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Journey in Portugal and SpainJourney in Portugal and Spain
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A 13-day adventure by Diane Read more
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  • Diane and DarrylJourney in Portugal and Spain
    Day 1

    Portugal: Pena Palace in Sintra

    March 3 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 54 °F

    We’re now in Portugal, and it’s our last day of travel with Nance & Sande. We’d arranged a day-long tour to see sights outside of Lisbon and particularly the iconic Pena Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in the hills of Sintra town.

    A group of 8 of us joined our guide, Alberto, who took us first to the palace, which was occupied by various members of the royalty until the Republican Revolution of 1910. The coup leaders killed the current king, and the rest of the royal family fled in exile. What’s interesting is that it’s evident they really cleared out fast. All the furnishings and decorations are original from the time the family lived there. Queen Amelia’s hair brushes are still laid out on her nightstand.

    We carried on with a stop in Sintra village for a coffee break with traditional pastries, and then a drive through the countryside for a traditional Portuguese lunch at a family-run restaurant (seafood is very big here, as you can imagine, being on the Atlantic). Delicious!

    After lunch, it was on to the westernmost point of continental Europe, and then to another iconic (although touristic) village of Cascais. It was a great way to wrap up our travels with Nance & Sande and meet some new people, too!    Read more

  • Diane and DarrylJourney in Portugal and Spain
    Day 2

    Palaces and Portuguese History

    March 4 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 61 °F

    We’ve met up with our Road Scholar group of around 20 people. The tour focuses on history, significant architectural sites and picturesque villages, all while staying in historic hotels in Portugal and Southern Spain.

    The morning featured a lecturer from the University of Lisbon who did a great job of covering 2,000 years of Portuguese history in two hours. (Really, she made it a bit like telling a story!)

    We won’t go into all that here, but one thing to note is that in 1755 there was a catastrophic earthquake (>7.7) with subsequent fires and a tsunami, which destroyed nearly all of Lisbon’s buildings and other adjoining areas (the Moroccans mentioned it too). There aren’t a lot of structures left that are older than the 18th century—although remnants of older buildings have survived and were renovated and built upon, so many buildings may have medieval antecedents.

    Anyway, after the lecture, we had a little repeat of yesterday’s itinerary (which we knew would happen), but it was different enough. We drove along the Atlantic coast and had time to wander Sintra on our own. We chose to go to the palace in town (not the red-and-yellow palace on the hilltop). This particular palace survived the earthquake and is considered the best-preserved medieval royal residence in Portugal, being inhabited more or less continuously from at least the early 15th century to the late 19th century. We’re glad we went—check out our photos of the quirky painted ceilings (magpie room, swan room), the wood decorative cabinets and the plentiful tile wall decorations.

    Heading back toward Lisbon, our afternoon field trip brought us to the Palace of Queluz, a Rococo style royal palace, with lots of gold and mirrors. The mirrors served to bring more light into the rooms. We didn’t care for the style so much, but it certainly illustrated the wealth that the royal families had accumulated from the trade goods brought in from India and Brazil by this seafaring nation.    Read more

  • Diane and DarrylJourney in Portugal and Spain
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    Day 3

    Lisbon and Portugal’s Maritime History

    March 5 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 61 °F

    We set off for the historic center of Lisbon, to the Belém neighborhood, where Portuguese navigators set sail from here centuries ago on their expeditions and “discovery” of India. Until the Portuguese found a naval route to India, the spice trade was made by land, on the Silk Road. It was a long and expensive journey. The transport of spices by ship cut the end price of spices—needed for food preservation and medicines—nearly in half.

    The Belém Tower is a 16th-century fortification at the mouth of the Tagus River in Lisbon, and it served as a point of embarkation and disembarkation for Portuguese explorers. The tower survived the 1755 earthquake due to being constructed on rock rather than the sandy bank of the river.

    Also on the waterfront is a replica of the first seaplane to make the first crossing of the south Atlantic, from Lisbon to Rio de Janero. The flight was made in 1922, to coincide with the centennial celebration in Rio of Brazil's independence. They almost missed the party due to several breakdowns and near catastrophes.

