Portugal – Part 2
We were closing in on Lisbon but before getting there we stopped off for the night at a small walled town called Obidos. It’s not very big but it’s a very popular little place. The main street is lined with restaurants (some of which were open) and little shops, many of which were selling the local liquor made with cherries called Ginja de Obidos, served in a small chocolate cup.
Sarah of course couldn’t resist trying the Ginja de Obidos, which was first made in the 17th century by monks using morello cherries and brandy. By the look on her face it went down very well!
At the top of the main street is the castle, which has been converted into a hotel so it is only possible to explore the grounds.
What we’ve been enjoying about travelling through Portugal is that every place we’ve wanted to visit has had a convenient free park-up and given that it is a cold and exceptionally wet January we haven’t struggled to park anywhere.
Now onwards to Lisbon, on the outskirts of which, sits the impressive Queluz Palace.
The Queluz National Palace was built in the 18th century and is often referred to as the Portugese Versailles. In 1747 Infante DOM Pedro who would later become King Pedro III commanded that the existing hunting lodge be turned into a summer palace.
In 1794 when a fire destroyed the Royal Palace of Ajuda in Lisbon the entire royal court was moved to the Queluz Palace permanently. Its prominence ended in 1807 when Napoleon invaded Portugal and the royal family fled to Brazil.
The Palace is beautiful both inside, with its ornate rooms and outside, in the extensive formal gardens. It is a lesser known attraction but I would rate it very highly if you are in the Lisbon area.
Whenever we approach a big city we spend some time figuring out how to manage it in the motorhome. We need somewhere to park which is safe (crime is usually higher around the bigger cities) and allows us to get into the centre easily, either by public transport or bike. In Lisbon our solution was actually a campsite which is only a few km’s away from the city centre.
Uber is cheap and easy in Lisbon so we called a cab and headed into the centre of town.
Starting at the enormous Praca do Comercio which is a waterside Plaza with a huge monumental arch leading you into the city, we made our way towards the Santa Justa lift, a huge wrought iron elevator which takes passengers from the lower streets of the city up to Carmo Square.
After stopping for lunch in the area around the Santa Justa Lift we caught the famous Tram 28 which does a loop around some of the older parts of the city and around to Lisbon Cathedral – all of which are at the top of a rather steep hill.
All that was left was for us to take a more modern tram over to Jeronimos Cathedral where we got a cab back to our campsite.
We felt a day gave us plenty of time to see the highlights of Lisbon. To be honest we didn’t really think it was one of the most interesting European capitals but maybe it’s a grower.
After leaving Lisbon it was finally time for us to make it down to the sunniest part of Portugal, The Algarve. Unfortunately the weather still wasn’t cooperating and despite intermittent sunshine there was still a lot of rain and wind.
Our first stop on the south coast was Sagres, where there is a huge sea fort which takes up an entire headland. There isn’t a huge amount to see once you are through the walls onto the headland but there is a nice walk around the cliffs.
Not far down the coast from here is the stunning Ponta de Piedade, a headland with a host of coves, stacks and arches. There is a lovely walk along the coast with plenty of viewpoints and a staircase down to a natural harbour surrounded by arches and cliffs. The rain stopped for our visit here which was much appreciated and we had a nice walk.
Ponta de Piedade is near the town of Lagos, so as we were in the area we decided to stop and have a wander around. Lagos is a medieval town but with a seaside resort feel, with cafes and bars offering English breakfasts and cheap beers.
The highlight of our trip to Lagos was the beach where a series of small beaches are linked by tunnels through the cliffs enabling you to explore a number of coves. It definitely wasn’t beach weather but it was lovely to explore.
One of the most famous hikes on the Algarve is the Seven Hanging Valleys hike. So on a day of April showers (albeit not in April), I headed out to hike along this imposing coastline. I was treated to arches, stacks, cliffs, sinkholes and caves along the 6km stretch and of course back along the same route to return to the camper.
I did get rained on quite a lot at the start of the hike but eventually the sun came out and by the end of the hike I was dry once again. My favourite part was an island just off the coast which had a cave bored through it, which the waves were crashing through.
Our final stop off in Portugal was the town of Faro which is actually quite a big town. We wanted to visit the Chapel of Bones. This is a small chapel which is around the back of a substantial church with the rather grandious name of Igreja da Ordem Terceira de Nossa Senhora do Monte do Carmo.
The chapel itself is lined with the skulls and long bones of over 1200 carmelite monks which were exhumed from the cities overcrowded cemeteries. They were used to create this Memento Mori designed to demonstrate to the viewer the transience of life.
Faro was our last stop in Portugal on our way to Algeciras for our ferry to Morocco. However we had a couple of days to spare so we decided to head to Seville which was on our way.
After consulting Park4night we found a parking place only a short bike ride from the centre of town. It was a bit insalubrious as it felt more like a mechanics yard than a car park, but they let campers stay cheaply and the location was great. Surprisingly it was pretty quiet overnight and we slept really well.
We set off on our bikes into the centre of Seville, crossing the river and passing through the Parque de Maria Luisa – a lovely oasis adjacent to the centre of the city.
The highlight of the park is the monumental Plaza de Espana. This was buzzing with tourists and horse drawn buggies offering rides around the city. The plaza is huge (50,000 m2) and contains 48 tiled alcoves – one for each Spanish province. There is also a 500m long canal crossed by four ornate bridges which is known as the Venice of Seville.
It was famously used as the set for the Royal Palace of Naboo in Star Wars: Episode 2 – Attack of the Clones.
From here we made our way into the centre of town and the massive Cathedral of Seville. This is next door to the busiest tourist spot in Seville which is the Royal Alcazar. You have to buy timed tickets to go in, which we had done in advance and joined the queue 15 minutes before our entry time.
The Alcazar is the oldest royal palace in Europe that is still in use by a royal family. Although it started to be built in 913 AD the current architecture dates back to the 1360’s when King Peter the Cruel employed Moorish craftsmen to build a Mudejar (Islamic) styled palace.
The palace is large with sizeable gardens and it took us a good couple of hours to go around the whole thing. We exited thinking it was definitely time for a break and fortunately there is a street leading away from the cathedral absolutely filled with Tapas bars.
A couple of beers and some Tapas later we were back exploring the town.
We finished our first day in Seville having really enjoyed the city but we hadn’t managed to get to see everything we wanted. It’s really unlike us to want to stay in a city but we loved the sights and the atmosphere of this impressive city, so we decided to stay another day and see a little more.
Cycling was proving a good way to get around town although we did find ourselves going the wrong way down one way streets quite a bit !
Our highlight of day two was the Casa de Pilatos, which is another Mudejar Palace but this time one that has way fewer tourists. In fact it very much felt like an oasis in the busy city.
This palace was built in the 15th and 16th centuries and was the permanent residence of the Dukes of Medinaceli. The rooms are very ornate and for us I think it was actually the highlight of Seville.
We also went to the Iglesia de San Luis de los Franceses, which was a stunning church and also the site of a foundling hospital. This had multiple stunning chapels each seemingly more lavish than the last and of course a crypt. It is recently restored so all the colours are vibrant and at their very best.
Overall we had a fantastic time in Seville, it is definitely up there as one of our favourite cities and we would happily return. But for now it was time to leave and head to Algeciras, where we needed to stock up on alcohol, gas and, wait for it… toilet paper (we’d been told the toilet paper in Morocco isn’t great), before taking the ferry over to Morocco for the rest of winter.