South again

The fog finally lifted and we could slip lines and begin the long trip to Cascais. The coast  has no  feasible port of refuge for over forty nautical miles. We left in windless conditions which stayed with us for most of the morning.

The sea was flat and oily with virtually no appreciable swell, for hour after hour our overworked engine propelled us forwards.

There was not a lot to do other than avoid the many fishing floats along the way.

As Cabo de Roca came into sight we raised sail and beat into the headwind that was freshening from the SW. We kept this up for a while until it became obvious that we would miss the tide into the rio Tejo.

The long low lying coast was sprinkled with caves and blowholes, apparently its known locally as
`the costa inferno`.
Soon we entered the bay at Cascais and dropped anchor rather than enter the Marina. The anchorage was fairly full with boats of all nationalities.

As the sun set we enjoyed being aboard not bothering to go ashore.

 we were rewarded by a fantastic red sky evening. We hoped it boded well for tomorrow when we would take a rising tide up the Tagus (Tejo) River.

The red sky proved correct and a lovely windless day saw us motoring the 18 miles up river to Lisbon and the Marina Parque des Nacoes. (Park of the Nations, site of an Expo in 1998 )

Initially we saw a resurgence of the ever present fog but this cleared after eight miles or so.

Soon we were passing the fort of Belem in the centre of Lisbon followed by the Monument to Discovery. Lisbon was looking beautiful and very interesting in the warm sunlight.

After passing another marina and having a good look at the waterfront of Lisbon we were heading under the Ponte 25 de Abril.

No matter how tall the bridge, in this case 90 metres clearance it always seems we will never fit under.

The roadway seems to be a kind of metal which with the high volume of traffic sounds alarmingly like a swarm of bees. There is a marina directly under the bridge and we couldn't imagine staying there due to the noise level from the bridge.

We passed the last of the docks having to avoid a small container ship who was manoeuvring to dock.
we were met outside the marina by a mariner in an inflatable RIB who told us the current past the sluice gate entrance was running at four knots and to follow him exactly. It really wasn't that hard.
soon we were berthed in B10.

Our home for the Winter. We walked to the marina office and were impressed with the staff who were unfailingly cheerful and friendly. The Architecture was modern as you would expect as the whole site (several square miles was purpose built for the 1998 Expo .

Some of the buildings were quirky in the extreme, I have a soft spot for our immediate neighbour, the concrete liner. I think its fabulous and no possibility of sea-sickness!

Obidos

The day we had planned to leave the fog was if anything thicker than ever, we had been kept awake by the constant dripping off the boom and the prospect of 48 miles in that didn't appeal. I went back to bed.
Plan `B` was to catch the bus to Obidos a small walled town about an hour away.

To be honest the bus was late by about 20 mins but otherwise was very quick. The cost was also reasonable at 5.55 euros return, each, we were dropped off just outside the walled town gatehouse and already were beginning to realise we had dressed for drippy cold fog and we were now in bright sunshine and 30 degrees. Oops!

Obidos was all that we had been told, an almost complete medieval town . The Porta de Villa (gatehouse) dates from the !4th century but the interior tiles are a later 18th century addition.

We decided to waste no time (as it was only going to get hotter ) and climbed the walls immediately. It is possible to walk completely around the town however the pathway along the battlements is open on one side and the stones the walls are constructed from are the very hard flint like rock that is very slippy underfoot.

Lynne was less than impressed! She doesn't like heights at the best of times. As well as dressing too warmly Lynne had also chosen inappropriate shoes....

We made for one of the high towers to inspect the view.

The town was in a commanding position on top of the rocky ridge.

The view over the surrounding countryside was extensive, but I could tell Lynne was not overly happy at altitude, however she carried on and only much later did she decide to drop off the walls

The walls meet at the opposite end of the town at a castle. A small staircase allowed Lynne to drop off the walls.

The Castle is really quite impressive from the right angle...

There is a recreation of a medieval village but to be honest it was just stalls selling tourist tat, luckily as it was late season most were closed. To be honest when compared to the real thing just behind they weren't that convincing.
but the stocks were still working.

The town itself is probably best described as a tourist trap but it actually still has enough charm and genuine history to rise above it. It is absolutely beautiful in the warm October sunshine.

We needed refreshment so found a small bar which had huge character, and no bar, we ordered from a gentleman sat down and he motioned us to sit. Drinks were either served from a large oak dresser or appeared magically from behind some curtains.

after a refreshing beer we tried the local speciality Ginjha, which is a kind of cherry liqueur served in chocolate cups, well I suppose it saves on the washing up.

Suitably refreshed we continued to explore. Below is the pillory in the square opposite the Igreja de Santa Maria.

The church has a simple elegance and in a similar fashion to most houses in Obidos is whitewashed.

The interior is plain and sadly is obviously suffering from a bit of damp. It did however provide a cool place to sit.. Strangely there was also a very commercial gift shop off to one side of the alter in what was once I am guessing the vestry.

The tourist and commercial aspects are ever present however we had not been charged for anything other than drinks so far. Later we enjoyed a snack in a cafe which was also very reasonable.

