Friday February 9, 2007: Castel de Branco
We left the hotel this morning in sunshine and headed north toward the fortress town of Marvão. On the way we stopped at the town of Estremoz, a town famous for its marble. It was quite evident in doorways and doorsteps in most houses and shops. And from the top of the hill a huge quarry was evident. We climbed to the castle at the top and had a good look at the view and then returned to the village to have a coffee and pick up 2 rolls for our lunch.
The driving was easy and we deviated to smaller regional roads. In these towns there were many older people walking or sitting in the sun and very little evidence of the local economy. Also common were small walls around the front “garden” but instead of garden there were just marble slabs. We stopped for lunch along the side of the road and had a bread roll with ham. In the distance was a Heron ‘sanctuary’ – we could see the poles and about 12 birds had built nests at the top.
We got to Marvão at about 14:00 and walked to the high castle. The town was quite deserted and major road works were taking place. The castle was 13th century but largely rebuilt in the 17th century, and is a shell. There were many places to walk around the walls and great views over the plains and into Spain which was only 5 km away.
We decided that a night here wasn’t quite right and headed north to Castel de Branco. The route was simple and we arrived about 16:00. We parked the car to go look for the tourist office, but struggled to find the centre of town. It turned out we were standing in the centre, but it didn’t have that feel and for a town of thirty thousand people it didn’t feel big enough. Paula asked a girl where the centre was and got a confused reply (we were in Centro) so we walked around the town and to the railway station where the man was most unfriendly! Eventually the staff in the Vodafone shop pointed us in the right direction and the office turned out to be on the large new redeveloped square but had no signs out and was simply too hard to find. The girl gave us directions to the hotel and we stayed at a Best Western Hotel Raihha D. Amelia.
That evening we went to the restaurant O Jardim, as recommended by the Lonely Planet, and it turned out to meet expectations. The restaurant was tucked away in a back street but had a few locals at the early time of 7:45. The waiter was excellent and the food stunning. Both ordering the pork it came out on a 50cm long roofing tile with pork cutlets wrapped in bacon, huge prawns and decorated at either end with salad. It was accompanied by chips and a tasty beans/silverbeet and bread side dish. The wine was an excellent Quinta dos Currais, Reserva 2001, Beira Interior 13.8% for E12.50. A great meal.
