Motorhome News from Europe 7

---

Motorhome News from Europe 7.

Portugal 20th October 2004

Portuguese Palaces and villages - and into Spain
Estoril, Cabo da Roca, Cascais, Sintra, Lisbon, Extremadura, Monfrague National Park.


Tempted by continued spring like weather, we checked out the golf at a hotel complex near Estoril.
‘Are you staying in the hotel?', the receptionist asked. 'No? Then it’ll be €150 each for 18 holes. It would be best for you to book on the internet,’ then it’s only €130!’ At that sort of money we decided to give it a miss. Besides, there were too many other things to do.

A short drive took us out to the most westerly point in mainland Europe, at Cabo da Roca, where we found a good campsite near Cascais, which we used as a touring base for a few days. From our pitch we could just see the sea at a nearby surfing beach beyond the dunes.

Smiley was in need of new front tyres, (despite having done 34,000 miles, the tyres were still well within the legal limit) so one of our first outings was to buy new tyres and arrange for them to be fitted. 'They'll be here early tomorrow,' the man promised. That was not quite soon enough, as you will see….



The weather started showery next day, but we tend to take the rough with the smooth these days. Weather seems to have little impact on our routine or enjoyment. We checked out the garage around 10am next morning but the tyres had not been delivered. ‘Come back in an hour,’ the proprietor suggested. So, we headed to Sintra, a beautiful small, busy, historical town set up in the hills inland from Cascais to the town of Sintra, rather than hang around, to make the most of the day. Big mistake ... huge!

There are several palaces at Sintra; it seems the royal family liked the area for holidays. Following a leaisurely visit to the delightful 15th century National Palace we dived into a café for cover during a particularly heavy shower. That shower was to haunt us over the next few hours.

Across the road at Tourist Information, we were reliably informed that the Pena Palace at the top of the hill was accessible to motorhomes; there would be parking - no problem. So although many people were taking the mile long walk uphill from the town, we decided to drive up in Smiley, with a wary eye on the ominous clouds overhead. The road was narrow, one-way all the way, and cobbled, a bit bumpy to say the least, but we’ve learned to suffer such minor inconvenieces. Happily, we observed that even young folk hiking up were looking decidedly puffed and we smiled and patted ourselves on the back for being sensible enough to drive.

But our troubles began a mere 400 yards short of the top. The wheels started to spin on the wet cobbles and we steadily lost momentum, slipping and sliding sideways towards the dry-stone wall until eventually we ground to a halt. However gently we coerced the engine we couldn’t get up the hill, the wheels spun and the engine roared. We couldn’t go back; bus drivers shook their fists at us as we reversed to park on a wide hairpin bend to wait for the cobbles to dry and emptied all our clean water tank to reduce the load on the rear-end. It was half an hour before we were brave enough to have another try - the drizzle continued and passing drivers were becoming more and more agitated. Eventually, with all hope almost lost, we decided make a run for the top, slowly gaining pace on the flatter surface of the bend - and we made it - just; Janice herding laughing and waving pedestrians out of the way around the bends in front as the engine sceamed in first gear. Yet another lesson learned: the busses were taking the hill at full pelt to maintain momentum. And that lesson was to stand us in good stead more than once over the coming months.

To compound matters, when we reached to hilltop we discovered our motorhome was seemingly too wide and we couldn’t get through the entrance to the car park .... it was full anyway! It looked as if all our efforts had been in vain and we would just have to drive on down again. Much to our relief we were eventually able to squeeze into a roadside parking space beyond the brow of the hill and hiked back up to the palace. It was well worth the effort and frustration - there are always rewards for effort and enterprise!
Described in the guide books as ‘a bizarre architectural confection which rivals the best Disneyland castle’ Pena Palace was built in the 19th century and is full of the royal family’s furniture left behind when they fled on the eve of the revolution in 1910. Pleased with our accomplishment and delighted by both the palace and our good fortune, we returned to town - and had the new tyres fitted on Smiley!



Next day, freshly booted, we gave the motorhome a complete rest and ventured into Lisbon (Lisboa) by bus, train and tram to see another amazing monastery; The Monastery do Jeronimos, built in memory of Vasco da Gama’s discovery of a sea route to India - he is buried there. Again, the cloisters were especially ornate with unbelievable detail in the carving. We also visited the Castelo de Sao Jorge where we had fantastic views over the city and ambled around enjoying the pleasantly relaxed ambience of squares, chic shopping streets, cafes, stately buildings, trams and the ubiquitous peeling paint and plaster.



We liked Cascais, our next port of call, very much, but by Sunday it was time to move on again, as we headed slightly north east back into Spain and Extremadura, to visit the royal palace (admission free on Sunday mornings!) at Mafra. Dating from the 18th century, the palace is HUGE, built extravagantly with money from Brazilian gold in the days of the Conquistadors and the raping of South American culture. It wasn’t particularly cosy and seemed better suited to its present use as a military academy.


Enough of buildings for a while we changed into our favoured bird-watching mode. Out came the binoculars and telescope and we found our way into a remote part of the Tagus estuary where we passed a pleasant afternoon hunting the elusive Little Bustard and spotting collared pratincoles, goshawk, loads of black shouldered kites, hen harriers and marsh harriers, egrets, glossy ibis and common waxbills, ruffs, kingfisher, etc. We finally left the green coast and found ourselves in the arid interior - dry sandy soil, with cork oaks and olives on gently sloping hillsides and vast, stunning brick-red fields and golden stubble stretching to the horizon.




The arid interior was having a bad day. By morning it was raining heavily and we decided to make it a driving day. We said 'adios' to Portugal and arrived late in the afternoon at Monfrague National Park in Spain's Extremadura. En route we did manage to spot white storks, azure winged magpies and pied flycatchers. Sadly, no Little - or Great, Bustards.
However, we were able to return to the National Park in thin autumn sunshine the following day and did manage to see hundreds of griffon vultures, azure winged magpies, a Spanish imperial eagle and black vultures coursing overhead at the top of the ridge. We also had excellent sightings of red deer and wild boar. But still, no bustards. We’ll be off searching for them again tomorrow!



David and Janice
The Grey Haired Nomads

---

Photos

Sintra
not the place to visit with worn tyres and slippery wet cobbles

Pena Palace
...a bizarre architectural confection which rivals the best Disneyland castle.

Azenhos do Mar
a delightful village sitting precariously above the roaring Atlantic

Extremadura
Wide skies and contrasts

Extremadura
....colours to make your hair stand on end

Vultures
...waiting for death