Sesimbra

Sesimbra is a working fishing village but also seems to be a popular holiday spot being relatively close to Lisbon ( about 45 mins by road )

The streets are a mix of new and old some of the tiled facades are very attractive.

The Marina is tucked behind a "mole" that is 900 metres long and is a popular evening walk for locals.

There are a few traditional boat and a glass bottomed tourist boat based in the marina. Sesimbra is a popular diving centre.

Art is everywhere, the lady pictured below had us a bit worried as she is eating a. Flying fish, the symbol of the Ocean Cruising Club. We are members.

We decided we could not leave without climbing to the prominent castle on a hill above the town. The kind lady in the tourist office told us of a new pedestrian path which we found fairly easily although apart from the start it isn't signposted in any way.

It begins and continues as a set of steep staircases with benches thoughtfully provided at several points for tired old folk!

There is a surprising amount of wildlife to be seen.

Eventually the path rejoins the older roadway at the summit carpark and there is a final haul up to the Castle entrance.

There is a small exhibition housed in one of the towers. Showing the history of Moorish invasion and occupation and Christian reoccupation.

The castle was probably better described as a fortified town.

The views back down to the town and sea are very lovely and we spotted the small church within the walls and its accompanying graveyard.

The day was slightly overcast which was a good thing for a steep climb! If not for the views from the battlements.

Lynne seems to be getting happier at climbing around battlements without any safety rails.

We wandered down to the cafe and visitors centre which was adjacent to the church.

It had a simple and plain exterior, very attractive and freshly whitewashed.

Also scattered around the car park were several sculptures.

All had a nautical theme.
Inside the church unsurprisingly was a splendid riot of decoration, a very tasteful and beautiful blue tiled walls and alcove and the normal gold gilt altarpiece.

There were wooden panels and painted decoration, I suspected it was either very well maintained or had been restored. Either way it was very well done.

The altarpiece was quite restrained by Portuguese standards...

A popular theme on religious Azulejos I am discovering is the circumcision of Christ, as shown below.

After all that climbing we were in the mood for a coffee.

A rather unusual photo, Im in it!

We looked around the visitors centre where we discovered evidence that the church had been recently restored after falling into neglect and in fact partially collapsing in the 60s.

We walked back the same way looking at the graveyard on the way. It was still very well used and was certainly a spectacular place to end up.....

This is the view back down to Dark Tarn snug in the marina.

As we walked into town we passed another local church. The Igresia Matriz de Santiago

The gilded altarpiece was illuminated to good effect. The main body of the church was quite restrained and sober.

There was a small side room holding a collection of statuary.

Of course there is usually a surprise to be discovered in even a small Portuguese church and here it was the roof above the altarpiece.

South to Sesimbra

We left the quiet creek, or channel ot the Jews at high water in order to facilitate a trip down river on the ebb to Cascais where we intended to anchor overnight before setting off south around the treacherous sandbanks of the Barra Sul and on towards Cabo Espichel and thus to Sesimbra.

The channel from Seixal back into the Tagus is well buoyed but very narrow and is regularly plagued with high speed ferries (about every 15 minutes ) we kept to the starboard side of the channel and were amazed to discover two friends of friends as we left. Two Oyster yachts , sister ships to  Modus Vivendi, one tied up to the town pontoon and another Speedwell of Rhu we met mid channel.
It is indeed a small world. they were both on there way north to rendezvous with our friends Bob and Maureen for a photo shoot in the Rias.

However our plans involved us negotiating the busy Tagus waterway, we passed more old
friends the statue of Jesus and the 25th April bridge. The ebb tide hurried us west and out towards the mouth of the estuary.

As we passed under the bridge with its distinctive beehive soundtrack I felt we had finally left Lisbon. I felt conflicted, both sad to be leaving and glad to be travelling again.....

As we approached Cascais it was very different from the last time we were here. The anchorage was empty apart from a couple of fishing boats, as the sun set we settled down to a bit of a rolly anchorage despite being a lot further in towards the beaches than last time we had anchored here.
In the morning the wind was set fair and we wasted no time in setting of, Our main house batteries were showing symptoms of failing to hold a charge . Not really surprising after five years of continuous use. It had a bearing on our willingness to anchor until we could renew them. It would need to wait until we could settle for a while, we would need to have the replacements posted out to us. Meanwhile.....
Initially we had a glorious sail out towards the anchored ships in the roads and passing them I discovered a small bug in our new plotter. Or more correctly the skipper, I had put a route into the plotter and then used the wizzy new feature to allow the plotter to calculate the route automatically, unfortunately this took us uncomfortably close to the shallow sand banks of Barra Sul. We corrected but not before we had a bouncy time in +3 metre waves one or two breaking over the deck.

As usual beyond the waves the wind died to next to nothing and we had to put the engine on as we approached Cabo Espichel. A marvellous headland complete with a full compliment of lighthouse, church, monastery, detached sea stack and arches. A closer view below.

soon we were out of the swell being protected by the headland as we sailed towards the small fishing port of Sesimbra.