    An impressive monument on waterfront is called the Monument to the Discoveries. It shows a caravel ship setting out to sea, with Henry the Navigator at the prow and many significant figures from the Portuguese age of discovery all portrayed with symbols that refer to their identity: navigators, cartographers, warriors, missionaries, chroniclers and artists.

    Next up was a bus trip to the National Tile Museum, housed in a former convent. There were some exhibits on the techniques of tile decoration over time, and many beautiful pieces on display. The museum is a repository for many, many tiles salvaged from buildings destroyed in the 1755 earthquake. Curators sort through the remnants and try to date them, determine their historical significance, and piece them together. Judging by the many boxes of tiles we saw, they have quite a backlog!    Read more

  • Diane and DarrylJourney in Portugal and Spain
    111
    Day 4

    Roman Ruins, old University & Fado Music

    March 6 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 61 °F

    Our hotel tonight (Conimbriga Hotel do Paço) was once the Almadas Palace, a royal residence dating back to the 14th century. It underwent extensive renovation 30 years ago to turn it into an historic hotel.

    This morning we had a short drive to the Roman ruins of Conímbriga. The site is one of the largest Roman settlements identified in Portugal. To date, less than 20% has been excavated. Romans occupied the site from the 1st century BC until the mid-5th century when they were pushed out by Germanic armies. The wall outlines of a few homes had been excavated, and some nice mosaic floor tiles were reconstructed, but most impressive was the Casa dos Repuxos (house of fountains). This was an aristocratic residence dating from the 2nd century AD, which was built with a complex lead-pipe hydraulic system that fed several fountains and ornamental pools. The house also has a rich set of mosaics depicting mythological, geometric and plant scenes.

    We continued with an exploration of Coimbra, the first capital city of Portugal. There we toured the oldest university in Portugal, the University of Coimbra. The site was a former royal palace until 1290 when the king realized he needed to start a university to stem the brain drain of students attending foreign universities (on Portuguese funding) and then not returning home. We visited the university prison (for naughty students!), the library, chapel, and other palace rooms converted for academic use.

    We then walked over to a local fado house for a performance of this traditional music of Portugal. This expressive, often melancholic Portuguese folk music tradition, is sometimes referred to as “Lisbon blues” because “fado” means “fate” and songs are often nostalgic or sad. Coimbra has their own take on this genre, using it for wooing lovers, and some of the songs were definitely on the more upbeat side. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to take videos to share with you.    Read more

  • Diane and DarrylJourney in Portugal and Spain
    111
    Day 5

    Batalha Monastery and a Working Farm

    March 7 in Portugal ⋅ 🌧 54 °F

    About an hour’s drive south is the Monastery of Batalha, built to commemorate a battle that secured the victory of the Portuguese over the Castilians in 1385. The place was abandoned 500 years later when a nationalistic government expelled the religious orders. Convents, monasteries, churches, manor homes and holdings of other institutes that were supported by religious donations were put up for sale, with the intention of placing the land and goods in the hands of the poor, but most did not have the money to purchase them.

    The church of the monastery is narrow and high—over 100 feet tall, the highest in Portugal. Although most of the stained glass and statues did not survive the 1755 earthquake, the decorative limestone carving remains in its original state, and is undergoing cleaning to better display the details. Last year, while pressure-washing the interior, 15th century graffiti was uncovered.

    The architectural style is called Manueline, after King Manual, who liked to incorporate maritime elements (ropes) and representations of the discoveries brought from the voyages of Portuguese navigators (corn, peppercorns, artichokes, flowers, etc.).

    Driving on, we enjoyed a locally produced buffet lunch at Companhia das Lezírias, a traditional Portuguese farmstead. The farm is the largest agricultural and forestry enterprise in Portugal, established in 1836.

