It only seems a week or so ago that we were complaining about how full the aires in Spain were, despite it being well outside of school holidays. Now the opposite has occurred. We appear to be the only motorhome touring Portugal! Last night we were all alone on a huge car park and today we are on a purpose built aire, with electricity (at a price) which could accommodate 50 or so motorhomes and there are two of us! It may also have something to do with us being slightly off the beaten track.
Yesterday evening we went into Trancoso to see if we could sample Bacalao (salt cod) and we succeeded in finding a nice restaurant which did two different recipes: one with mountain cheese and the other with egg and fruit. To be honest they were edible but it it not something either of us will be seeking out. It was very recognisably cod in the taste and texture, but it was slightly chewier than fresh cod. In future, for me it is fresh cod or nothing.
Today we drove only 30 miles or so through the barren hinterland of Portugal to to a town just a mile or two from the Spanish border, called Almeida. It stands on an important route from Spain to Lisbon and as a result, in the 17thcentury it was heavily fortified with enormous and numerous interlocking walls and ramparts in a star shaped pattern. The fortifications are vast and neither Sarah nor I have ever seen anything like it. The design was apparently state of the art at the time.
Plan of the fortifications
Its major moment in history came in 1812 when Almeida, occupied by Portuguese and British troops came under siege from a French Napoleonic army. It looked as if the defenders would hold out until they could be relieved by Wellington’s army, but a freak shot caused the entire stock of gunpowder, stored in the town’s castle, to explode, destroying the castle, killing many and forcing the British and Portuguese to surrender.
The remains of the castle
The town within the fortifications (the word walls do not do them justice) only has a population of 3,000 and is again full of lovely cobbled alleyways and small sun dappled squares, but it is the fortifications which draw ones attention.
Some of the fortifications
One of the points of the “stars”
We walked around the inside of the fortifications, making small forays in the points of the “stars” when something took our interest. The castle ruins are still in place, but really little more than the foundations remain after the huge explosion. We found a tomb to a John Beresford, a Lieutenant in the British army who had died in a battle at Ciudad Rodrigo just a few weeks before Almeida came under siege. In the town itself there is a house which contained a small hatch where, in the 19thcentury, unwanted babies could be left anonymously! Apparently these were common throughout Portugal and the explanatory sign said they played important social role in the country!
John Beresford’s Grave
The hatch where you could place unwanted babies
Almeida is another little gem which rewards exploring a bit away from the main tourist routes. At this time of year there were only a handful of other people exploring the site and it was all very peaceful.
Street Scene
A couple of doer uppers
Tomorrow we will head across the border into Spain. There are a few towns I would like to visit in Western Spain and then our current plan is to perhaps head south to the Mediterranean and travel back round the coast towards France, perhaps heading occasionally inland if something takes our interest.
