James Gaston

The Road to Portagem

Marvao to Evora

Castelo de Vide 25 Oct 2015 Castelo de Vide 25 Oct 2015 Marvao, Portugal

In the afternoon we took Adam for a drive to the nearby town of Castelo de Vida. The town promised a castle to check out. After a short drive, maybe 20 minutes, we arrived and parked and walked around. Lunch was at a cafe where we ordered local, mine had duck and rice, Paul had pork, egg, and rice.

Castelo de Vida has tight hilly streets, small townhouses, a crumbly castle, and great views. There is no charge for admission to the castle, and it shows, it looks neglected. The only gauntlet you must pass is the man who will not stop talking. He guards the door to the sad archaeology museum in the castle.

We walked the Jewish quarter where we wondered what is the purpose of the water bottles by so many doors. (They attract and trap insects.) We returned to Marvao to relax, then took Adam back down the hill for a local-cuisine dinner in Portagem, a chickpea-codfish appetizer and entrees of lamb with coriander sauce and a steak.