Hi,
I am sorry to say that it has been two weeks since I last blogged. I will get back into the routine soon (I hope). I am trying to write every week, but somehow, I just haven’t managed to do so. Still, I’m only one week behind, so please don’t give me any grief!
We managed to get out a few times since I last reported. No new Christmas Markets this time. Instead, we found a couple of Castles to explore. I know that December should be devoted to Christmas festivities, but they are best seen at night when the lights are lit, and our schedule just wasn’t conducive to being away at night. Maybe we can hit a few more Christmas markets before the month is over. If so, I will certainly let you know.
Last Saturday Chris didn’t start working until 10pm, so we headed out in the morning to find Castelo de Castelo Melhor. That is the castle’s name – the town is named Castelo Melhor even though it is a town, not a castle (2WFM+69 Castelo Melhor). It is confusing, but bear with me.
First of all, ‘Melhor’ in Portuguese means ‘best’. Once we heard there was a ‘best castle’ in Portugal, we had to go see it, despite it now being considered a ‘ruin of a castle’ as opposed to a ‘castle’. Ruins are fun, and we have never found a ruin that did not allow dogs inside. Opal and Onyx love scrabbling over rocks and posing on crumbled walls. I love watching them, and I love knowing that for the drive home they will sleep like exhausted babies!
We were not disappointed with the castle ruins. We enjoyed walking around the ruins and looking out over the town below. Castelo Melhor is in a remote area, with lovely hills and mountains all around it. Olive trees had been planted inside and around the castle lands (or had just sprung up there), asking us to forgive the turbulent military history of the site and embrace the modern alliances and resulting peace. As I crushed ripe olives under my feet on the paths beneath the trees, I couldn’t help but wish that apple trees were planted instead of olive trees. All four of us would have enjoyed noshing on some apples. Un-cured olives, not so much. Oh, well.
Before arriving at Castelo Melhor, we stopped to let the dogs out at a bridge over the River Côa. I will admit, I have no idea how to pull a Plus Code at a place that is not already Plus-Coded by Google (like this bridge). However, uphill from the bridge is Parque Arqueológico do Vale do Côa (3VHQ+X7 Vila Nova de Foz Côa, Portugal), so if you want to see the bridge on the map, go there and look south. As far as bridges go, it is a plain and simple conveyance from one side of the river to the other side. The unique thing about the bridge is that it is painted bright yellow. It also gives a great view of the river below, which is held in place by the surrounding mountains. All in all, as rest stops go, it was quite striking.
On the way back, we stopped at Vila Nova de Foz Côa to eat our sandwiches and let the dogs sniff each and every blade of grass on the side of the road. After that, we settled into a long drive home. As I expected, the dogs slept most of the journey, allowing us to drive straight through without stopping. We were getting close to time for Chris to begin work, so I was relieved to not have to say ‘No’ to the girls. To be clear, we don’t often say ‘No’ to Opal and Onyx. To illustrate this, Google thought I would make the drive to Castelo Melhor in 2-1/2 hours. Between my cautious driving and the dogs’ tiny bladders, the drive took almost 5 hours. The drive home took 3 hours.
This past Monday we managed to get out for a few hours one afternoon to go to Pombal and visit the castle there (W97G+H3 Pombal, Portugal). Castelo de Pombal is about an hour south of us (per Google). We arrived right as they were closing for lunch, so we found a sunny spot outside the back door and ate sandwiches while enjoying the view. The consistent thing about castles is that, when possible, they are built on high ground. Looking out at the town and surrounding countryside was very relaxing.
The lunch hour passed quickly and then we went inside. As with Castelo de Castelo Melhor, we were the only visitors (until the last moment, when two women were walking inside as we were leaving). This castle is in better condition than Castelo de Castelo Melhor. The outer walls were in great condition, as was the tower inside. Other buildings located inside the walls were not still standing, but the outlines of the buildings were still present. We could not walk on the battlements, but we could go inside the tower. Opal and Onyx were not thrilled with the metal stairs and metal floor inside the tower, so Chris took pity on them and let them come back outside and wait with me. I cannot wait to see the pictures he took while inside the tower.
So, it was a short afternoon but a lovely one. It was good to be out and about again. With any luck, Chris’ schedule will open up soon so we can make it out to a Christmas Market or two. Fingers crossed!
Nola