Through Portugal by Camper

Diary of the trip through Portugal, Spain and France.

11/4/09 …………….after docking at Algeciras and doing the shopping for the Easter lunch we head towards Seville. It is 5 pm when we arrive at the Dos Hermanos campsite (13 km from Seville); we find it quite quickly; it is shaded, clean and quiet; we ask how to go about visiting Seville, then evening comes… it is time for dinner and rest. Tomorrow a tiring but wonderful day awaits us. 12/4 We leave the campsite and take bus 132 which takes us into the centre of Seville. We go to the cathedral, we can go in, it is open to the public to attend the Easter Mass celebrated by the cardinal. (Right after, the church closes and will reopen for visits only in the afternoon……………..my word, what a queue!!). Of course it is hard to describe the beauty of this cathedral, perhaps from the photos you can understand how beautiful it is!.

We go for a walk along the banks of the Guadalquivir, we visit the "plaza de Toros", then back to the centre through the characteristic little streets. We are also lucky enough to see, in the small church dedicated to Her, the statue of the Madonna that they carry in procession on Holy Thursday (and which we had seen on television when we were in Morocco). We spend the whole day visiting this wonderful city and only late in the evening do we return to the campsite. 13/4 Our visit of Portugal begins: We don't take the motorway but travel along roads that take us through tiny villages, they are all painted white and have corners rounded by the lime that is gradually applied to the walls of the houses. We are in the ancient heart of Portugal, the Alentejo. Here all the villages, even the smallest, have a castle (we are very close to the border with Spain).

We visit Serpa and Beja, then, considering that the distances are relatively short, we visit Alvito and Viana do Alentejo until we reach Evora. Of course this is a wonderful city that alone is worth the trip to Portugal; we are lucky enough to find a parking spot near the hospital and we are right in the centre, just below the cathedral that we go to see.

We admire the many buildings that recall how important this city was, also inhabited by the Romans, the shops, the large park. We chat with some people whom we ask for information and we immediately discover that it is hard to understand Portuguese, especially when spoken quickly. In any case they are all friendly, hospitable and helpful…. truly a good impression! In the evening we would like to go to the campsite which is over 3 km from the city but, given that there is the chance to park without bothering anyone or being bothered, we decide to look for a spot. We arrive in a very large unpaved square where the weekly market is held, we see other campers and we go in too.

It is 9 pm, when we hear a knock at the door and see 2 guards who invite us, very politely, to leave the square because tomorrow morning at 5 the sellers will arrive for the usual weekly market!!! Yes, tomorrow indeed! what do we do?: we have no choice but to ask the guards if and where we can go and they point us to the square in front of the "plaza de Toros" building where we immediately head, followed shortly by the other campers. The square is on a slope but it doesn't matter, we have the chance to stroll a little more in the centre and then sleep in peace. 14/4 We head towards Monsarraz, a small village on top of a hill overlooking a lake, the village is completely white and its castle even has a small arena. We then go in search of the Menhirs, this is an area where there are many of them and all important.

We see the first group of 50 small Menhirs arranged in a circle with an even larger menhir inside, then we continue to go and see the most "beautiful" and largest in Europe (so the guides say)..and we, even though it has started to rain, go looking for it. We find it, photograph it and then go, in the nearby village, to eat in a small characteristic place. Starter of olives and goat ricotta then the dish of the day "Ensopado de borrega" (lamb stew with onions, garlic, parsley-like coriander, served with toasted bread) all washed down with a full-bodied wine. We set off and go to visit Villa Vicosa, then we decide to continue, since it is still daylight, and we go to Marvao. Of course the road to get there is long and winding but the view you enjoy from up here at 900 metres is magnificent.

It is cold and it starts to rain, it is 8 pm, we settle down under the city walls in the company of 2 other campers. During the night it is very windy and rains hard, and it is very cold too, we are not yet used to this climate. 15/4 When we get up we see that we are under a blanket of fog that makes it impossible to see; nevertheless we go into the village to visit it, and luckily it is not raining. Exceptional, fantastic: at times the fog lets you see the surrounding landscape, while the little streets, which climb up to reach the mother church, come alive with the local people. We reach the top of the village, there is a lovely museum and a very beautiful castle that we visit carefully. It starts to rain, we are equipped and don't worry too much, just the annoyance of taking photos and filming.

We leave this marvel, on the way the rain stops and a mild sun accompanies us to the Monastery of Flor da Rosa (now a Pousada) built by the first prior of the order of the Knights of Malta, beautiful and immense. We continue our visit to the monasteries linked to the order of the Knights of Malta and arrive at Crato, a small but important village since here the order was born and the palace that hosted the first knights is of great value with a beautiful arcaded portico. On the façade a plaque recalls the origin of the order, and lists all the priors until the order was suppressed. Do you want to read our diaries?

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We take advantage of daylight saving time, the days are longer, to go to Evoramonte. As we travel along the narrow road that leads us to the magnificent castle with 4 towers it starts to rain hard. We leave the camper in a lay-by under the walls that surround the castle, we dress for the rain and climb steep stairs. At the entrance to the castle, luckily open, two keepers await us who hand us the illustrative material; we reach the top of a tower via a narrow, narrow spiral staircase. Meanwhile it has stopped raining. In the evening we go to Montemornovo and sleep in the square below the castle.

16/4 Tonight it rained all the time, with lightning and thunder. We leave early and take (this time yes) the motorway so as to arrive directly at the Lisbon campsite. Of course the traffic, when we are in Lisbon, is very chaotic but, despite some difficulty, we manage to find the campsite. Nice, well kept, large, clean … and for nothing expensive (we are in the capital and the price is for 2 people + camper + pitch with everything 19 euros and …we can stay until 7 pm.. practically a whole day!). It is only 12 when we take the bus that takes us directly into the centre (it takes almost an hour because of the chaotic traffic). We do a first tour of the city. It is enchanting…the centre teems with