Portugal
Santa Maria Dos Olivais

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    • Day 11

      Etappe 9

      May 18, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ 🌙 18 °C

      Unser heutiges Tagesziel war Cordiça, welches ca.28Km von unserem Ausgangspunkt Tomar entfernt liegt. Also hiess es wieder früh aus den Federn, alle Sachen zusammen packen und los geht's. Also mit den "allen Sachen" gab es heute ein kleines Problem. Als wir nämlich unseren Proviant für den Tag aus dem Kühlschrank nehmen wollten, mussten wir feststellen, dass sich bereits ein "nicht so ganz edler Pilger", an unserer neu gekauften Wasserflasche vergriffen hatte. Ganz so dreist war er alledings nicht, denn einen kleinen Schluck liess er für uns doch noch übrig!
      So starteten wir halt ohne Wasser, im Wissen, dass wir nicht lange auf einen neuen, erfrischenden Durstlöscher warten müssen!
      Die heutige Etappe war durchgehend schön. Wir waren lange Zeit im Wald unterwegs, wo wir von lautem Vogelgezwitscher begleitet wurden. Wenn wir dann wieder einer Strasse folgen mussten, wurden unsere Augen von prächtigen Wiesen mit hohem Gras, verschiedenen Blumen und vielen Schmetterlingen verwöhnt. Sich so in der Natur aufhalten zu dürfen, hat also schon etwas!
      Irgendwo auf dem Weg fiel uns heute eine junge Frau auf, die kaum mehr gehen konnte. Wir kamen mit ihr ins Gespräch und sie erzählte, dass sie etliche Blasen an den Füssen hat. Sie hat offenbar vor ihrem Start nicht gewusst, wie wichtig die Fusspflege vor so einer langen Wanderung ist. Nun...wir zogen weiter, ich mit einem etwas schlechten Gewissen, weil ich ihr meine bewährte Créme, die in meinem Rucksack lag, nicht angeboten habe. Etwas später trafen wir "die Dame mit dem schleppenden Schritt"  in einer Gartenwirtschaft wieder, wo ich ihr dann meine Créme doch noch überließ.  Das schöne an dieser Episode ist, dass mich in unserer heutigen, übrigens super Unterkunft, eine weitere Pilgerin fragte,  ob ich heute einer Amerikanerin eine Fusscréme überlassen hätte. Ganz erstaunt sagte ich ja, worauf sie mir erzählte, dass sie diese Pilgerin kenne und diese ihr von mir erzählt hätte.  Übrigens....sie sagte die Salbe sei eine Wohltat. Nun frage ich mich: Bin ich nun eine Wohtäterin! 😂
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    • Day 23

      Tomar

      April 4, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

      Die 1157 von einem Grossmeister der Tempelritter in Portugal gegründete Stadt wir von einem engen Netz von Strassen (auch mein Google hat mich wieder in so eine Situation gefahren) und dem Convento de Cristo dominiert.Read more

    • Day 6

      Tomar

      September 13, 2019 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

      Stumbled upon this town after reading about a very good free Motorhome stop and Whoop Whoop what a place to be for anybody interested in history.
      Lots of narrow streets to explore plus a castle and church up the hill.
      Knights Templar no less!
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    • Day 12

      Tomar

      March 28 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

      The historic centre of Tomar sits alongside the Nabão River and the narrow cobbled streets surround the imposing Praça da República plaza.

      Every 4 years Tomar celebrates Festa dos Tabuleiros. One of the highlights is the Parade of Trays represent the parishes of the municipality. Traditionally, the tray is carried by a girl dressed in white and the multilayered tray is decorated with colored paper flowers, ears of wheat, and 30 loaves of bread, each weighing 400 grams. The tray is topped by the Dove of the Holy Spirit.

      Museo dos Fósforus is one of those quirky museums - it houses the private collection of 43,000 unique matchboxes from all over the world - testament to the determination and passion of a single person - a well travelled businessman from Tomar who started collecting in 1959.

      Row after row in seven large rooms the matchboxes on show are arranged by country of origin and sometimes by subject, with the oldest ones dating back to the late 1800s.