We ignored the pilot which suggested the small marina  was full of local boats as Lynne had emailed ahead to secure us a place. a very friendly and accommodating spot. and very sheltered. Lynne was very happy to be back at the seaside.

Sesimbra is a working fishing harbour but is also a popular holiday and weekend spot for Lisbonites.
It is quite pretty and surprisingly unpretentious. We had a quick recce into town and had a look at the fort on the beach which is now a museum and trendy cafe.

It sort of redefines sandcastles.......

The beer was a bit expensive for our tastes though, although advertised as local brewery etc. we have fallen for that one before now, real ale it isn't!

Our berth in the marina proved very pleasant and cheap as we were still technically out of season, there is a good anchorage in the bay, better since the removal of local moorings but a bit prone to swell. We decided to stay awile and look around.

We were in no hurry, and after all the sun was shining....

A view of the marina from the clubhouse, Dark Tarn is centre of picture furthest pontoon.

Seixal

Seixal (pronounced seyshall ) was our home for 5 days as we waited for the weather forecast to be favourable to head south out of the Tagus river. for a couple of days we were really confined to the boat due to high winds, but once ashore we established contact with the tourist information and obtained our map of the town. The first nice day we decided to walk along the riverfront promenade. This is a popular area for locals and is very attractive having a floating restaurant visible from Dark Tarn.

A little further along the promenade we were intrigued to find a walled garden and country house.
The Fidalga Estate. We were beckoned inside by a helpful old gentlemen (seen in the bottom left of picture) The house was very attractive, unfortunately not open to view, but the real joys were the gardens.

Initially we discovered  formal geometric box hedges which could be viewed from the top of the wall.

The gardens were obviously far more extensive than was indicated from outside.

Although well tended they had a slightly wild feel, like the setting for a Victorian novel. the heady perfume of lilacs and the steady hum of bees was delightful after being cabin bound.

Lynne had the strange idea that there was an art gallery in the grounds so we set of in search.

There were delightful ponds and yet more arches of lilacs buzzing with insects.

From the last of these was visible a strange set of blank cube shaped buildings which turned out to be the mysterious exhibition space dedicated to a famous Portuguese tile artist  Manuel Cargaliero.
We had actually turned away from the hidden entrance when one of the curators chased after us and waved us in to have a look around.

We had been to the tile museum and were immediately familiar with some of the rich patterns of tiles. Also we were familiar with many from the various stations on the Metro which had been decorated individually by various artists (no two stations have the same decoration or architectural style )

The exhibition space could fairly be described as "minimalist " and being hidden within something which was itself slightly obscure seemed to me typically Portuguese! Having said that, it was splendid, and the staff were very helpful giving us full colour handouts about all the exhibits (only in Portuguese, but we managed ) and as it was all free we have no complaints at all...

Most tiles were arranged on free standing plinths with enough tiles to get an idea of the effect of a wall for example.

 Here Lynne is pointing out the particular tile set used in the Lisbon Metro Station, Collegia Militar.
(or is it just" L" for Lynne?)

Here they are in situ......The Portuguese take tiles seriously...

After an art injection we were looking forward to continuing our exploration of the gardens.

Past the formal box hedges the focal points seemed to be fountains, constructed from concrete coral and shells.

There also appeared to be a theme (the man riding a fish was part of it ) but the overall story was I am afraid lost on us but the artistry was very evident.

Nowhere more so than this small chapel type structure hidden in the citrus groves, the shell artist had excelled himself within.

I was particularly taken with the flowers represented by shells, quite lovely.....

The gardens had a definite garden feel as opposed to strictly formal although elements of the latter were evident.

We continued to discover quirky fountains and grottos and in some respects it was reminiscent of Port Merrion in Wales.

An absolute delight on a sunny day.

The gardens were mature and obviously a labour of love for someone, unfortunately we were never to discover the whole story. I am guessing that one local well to do family created them purely for their own enjoyment.

I thank them for a lovely afternoon. even though it was the beginning of April the scent of orange citrus was heavy in the air.

We were sad to leave.

We carried on walking to the head of the creek,

The promenade continued with small beaches and bays, a lot of the small cafes were not yet open but in high summer this would be a lovely spot to walk and sit.

Even the wrecked boats looked romantic.

 We decided to have a look at the church on the hill which had been suggested was a viewpoint.

Like seemingly everywhere in Portugal it was up a steep hill but viewpoint it turned out to be.

The church itself wasn't open but there was a shady terrace where you could sit and look back down the creek, over towards the Tagus boatyard where we had thought to have Dark Tarn lifted out and unbeknownst to us our friends on the schooner Soteria had wintered, knowing this very church.

In the far distance is the "25th April"  bridge over the Tagus, we headed back to dark Tarn looking forward to exploring more of this fascinating country.