    Among the farm’s many endeavors, they are a breeder of Lusitano horses. Originally bred for war and bullfighting, Lusitano’s are now highly regarded for their skills in equestrian dressage. These are the breed of horses used in Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings movies.

    Agricultural products of the farm include rice (especially the high-quality Ariete variety), beef cattle, pine trees (firewood and furniture), cork oak, pine nuts, sunflowers for a genetic bank, olive trees, wine grapes and wine production.

    They are working toward sustainability in many areas—forest management, reducing their carbon footprint in wine bottle production (50% less glass), and reducing reliance on chemicals using drones for precision agriculture. More than seven universities are using the farm as a living laboratory for research projects.

    We got rained on from time to time-to-time today (first time in nearly a month of travel), but it didn’t affect us too much. It was a long driving day with interesting stops along the way!    Read more

  • Diane and DarrylJourney in Portugal and Spain
    Day 6

    All About Cork

    March 8 in Portugal ⋅ 🌬 55 °F

    Between our farm visit yesterday and our trip to a cork factory today, we got to know all about cork. Portugal is responsible for 60% of the cork production in the world, and it is a big point of pride for them (and concern, as more screw-tops come into use).

    The cork product comes from the outer layer of the tree, and it takes very skilled workers (no machinery) to carefully cut into the outer layer and not damage the growing cambium layer below. Once the bark is cut, they can peel off large sections of bark to be processed.

    Only when a tree has reached about 25 years of age can it begin to be harvested for its cork. This first bark isn’t the quality needed for wine stoppers. Portuguese law prohibits stripping the trees more than once every nine years in order to protect the species. It isn’t until the third harvest (over 40 years after planting) that the bark becomes of high enough quality to produce high-quality wine stoppers. In fact, the more often you peel the bark, the better the quality of cork bark you will get.

    They do make other things with the first cycles of cork harvest—purses, notebook covers, shoes, flooring, t-shirts and much more. We saw most of these products in shops around the towns we’ve traveled to.    Read more

  • Diane and DarrylJourney in Portugal and Spain
    Day 6

    Visit to Évora & Cooking Class

    March 8 in Portugal ⋅ 🌬 55 °F

    After the cork factory, we moved on to lunch and a guided exploration of one of Europe’s oldest settlements, Évora, dating back more than 5,000 years. The site was conquered over the centuries by Celts, Romans, and Moors before its reconquering by Portugal in the 12th century. It is the birthplace of navigator Vasco da Gama, who charted the sailing route to India. Parts of the Roman city walls, bits of the old aqueduct, and a few columns from a 2nd century temple are all that remain of the Roman occupation. But there are some nice churches, monasteries and former palaces there from the 16th century onwards.

    For our dinner tonight, we got to be the chefs. A family-based cooking school taught us to create many traditional Portuguese dishes with pork, fish, potatoes, black-eyed peas and a Moroccan-inspired carrot dish that we had while in Morocco. Dessert was port-soaked baked apples and an almond egg custard. We have the recipes and are looking forward to recreating some of the dishes at home!

    Our guide, Ulises, is originally from Toledo and studied ethnomusicology in London. His musical focus is on traditional folk songs and tonight he serenaded us (and the cooking staff) with a couple of songs.

    Now for a note about our historic hotel, Convento do Espinheiro: it is a former convent (with church) built in 1458. The word convent (at least in Portugal) is used for religious communities outside of town, and monastery for those in town, and either may house monks or nuns. Our convent was a place for men, and was also a place where royalty and nobility would stop and stay on their journeys around the country. It is said that it was while staying at the convent that King Manuel was brought news of the “discovery” of India by Vasco da Gama. After the religious orders were expelled in 1834, the convent changed ownership many times and eventually went into serious disrepair. In the 1990s an investor made it possible for the building to be lovingly restored, sparing no expense for details, it seems.    Read more

  • Diane and DarrylJourney in Portugal and Spain
    1
    Day 7

    Villages on the Border

    March 9 in Portugal ⋅ 🌧 54 °F

    On our long driving day to Spain, we stopped for a tour of Monsaraz (Portugal), a 13th century village, home to just 33 people now. Most of the residents left in the 1960s and 70s to get jobs and later because of the hardships under the dictator Salazar (for example, we were told that 60% of the people in the country had no electricity).

