugby fan and was, justifiably proud of Portugal's performance in the Rugby World Cup. He told us that the team were going professional in preparation for the next World Cup after Portugal's largest beer company had given 1 million euros in sponsorship. Again being out of season, we had our own personalised tour and a very good tasting of six different ports between us. We came away from the two tours with two, probably overpriced, bottles of white port. We chose white port because it is difficult to get hold of in England and we both really like it. They are very different ports, we chose the dry Vasconcellos and the Graham's medium dry.
On the way to the bus stop we passed a local butcher's shop and I decided to buy a rabbit. I didn't however want it whole so I had to use sign language to ask for it to be jointed - “off with his head” was quite easy!
The bus journey back was less hair-raising due to a number of different factors – it was dark, the route was more straightforward and we had drunk quite a lot of port!
Photos: View from the cathedral of houses in the centre of Porto; The osseria of San Francisco church; The number 1 tram being prepared for the return journey; View of the north bank of the Douro with 'barcos rabelos' (originally used to transport the wine down the Duoro to Porto) moored in the foreground; Port maturing in oak barrels in the Graham's Port Lodge.

Wednesday 16th January 2008

Once again we slept with the roar of the sea in the background. This was not surprising given the weather yesterday but it was only when we left the next morning and drove along the coast that we saw how rough the sea was. The waves were over 2m high and coming in very fast. The weather was however better, no rain and, although still windy, nowhere near as strong.
Our first stop was Viana do Castelo where we wanted to visit the church of Santa Luzia and an archaeological site. Both are situated on a high hill that provides fantastic views North and South along the coast, up the Lima river valley and all of the obvious land routes in the area. It is not surprising that the hilltop was occupied from the Iron Age up to Roman times. Two thirds of the site was destroyed by the building of a large hotel and access roads obviously at a time when archaeological sites were not considered to be important. However what remains of the Celtic settlement is very interesting and the views, even with poor visibility, were stunning. The settlement had defensive walls, trenches and towers. These together with the natural defences of the hill and the ability to spot potential hostile forces from many miles away, must have made the site very attractive.
We also had a look around the church, modelled on the Sacre Coeur in Paris.
Many, many years ago in Athens, we saw photographers that would take photograph of their customers with a large box camera mounted on a tripod. They would then develop the photograph inside the camera and wash it in a bucket. After drying it, they would then present the customer with the finished black and white photograph. It fascinated me at the time but I considered it antiquated as it was black and white and everyone was using colour by then. I was amazed to see two photographers in the courtyard outside Santa Luzia with just the same equipment, especially in January when only the most intrepid of visitors would be there. I suppose that it has now got to the point where grandparents, remembering early family photographs, may want to have photographs taken in the same way. All the same, I can't imagine that such photographers will be around for many more years.
On then to Porto and the campsite on the southern side of the city at Praia de Madalena.
Photos: The round buildings of the Celtic settlement at Viana do Castelo; the unusual 'spiral' construction of some of the huts and a hint of the views from the site; Santa Luzia with one of the photographers in the foreground; Detail of a camera and the equipment.

Tuesday 15th January 2008

On to Portugal today but we had the worst driving weather of the Odyssey so far. The wind was very strong and gusty, affecting the steering during the bigger gusts and this was combined with torrential rain. We experienced how bad the conditions were early on in the day. Whilst Jane was paying for the campsite, I moved Henrietta to empty the grey water and top up with fresh water. It was raining and windy before I started but almost as soon as I got out of the motorhome, it intensified. My coat and leather hat (when held on) protected my top half but it the less than 4 minutes that I was outside, my bottom half was soaked through to the skin. Our onward journey was delayed whilst I changed trousers, socks and shoes.
We had intended to visit Vilenca do Mino just over the border in Portugal but it wasn't worth trying to do any sightseeing in that weather. We passed what should have been lovely views, including some over the sea such as the spot where we stopped for lunch. I could have taken some photographs but they would have shown a grey sky, grey sea and mountains virtually obscured by the grey rain.
We hoped to stay in a small campsite east of Caminha but found no sign of life and the gates were closed, so we went on to a larger site at Caminha. As we arrived, the weather improved, that is to say that there was a brief interlude in the downpour. It was however quite mild and we did not need the heating on. We spent the evening snug in the motorhome, out of the wind and occasional heavy showers.
Photos: None - Imagine a uniformly grey image and you will see all that we saw!

Monday 14th January 2008

It was a relatively calm night but with heavy showers. However, the showers eased after we woke and by the time that we were ready to leave, the sky was clearing. Due to the risk of rain (we could see it poring down on the other side of Santiago), we decided to catch the bus into the city centre. It was only a short walk to the bus stop and as we approach it we watched a bus drive past. It was another 30 minutes until the next one and the walk into the city takes 30 minutes, so we decided that we would rather walk than spend half an hour standing around. It was a very pleasant walk, all downhill and with plenty to see on the way.
The old centre of Santiago is quite compact and we were able to follow a tour of the main sights using the map provided by Camping As Cancelas. The highlight had to be the cathedral (Catedral del Apostol) and the photographs today all come from there. Mass started almost as soon as we entered but we were able to continue our visit whilst trying to keep out of the way and quiet! We saw the casket containing the remains of St. James brought back in AD 44 from Jerusalem in a stone boat and buried 17 km inland at Santiago. The grave was rediscovered by a hermit in 813 after he followed a guiding star. Call me a synic, and many of you will, but this reminds me of the story of the discovery of King Arthur's grave at Glastonbury – I don't believe that either. Anyway, the suspicious basis of the story didn't stop Santiago de Compostela becoming a major pilgrimage centre in the middle ages and it has continued to be so until the current day. We were shown how to hug the statue of St. James positioned above the main alter and we followed the tradition as do all of the pilgrims that walk, cycle or travel in comfort like us to Santiago.
One of the most impressive parts of the cathedral were the stone carvings on the Portico de la Gloria, the original 12th century entrance before a baroque facade was added in the 18th century. In addition to carvings of the apostles, there are a series of carvings of musicians and their instruments. These are fascinating and have been used to recreate instruments of the time. A group has formed that plays these reconstructed instruments.
The remainder of the day was spent shopping (Jane bought a lovely silver scallop shell necklace and I bought some Galician Celtic CDs) and wandering around the old centre. We once again took advantage of an excellent value 'menu' lunch at €10 for a 3-course meal with wine.
Now it is time to go to the local bar that advertises a WiFi facility where, hopefully, we will be able to post this blog and perhaps have a little drink or two.
Photos: Exterior of Santiago cathedral; Baroque Altar; Stone carvings of musicians on the Portico de la Gloria – note the hurdy-gurdy being played by two people; Tapestry in the cathedral museum – the representation of the back light from the fire is very good, note the light catching the edges of the clothes and the shadows cast on the floor.