Sardine, Anyone?

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Geo: 38.5783, -8.8997

It seems as though we had just left the restaurant for dinner when we gathered this morning for breakfast. The excellent self-service spread help erase our memories of the previous night's slow-paced meal.

This was to be our day involving the most transit time, as we were heading all the way south, ending up on the southern side of Lisbon. We'd planned to anchor the day with a couple of stops, but it still meant that the majority of the morning was spent retracing our path up and over the wind-turbine-covered mountains, before turning to the southeast into new territory. We reached the town of Tomar before lunch, and were in for a very nice surprise. We were heading for the Convento de Cristo. Shocker: Another UNESCO World Heritage site. All of our guidebooks said this was a must see, so here we were. The convent complex was started in the 12th century as a stronghold for the Knights Templar. When the Templars were disbanded in the 14th Century, a new Knights of the Order of Christ took over and were primary drivers for Portugal's 15th century exploration push. Here, too, when reading the age -- over 900 years old -- I assumed we'd be seeing the ruins of the Templar complex. Was I ever wrong. From its condition, it could have been built 20 years ago. Tomar itself is a small town -- about 10,000 people -- and we cross through the center and then drove straight up the hillside to a small parking lot outside the massive fortress complex. We got the last parking spot. I was amazed that everything was intact, and the grounds were sprawling. In hindsight, I kind of wish we'd picked up the audio tour, but as it was, we paid to get in, and armed with an annotated map we set about exploring the huge number of rooms, courtyards, etc. I thought we'd seen it all, when I approached a man at a massive doorway, where he was checking tickets. Curious, I showed him the ticket and then crossed into a stunning 16-sided, 12-century church. I literally gasped, as it was the last thing I expected to see. I was the first of our group to cross through, so I parked myself at the door and took great pleasure in watching everyone's reactions as the crossed in.

We spent more than two hours exploring the complex, and I know we missed huge chunks. During our end-of-trip summary on our last night, when everyone recounting their highlights, the girls cited Tomar as one of their favorite stops. We had a quick warm lunch outside the castle, and then boarded back up on the bus for another hour+ drive to the city of Setubal, which sits on the southern side of Lisbon, on the far side of the River Tagus. I had wrongly assumed before our visit that Lisbon was an oceanfront city. It is, in fact, located along the Tagus estuary, which then pours into the Atlantic Ocean. The river is so wide -- more than 40 km at places -- that it can look like the ocean, particularly on hazy days. Anyway, Setubal lies on the southern-side of a peninsula across the Tagus from Lisbon. To reach Setubal we essentially drove into Lisbon proper, and then went on the Vasco da Gama bridge, which I was surprised to learn is the longest bridge in all of Europe, stretching more than 10 miles across the river. Once on the other side, it was a rather boring 30 minutes or so to the portside city of Setubal, which is known for its old city and artisan community. While reading the guidebook on the drive down, we learned they had a Sardine Museum, housed within a former cannery. We couldn't that one up. It was well situated, at the entrance to the old city, and it had parking, which was an added bonus. In the museum, we were the only patrons, and most of the signs were in Portuguese only. Still, it was a hands-on place, and I think we all enjoyed it.

After exploring the town, it became obvious that it was off the regular tourist path. There were not tourist shops and everyone we encountered seemed to be local. We stopped at the tourist information booth, and the woman nearly fell over herself to help as I think we were among her only visitors that day -- at it was approaching 5:00pm, when they close.

We had a short 10-minute drive northward to our long-anticipated "pousada night," which took place at the castle in the tiny town of Palmela. In fact, aside from a gas station and some houses, the town was essentially just the pousada. It was a bit challenging to get the van up to the top, primarily because there were workmen replacing stones in the cobblestone drive by hand, and I had to squeeze past them while my wheels were slipping on sand and slick stone. The hotel and restaurant portion of the pousada are housed within an 18th century convent, which abuts two cathedrals -- one standing, one still in ruins following a massive earthquake in 1755 which all but destroyed Lisbon. A tower and ramparts also line the hilltop on which the pousada sits. There were clear views out over Setubal to the south and northward to Lisbon, though the air was hazy in the late-afternoon heat. The hotel complex sits around a massive courtyard, where we met later for drinks ahead of dinner. Each family had a huge suite on either corner of the building comprising a huge bedroom, living room, foyer, and bathroom, all with massive windows looking out over the hills. The bed K and I shared was the widest I have ever seen. Five people could have sit across.

Anna and I left to explore the ramparts and towers, and we ran into Jeff and Charlotte doing the same thing. We later returned to find K and Barbara in the courtyard enjoying some ice-cold gin and tonics. Again feeling like aristocrats from a previous era, we enjoyed the setting and then made the embarrassingly short walk inside, where our table was set up for dinner. We were waited on by at least five waiters, each one with a specific duty of some sort. If I'd asked for a foot rub, I wouldn't have been surprised to see a sixth waiter appear from some hidden corridor. The theme for the month was baby goat -- or kid. Three of us had some fashion of dish made with kid and they were all outstanding. The wine list was extensive and we made good use of our last opportunity to enjoy Portuguese wine on this trip.

The hallways of the hotel were reminiscent of those from the movie "The Shining"; long hallways with wooden floors, area carpets, and massive suite doors. That fact, coupled with my constant taunts to the girls that a building this old just had to be haunted, resulted in Charlotte texting Anna after we reached our rooms, asking if she wanted to "sleep over" in their suite. There was certainly plenty of room, so she made the long trek down the hall and slept there. I was asleep very shortly after watching Anna safely reach the Rieckhoff's suite at the far end of the hallway. My reminders for her to watch out for the little boy riding the Big Wheel didn't do much to ingratiate me with Anna.

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