Still here… just about

May 5, 2023May 4, 2023 | Mairead

The rains came and the heatwave is gone. And normal service can resume. I don’t know what happens to me but I can’t function in full heat. If it wasn’t for the box of ice creams Denis bought in Silves, I think I’d be writing this from Greystones.

Tiles outside the public toilets in Óbidos

In other good news… We found a tour in Porto and we’ll be doing that tomorrow. I’m looking forward to the food, pictures of the food, ways to cook the food and normal (for spring in Portugal) weather.

To bring you up to date, we decided to scoot past Lisboa (Lisbon) and head for Mafra, Peniche and Óbidos and if we did nothing else these three places would provide enough photos for the rest of our time away.

Mafra has a beautiful well kept huge palace which was closed on Monday when we were there but it’s still impressive from the outside. We visited the palace in 2018 and here’s a link https://maireadhennessy.com/2018/03/15/i-like-an-apple/

Peniche turned out to be not where we were at all! We were at Ferrel. Not as pretty a name but a very beautiful place… the app we are using tells us the best places to park the van. And so we follow the directions blindly. And we stopped and took some pictures and it was very nice and then we looked across the water to a very built up place and THAT was Peniche. I do prefer Ferrel.

Can you see the big white buildings on the extreme right? That’s Peniche…

And Ferrel has surfboards for rent. As you can imagine we were very tempted but we drove on to Óbidos and wow! This is an intact medieval town, a bit like Carcassonne but less commercial. Gorgeous narrow streets and a huge wall running around the outside. Lots of souvenir shops, cafes and restaurants. And bonus, free parking for motorhomes.

We sat with coffee in the shade for a while and walked in the sun for a while and then drove onto a campsite with NO shade. This was the hottest day, I was ready to go back home on a plane but there were ice creams in the freezer and beans on toast for dinner so I reconsidered.

The thing about going on these trips is how do we ever know where we’re going or what it will be like? Sure we can revisit places but they’re never the same or we’re not the same. All we can do is trust that things will work out in the end and remember to save some ice cream for the hottest day…

I’ll grab a picture of a map so you can get an idea where these places are located. I’m guessing you’re missing the maps (maybe you’re not?) but the problem is maps are owned by whoever makes them (or pays for them to be made?) and Facebook blocked me after the last one. So I either start drawing them myself (could try…) or I slip one in the odd time. It’s not really satisfactory, I know.

Well now that I’ve produced my own (not to scale or accurate) map of Portugal I can see why the other map makers might want to keep me from copying…

Map making… not as easy as you might think…

Happy St Patrick’s Day

March 17, 2018March 17, 2018 | Mairead

2018 1

(Here’s the King’s balcony from the outside)

We finally left Mafra and set off for Sintra and although we did arrive just outside Sintra we didn’t arrive in Sintra. It was very busy and very narrow and it wasn’t clear that we were welcome in the car parks. So we pushed it to next week because there are loads of trains that deliver you comfortably to Sintra from Lisboa.

2018 4

(The King’s private window into the Basilica)

Now we are in a very well serviced supermarket car park… there are camper places, water dumping and loading facilities, toilets, a cafe and… laundry machines! Yes it’s that time again. I have been a little concerned that my wardrobe (or repeat wearing of it…) might be a problem in company. As in, I might not be as sweet-smelling as one would hope. But that’s all ok now, clothes are clean and have nice smells.

2018 5

(You might be able to make out three of the church organs in this picture)

Yesterday I went back to see the Basilica part of the Palace of Mafra. It’s not part of the paid visit, it’s free. I don’t think I mentioned that on the opposite side of the corridor to the King’s balcony, there are three windows that look into the Basilica. So the king and the other royals could look in on the ceremonies or listen to the music without having to officially attend. And there was a lot of music to listen to as King João VI had decided he wanted six church organs. He then commissioned collections of music to be played only on those organs, nowhere else. He probably really liked music.

2018 4

(No shamrock so instead here’s another look at the Portuguese cork tree with green lichen from the Parque Biologico de Gaia… Cork and Green that’s almost shamrock, right?)