      Dinner - an incredible excellent Indian meal.
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    • Day 6

      Tomar

      June 26, 2022 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 66 °F

      I spent the night in Tomar, right in the center of town where the lovely Rio Nabão runs. I sat at a table at a cafe in Mouchão Park on the riverside, watching the children ride a zip line on a little island in the river while I drank Super Bock and ate caracóis, little snails cooked in broth which are a popular Portuguese drinking snack. I used a toothpick to slowly pull them out of their shells.

      I wandered around enjoying the views and the plants (the Portuguese must be the most obsessive gardeners - seriously, everywhere I went people were growing fruit and flowers). Then I had an amazing dinner at Clandestino, a tiny restaurant with charming and friendly staff, who helped me order french fries and chicken gizzards, and then tried to explain to me how the gizzards were cooked.
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    • Day 13

      Tomar

      May 20, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

      Centre of Knights Templar and its successor the Order of Christ. Its claim to fame is the “festival of trays”, where every 4 years the girls carry crowns of bread and flowers for a 5k procession through the streets. It’s on again in July and the shops are full of references to it. We had the greatest cheese sandwiches for lunch. Ours cost €8!Read more

    • Day 64

      Tomar

      April 20, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

      Tomar, 22.000 Einwohner, liegt am Rio Nabão und Funde am Flussufer und lassen vermuten, dass Tomar mindestens seit der Zeit der römischen Besetzung bewohnt war.
      Die Geschichte der Templer ist überall in der Stadt zu spüren. In der Altstadt mit ihren schmalen gepflasterten Gassen und historischen Gebäuden gibt es traditionelle portugiesische Restaurants und Geschäfte, die lokale Handwerkskunst anbieten. In dem Cafe Paraíso, das am 21. Mai 1911 eröffnet wurde, hat der weltberühmte italienische Schriftsteller und Philosoph Umberto Eco gesessen und geschrieben.Read more

    • Day 40

      Tomar Testimony

      October 17, 2022 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

      We caught the train about 400 kilometres north to Tomar watching the countryside change from flat and dry with lots of Cork Oaks, to greener and hillier with more intense agriculture.

      Cork growing must be the ultimate slow agriculture experience. Plant a cork tree. Wait 25 years. Get first harvest, which will not be up to scratch. Wait another 9 years for next harvest (which also may not be). Repeat.

      It is a most pleasant little town, hugging the banks of the River Nabao, with weirs regulating the water and parks for the inhabitants to enjoy themselves. Away from the river, the old town is very picturesque, although it was a little quiet when we wandered through - and stopped for a drink - on a Saturday afternoon.

      It also has the Convento de Cristo, a stone fortress towering above the town.

      Constructed from 1118 by the Knights Templar, it was controlled and improved by them (between fighting crusades and seeing off the Moors) until 1357, when the Order of Christ completed a “friendly takeover” initiated by Pope Clement I in 1312. The Order of Christ continued in occupation until the tourist industry demanded another historic site on top of a hill but with good bus parking.

      We walked up the hill, paid our 3 euros each (seniors discount; disappointingly they rarely seem to ask for proof of age) and wandered through cloister after cloister and room after room. It was an interesting few hours, and the round church was quite spectacular.

      The Festival of Iria, celebrating the virgin Saint Iria’s drowning and subsequent reappearance downriver in a marble tomb, took place the day we were in Tomar. We wandered around the crowded amusement park and market area, all set by the side of the river and full of happy, laughing Tomarites. We also made our way up the pedestrianised, cobbled main street of the old town, had a drink and thought about anywhere else we could remember going to where the shops were shut on a Sunday.
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    • Day 5

      Tomar, Portugal

      August 28, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ 🌬 77 °F

      Tomar is a historic city in Portugal known for its well-preserved medieval architecture and rich cultural heritage. It's most famous for the Convent of Christ, a UNESCO World Heritage site, which was originally a Templar stronghold and later transformed into a Renaissance-era convent. The city's picturesque streets, historic buildings, and beautiful landscapes make it a popular destination for tourists interested in history and architecture.Read more

    • Day 12

      Tomar

      March 21, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

      Former seat of the Order of the Knights Templar, Tomar is a city of great charm for its artistic and cultural wealth, whose greatest expression is in the Convent of Christ, one of the chief works of the Portuguese Renaissance.Read more

    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Santa Maria Dos Olivais

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