Hi,
This has been an interesting week. On Sunday, we drove out to Carvalho to see the Castelo de Arnóia. The castle is theoretically an hour and a half from home, but I managed to take three hours getting there. Whenever we get off the A-roads, my speed drops drastically. Roads that have a 90kph posted speed limit and twist and turn through the mountains are overly optimistic, in my opinion.
Regardless, we finally managed to find the castle and we drove up about two-thirds of the way to the top of the hill it was located on. The last stretch we had to walk up. The path was smooth and well-kept, but it was steep. However, the castle at the top of the hill was impressive. It was locked, but it was impressive. We arrived during operating hours (as did a dozen other visitors), but for an unexplained reason the entrance was chained and padlocked.
Luckily for us, the outside of the castle was picturesque enough to keep us happy. We took lots of pictures, and as always, Chris carried his go-pro as he walked around the castle. It seemed like everything was going to plan, but when we got home, we discovered that the video was damaged, so we had no video of Castelo de Arnóia. That’s a shame. We didn’t get inside, and we didn’t get a video. But no worries. We had a great time, and at least we have photos.
On Thursday, my physical therapy session was scheduled an hour earlier than usual, so we decided to take advantage of the extra hour of daylight and drive up to Guimarães to see the castle there. It is a large castle, the largest we have seen yet. It has been on our to-do list for quite some time, and Thursday just turned out to be the perfect day.
On the way up to Guimarães we stopped in Santo Tirso to take the dogs to the dog park there and have a picnic lunch. Then, back on the road, our 35-minute drive (per Google) turned into a 50-minute drive due to construction on the roads. This was vaguely reminiscent of Sunday, but I put that aside and enjoyed the lovely views that were not passing by quickly enough.
We were suitably impressed when we pulled up at the Guimarães Castle. If I would ever consider trying to lay siege to a castle, one look at this castle would make me reconsider. It is certainly out of my league. Hands down.
The sign posted on the wall outside the castle gate informed us that dogs were not allowed inside the castle walls. So, Chris handed over the dogs to me and the girls and I sat down in the shade while Chris and his go-pro went inside the castle. It was not long before Chris returned, letting us know that the inside of the castle is currently under preservation construction, and he couldn’t get past the barricades inside. However, not to waste his time alone at the castle, Chris had taken the long way back to us and clambered up some stairs in the castle wall. I guess he thought since he couldn’t go up the stairs inside the castle, he’d take the outside stairs in order to get high enough to see what could be seen. Thankfully, this video did not get corrupted.
So, we managed to go to two different castles this week, but not get inside either of them. What are the odds? Well, I cannot answer that because I do not know what the odds are. Although, I do know that when we plan to go to castles in the future, we are definitely going to check their website for information on their status!
Nola