I am so happy to have arrived in Portugal. I am finally ready to share some about it now that I’ve had at least a few hours of sleep! After my long trip from Norman to Lisbon, Petra picked me up and we headed east toward the Perdigao campaign area. One of the first things we did was participate in the first formal daily meeting of the teams working on the project. The meeting was extra special, as a guest puppy scientist joined in!
Later, and after some unknown number of waking hours, I found myself dozing off in the car as Petra drove us along a winding road east toward the Spanish border. No real goal in mind, we had set out to find a grocery store and cross to Spain just so we could say we had. In my jet-lagged stupor, I heard Petra exclaim about the beauty of the town we were approaching. I opened my eyes to find I had been transported back in time to the 14th century. We had stumbled upon Castelo de Vide.
The castle as is stands today was originally built by Afonso Sanches –son of king Afonso III, his brother – King Dinis and completed during the kingdom of Afonso IV in the 14th century. The castle and the town that developed within the fortress walls has a long and varied history. At one time more than 7,000 people lived here. The stronghold was important in several military operations and wars, and even mostly survived earthquake damage. The main tower (shown in the photo) was reconstructed in 1979.
While we walked about the castle and the flower-laden village within its walls, we noted another castle visible on a peak on the horizon. Thinking little more of it than that, we completed our tour and went on our way heading to Spain and groceries. A few kilometers down the road (and a few minutes of napping for me) and we had neared the border – only 15km to go! We came upon a split in the road and at the last minute we turned left. Perhaps this route would take us by the castle we saw from Castelo de Vide… it did.
Construction of the castle at Marvao is said to date back to an 8th century Islamic knight, Ibn Maruan, who began to dwell in the castle between 876 and 877. The castle was active in wars and military operations through the 1800s… that’s 1000 years! The castle itself was beautifully maintained with immaculate gardens. Atop the highest towers, the view of the surrounding terrain was breathtaking: graphite strewn plains, rolling hills, and distant ridges were all visible from here. Surely we could see Spain!
We got so happily sidetracked by these surprise bits of beauty and history on our trip that we never made it to Spain or to the grocery store. But for my first day in Portugal, the sights were amazing even if I was falling asleep at the dinner table that night. This is a truly beautiful part of the world.
Boa noite! – Elizabeth