The real joy is the town itself which in some ways reminded us of Port Merion in North Wales, the tiled roofs, whitewashed walls, architecture and general pedestrian nature if not the blue skies and heat!

The amount of craft shops is quite staggering the one above is the house of romance and can be recommended. Also if you get a bit peckish you are certainly not short of places to eat.
The museum was a bit of a disappointment, even free it was the smallest museum we have ever visited. The photo below is about a third of it!

We had a fantastic day in Obidos , We had avoided the dreaded fog and had charged up our sun batteries ready for the long sail to Cascais. The return bus was on time and we got back to Dark Tarn just as the sun set.

We were looking forward to seeing more of Portugal over the winter months.

Peniche and a glimpse into an older past

After the fascinating but slightly grim Fortress of Peniche we wandered around the fishing harbour and old town of Peniche. The town walls cut off the entire end of the peninsular almost making the town an island.

We had walked past the Igreja de Misericordia several times but it had always been closed. From the outside it has to be said typical if not rather plain.

However upon entering it is truly breath-taking.

The ceiling consists of fifty five painted panels, plus another six in the entrance doorway. Each panel depicts a scene from the bible, ( acts to revelation, New testament ) they are oriented to be viewed coming into the knave and looking right and left. Its a great exercise for your neck muscles!

They date from the 18th century. Mostly by two local artists Joseph of Obidos and Balthazar Gomez from Figuera.

There is a small curtained door that leads into the vestry where a local person was giving a talk about the sculptures and painting within, again our lack of Portugese was getting frustrating....
The paintings were obviously very old, the statue of our lady of Fatima possibly not so old

There were further rooms to see leading to the gallery above the knave.

Statues and Paintings were on display.

A further room seemed to be a meeting place for one of the holy orders of penitents judgeing by the black cloaks and hoods.Every room was richly furnished. The lady behind Lynne was quite concerned that she couldn't speak English and went off to find someone, she later gave us some literature in English, for which I am eternally grateful. I couldn't have explained the following without her.

In the final room was a beautiful carved Altarpiece, or at least the remnants of one in a hermetically sealed case. This turned out to be of Dutch origin and when it washed up ashore it alerted the locals to a shipwreck on the Berlengas islands, about 8 miles from Peniche. Twenty five Dutch people were saved and the interesting part of the story for us was that the local monks upon seeing the pieces of  sculpture insisted that the people be rescued as they were obviously Christians and not the piratical English. This was the 16th century, the time of Drake and Hawkins...........

If they had been English they would have been left to die.
I am no expert on art but looking closely at the fantastic carving I was struck by the thought that paintings from the 16th century struggle with perspective but the person who carved this had no such problem. A beautiful thing, and a privilege to see it.

It was only on leaving the church that I also noticed the rich tiling on the walls, its so easy to be distracted by the fabulous ceiling!
Very impressed by this church, I am guessing its particularly unique, although seemingly almost unknown.

Peniche and a glimpse into the recent past

This is the rather curious entrance to the fort at Peniche. At first I thought, well there's another Napoleonic fortress, with obvious later additions, including rather a lot of yellow paint. The reality says quite a lot about Portugal, and it has to be said about my ignorance of its recent history.

Lynne and I had had a quick look around the town before wandering over to the impressive fortress that dominates the harbour entrance. It has been many things in the past however the recent history is one of political struggle. This is quite nicely symbolised by a sculpture inside the fortress

The flock of seabirds gently move to the breeze independently atop their slender poles, occasionally colliding sending a musical note outwards, below is a cage like structure adorned with ribbons each representing a name. The symbolism is obvious and quite moving when seen in situ. Portugal had a fascist regime in place from the 1930s until the mid 70s (the Salazar regime) and the fortress at Peniche was used to house political prisoners.Usually communist party members and activists.

Inside although a lot of the impressions are softened by nice lawned areas and palm trees which are obviously a later addition it is still possible to catch a glimpse of the grimness that must have been the daily lot of prisoners here. We walked around the exercise yard which still has its observation tower.

It also, if you care to dig beneath the surface, (literally ) shows some of its history prior to recent events.

A small opening allows you to descend into the subterranean world of the vast cistern that lies under the yard.

There is also a small chapel that from its austere exterior doesn't even look like a place of worship however.

upon entering a neat and for a Catholic place of worship quite Spartan interior reveals itself.

There are several displays of letters and artefacts from the prisoners, unfortunately mostly in Portugese, however there was a video playing with English subtitles showing interviews with former prisoners. This reminded us both just how recently these injustices had come to an end. 1976, was the year Lynne and I met. the picture below shows the citizens of Peniche demonstrating and forcing the release of the prisoners in 1974.

Life was indeed grim, the prisoners were locked up for over 20 hours a day and even speaking to each other was not allowed without permission.

The large yellow building we had seen coming into the port turned out to be the solitary block and amazingly was the scene of an escape down the cliffs and into the sea followed by a swim to freedom! The communist escapee was Alvero Cunhal in 1960.

From the top of the fortress we could see back towards the port and marina where Dark Tarn lay on the outside of the wave breaker pontoon (not the most comfortable spot ) however I felt we were far more comfortable than the recent inmates of Fortress Peniche!

As you can see our old friend the fog was waiting just offshore again........