Sofia Posted October 6, 2021 Share Posted October 6, 2021 To celebrate 2 years of my current venture and because it was bank holiday, decided to take my Dad for a little escapade into Alentejo and see as many dams and monuments as possible, seeing he is addicted to history and interesting stories. Obviously it was a car affair, so very sorry for the fact its not a 2 wheel report, but 4! Not too much bla, bla, bla, I am exercising silence... And failing but one can only try!! We stayed in a converted hamlet. The old houses were transformed into holiday homes, in a very tasteful way, respecting all the tradicional building technics and with a very simple decoration. Very lovely and welcoming pets, so the doggies had a great time! Scientifically proven, this olive tree was over 1150 years old. It finally died last year and it was decided to make and art piece out of it. For me, a tree lover, this idea is simply beautiful. The visit to the National DVLA involved 3 hours of waiting, so in between went to the local motorbike dealership, with lots of Italian stuff, and was positively impressed with the number of bikes and the selection. Only took a very poor picture outside, deserved better!! After getting the paperwork I needed, we proceeded to explore this part of Alentejo looking for historical sites and places relevant to the make up of Portugal. This region is very rich in said historical sites, many pre-historical monuments like Dolmans, Roman ruins and countless Castles conquered to the Moors in the 9th and 10th century and updated to continue fighting our oldest enemy, the Spanish!! But, alas, it is not easy to find these places... Being the little Terrier that I am, i kept digging and pushed the VW Passat over unpaved roads with the guidence of my Dad and his many years of experience of Off road as a Tank Commander. In fairness he was not best pleased and it wasn't a pleasant stroll down memory lane, his back was hurting and he was missing some tracks on the vehicle! Any way, here is a picture of the ruins of a Roman Villa I eventually found after 12 kms of bumpy searching!! The sheep are the regular public that visits this site and they seemed very happy. The gate has a key and a hand written sign said "for the key, ask in the house" and this was the house: Maybe there was a key, but there was no one to ask, so we carried on, now looking for a Dolman, but that proved impossible to find... But the search lead us to one of the most beautiful Cork Oak I have ever seen and we stopped there for a bit admiring it. After a few more failed attempts at finding monuments, we returned to our home away from home and organized a mini pre dinner snack followed by a dog walk at Sunset. The following day the quest continued!! We managed to find a few historical places and also visited a few dams, that are so full a bridge clearly visible on Google Maps, on arrival, was not there and has been submerged by the water! Had to turn back and go round the long way!! The doggies had lunch next to the first abandoned church of the day. This one was not derelict enough to please Pete, so I didnt take any more pictures! Next to the missing bridge we found this abandoned Church, original from the Templars, now falling down because the latest owner, a Spanish man, run away when the debts were to much to bare... This one was a @xtreme special! Exactly where the under bridge is!! Taking this picture was scary because this is just above where the celling fell and it started making noises, so I exited quickly! this is the Templars symbol and I now have to seat down and research what this place was about! Lunch was had on the other side of the water, a delicious dogfish soup for me, one of my favourite things and this was a really nice one. After lunch more dams and a Castle! I missed the the way in to the Castle, assumed it was not accessible but then the dogs found the way in! Its a bit low, fortunately they put a rubber tube to avoid head injuries! Another very important national monument simple left to its own devices, built on the 13th century on top of the remains of a Moorish fortification and used to protect the region from the attacks of the neighbours. It was an active castle until the 17th century and from then on has been slowly watching the fall of its towers and walls. Where is the Nation Trust when you need it... Oh, yes, we dont have one!! 1 km down the road there was a signed church I wanted to find. Yo guessed it, abandoned and derelict My Dad was getting seriously fed up with all this disregard for Portuguese history so I deceided to retreat and visit something that turned out to be the best kind of monument, another dam!! I had great fun off-roading trying to find history!! 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XTreme Posted October 6, 2021 Share Posted October 6, 2021 Superb Sofia! Now this was a great find....... Were there any other rooms there you could get into? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sofia Posted October 6, 2021 Author Share Posted October 6, 2021 6 minutes ago, XTreme said: Superb Sofia! Now this was a great find....... Were there any other rooms there you could get into? I tried the terrace above and it started creaking and I run down and left... not enough courage to look more... 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pedro Posted October 6, 2021 Share Posted October 6, 2021 I bet the Coronel was not pleased with all the driving on bumpy roads. Nice one! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XTreme Posted October 6, 2021 Share Posted October 6, 2021 26 minutes ago, Sofia said: I tried the terrace above and it started creaking and I run down and left... not enough courage to look more... Some of these places can feel a bit creepy at times! But that's part of the thrill......dealing with the unexpected! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slowlycatchymonkey Posted October 6, 2021 Share Posted October 6, 2021 @Sofia Great pics n write up Sofia, enjoyable even if the monuments were hiding from you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sofia Posted October 6, 2021 Author Share Posted October 6, 2021 1 hour ago, Pedro said: I bet the Coronel was not pleased with all the driving on bumpy roads. Nice one! He wasnt... Bless him!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boboneleg Posted October 7, 2021 Share Posted October 7, 2021 Fantastic stuff Sofia. Like you say, it's a real shame that Portugal doesn't have a governing body to look after these ancient buildings. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XTreme Posted October 7, 2021 Share Posted October 7, 2021 1 hour ago, boboneleg said: Fantastic stuff Sofia. Like you say, it's a real shame that Portugal doesn't have a governing body to look after these ancient buildings. So no warnings to Sofia about her running the risk of being sodomised? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pedro Posted October 7, 2021 Share Posted October 7, 2021 13 minutes ago, XTreme said: So no warnings to Sofia about her running the risk of being sodomised? This is a civilized country 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boboneleg Posted October 7, 2021 Share Posted October 7, 2021 56 minutes ago, XTreme said: So no warnings to Sofia about her running the risk of being sodomised? She's not an ill-dressed Welsh ginger 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XTreme Posted October 7, 2021 Share Posted October 7, 2021 8 minutes ago, boboneleg said: She's not an ill-dressed Welsh ginger 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sofia Posted October 7, 2021 Author Share Posted October 7, 2021 11 hours ago, XTreme said: So no warnings to Sofia about her running the risk of being sodomised? What?? I dont live in Spain you know?? No savages here! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XTreme Posted October 7, 2021 Share Posted October 7, 2021 2 minutes ago, Sofia said: What?? I dont live in Spain you know?? No savages here! Yes Sofia.....Pedro informed me that it's very civilized there! I expect I could lower the tone if I came there though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sofia Posted October 7, 2021 Author Share Posted October 7, 2021 2 minutes ago, XTreme said: Yes Sofia.....Pedro informed me that it's very civilized there! I expect I could lower the tone if I came there though! No idea why you chose enemy territory, maybe there was no one around to guide you, but i can assure you there is still plenty of time to come over to the correct side of the peninsula! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XTreme Posted October 7, 2021 Share Posted October 7, 2021 20 minutes ago, Sofia said: No idea why you chose enemy territory, maybe there was no one around to guide you, but i can assure you there is still plenty of time to come over to the correct side of the peninsula! I can't now Sofia.....I'm landlocked here! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now