We had stayed our 48 hours in Mafra and had to leave our parking spot. As it’s on a height we kept seeing the Palace as we drove on making us say every single time, in unison, ad nauseam, wasn’t Mafra lovely? It made us laugh, we are easily amused.

We’ll be back, Mairead.

We’re in Clover

March 16, 2018March 16, 2018 | Mairead

2018 7

(The neighbours)

We stayed in Mafra again last night but this time at the aire beside the Palace. We didn’t notice it on the way in but here it is and here we are. As we hadn’t had electricity for two days and the drive from Mafra suburb to the Palace wasn’t enough to charge the battery we were running dangerously low on power.

2018 6

(Beautiful sky over Mafra)

When I got back from visiting the palace I uploaded photos with only 20% battery and by the time I sent the blog post to WordPress I had only 6%. There are some electrical connections at this aire but they were all in use. We talked to the couple next to us from Italy (getting away from the snow there…) who said they were leaving today so if we could just hobble through overnight then we could use theirs and we’d be in clover.

2018 2 1

(Window at the Palace)

Ten minutes later the battery alarm light went off… that never happened before. Unplug everything. There was only the wifi router so I unplugged it, soon we would have no wifi…. how would we know what the weather was like…? We made plans for the move in the morning but there were very few aires within 50km of Lisbon with electricity. Time for a walk.

2018 1 1

(I love the windows at the Palace)

And that’s when we noticed the empty space. All the camper van spaces had been taken except one which we took when we arrived and when I got back from the Palace they were still occupied. But now a few hours later there was one… and it was beside an electricity connection!

2018 15

(The view of Mafra from the King’s balcony at the Palace)

We looked at each other and then ran back to the van (who am I kidding, we walked back to the van) and even faster than the night of the flooding river we had moved to the spot with the electricity. We have electricity! The electricity is free! We plugged in the wifi and the laptops and went for our walk. The rain stopped.

We really are in clover, Mairead.

I like an apple…

March 15, 2018March 16, 2018 | Mairead

2018 7

(The National Palace of Mafra. That’s the Basilica in the middle with the bell towers)

Contrary to expectations, there was sun this morning so there are lots of photos. We are in Mafra about 30km north of Lisbon. It’s situated on a high plateau and very windy at times. It’s home to the National Palace of Mafra which was commissioned in 1717 by King João V. He had promised to build a monastery if he and his wife could have children.

2018 8

(See the M’s for Mafra on the light pole? And the blue sky?)

It’s a huge building and comprises a Basilica, a Royal Palace, a convent (which might be the monastery) and hunting grounds which are a bit outside the town. The royal family only came here for holidays and the hunting.

2018 17

(There’s a balcony outside this window looking out onto the town for the king to address his people)

I went for a walk around it this morning. I’d say it’s lovely and cool in the summer but I was glad to be well wrapped up today because they have gale force winds coming through their very beautiful not double glazed windows. Actually the light coming through the beautiful windows was particularly lovely today. Nice contrast to recent dark skies.I might have taken a picture of every window on the first floor…

2018 18

(Can you see them too…? That’s the lady with the furry stole)

While I was walking around there were very few visitors but some of the museum curators were dressed in period costumes. I was drawn to one lady’s furry stole… looked very warm. The guys dressed up as monks might not have been dressed up, they may have been actual monks. They were chatting with the dressed up ladies so maybe they were just dressed up too.

2018 13

(And old pot in the pharmacy section of the palace)

That’s something I’m noticing each time I visit a museum, the curators go around in twos and chat all the time. They have seriously lots to say to each other. This adds to my assumption that the Portuguese are a very sociable people and the groups of people working at the Palace are a very good example. Each time I passed they smiled at me and then went back to their conversation. I’d love to know what they’re saying. In fact I’ve started learning Portuguese… I can say, Eu gosta uma maçã, it means I like an apple. Not as useful as, can you tell me what you’re talking about, please? but at least I’ve made a start.

2018 14

(Anyone need a high-sided bed?)

Part of the monastery was set aside as a small hospital with a pharmacy and curtained off beds. One of the explanatory signs pointed to a high sided bed as being for people with high fever or “mad monks”… well, we’ve all been there and I for one felt encouraged to think there might be a bed for me here if the rain keeps up.

From our Palace in Mafra, Mairead.