    We braved chill winds and some rain to walk through the village to the former town hall and courthouse, now the “Museo do Fresco.” During some renovations in the 1950s, when a wall was removed, the workers discovered behind it a fresco dating to 1340 about corruption—depicting “good and bad government.” It seems they needed a constant reminder there in the hall of justice!

    We couldn’t take photos, but we include an image from a brochure. It shows a two-faced judge (#8) taking bribes—gold from one man (#10) and partridges from another (#11). In contrast is the “good judge,” dressed in white.

    From the hilltop village we could look out over the largest reservoir in Western Europe (97 sq mi). The Alqueva Dam was completed in 2002, and required the removal of people from many small villages in the soon-to-be flooded Guadiana River valley. One village was removed to higher ground and put back together exactly as it had been in the 13th century. It may be Spain’s newest town.    Read more

  • Diane and DarrylJourney in Portugal and Spain
    Day 8

    Exploring Seville

    March 10 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 64 °F

    We spent the afternoon exploring Seville with a local guide—to the Real Alcázar (royal palace), the cathedral and around the oldest neighborhood of the city — the Barrio Santa Cruz that was the old Jewish quarter.

    The Alcázar was formerly the site of the Moorish fortress of the city, begun in the 10th century and then developed into a larger palace complex over time from the 11th through early 13th centuries. After the Moors were pushed out by the Castilians in 1248, the site was progressively rebuilt and replaced by new palaces and gardens. The Christians liked that the Muslim tower was seismically sound, so they simply added a gothic bell tower on top. The Alcázar was featured in the Game of Thrones (season 6) as the Water Gardens of Dorne, the seat of House Martell.

    The Seville Cathedral is enormous—the largest in Spain (nearly 150,000 square feet in area). It is built on the site of a former mosque, dating to the 12th century. At the cathedral’s completion in the 16th century, it was the largest cathedral in the world (nearly 150,000 sq. feet). The central altar is as high as a five-story building. The tomb of Christopher Columbus is there, but a church in the Dominican Republic also claims to have Columbus. Seville decided to x-ray the tomb and found they only have about 15% of his bones. The other church isn’t doing any further research, so no one really knows where the rest of his remains are.    Read more

  • Diane and DarrylJourney in Portugal and Spain
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    111
    Day 9

    Córdoba: Mosque Cathedral & Patios

    March 11 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 64 °F

    Córdoba was once the Moorish capital of nearly all of the Iberian peninsula (and some parts of France, including Carcassonne) as we know those places today, but known as Al-Andalus caliphate starting in the 700s. In Córdoba we visited La Mezquita, an immense mosque dating from the 8th century. The roughly 1,250 columns of the prayer hall were repurposed from buildings from the Roman era, with varying types of stone and different capitals and bases. The disparate columns in the hall are unified by the brick-and-limestone arches everywhere—gives a sort of a hall-of-mirrors feeling.

    As the Muslim population grew, the Moors expanded the original structure three times, up until the end of the 10th century. When Córdoba was captured by the Christian forces of Castile in 1236, the mosque was converted to a cathedral. Not much was done to change the appearance until a Renaissance-style nave was added smack in the center of the vast structure in the 17th century. As for the minaret, unlike the cathedral in Seville, the Catholics built a bell tower around the minaret, covering it completely. Visiting this mosque cathedral was a really unique experience!

    The other thing we did while in Córdoba was to visit the “patios.” These are a carryover from the 1921 “Courtyards, Balconies and Window Displays Competition,” which has now become an annual event. Multi family homes here in this hot summer climate are designed around a central courtyard to provide ventilation for the homes, and the homes provide shade to the courtyard. We visited last year’s top prize winners. The homeowners take great pride in maintaining their living walls.    Read more

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