We drove further down the coast today, stopping at the inland city of Mafra. The main attraction here is the Mafra National Palace, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It has a beautiful cathedral right in the center of the building, and while we ate lunch in the square we listened to a concert of cheerful Christmas music played on the carillon bells.
Back when Portugal was a monarchy, the enormous palace was where the royal family used to stay when hunting at the nearby game park (Tapada Nacional). This is the sumptuous throne room.
And this is a more comfortable version of the throne -- a 19th century La-Z-Boy.
Supposedly the royal family didn't live here permanently; they found the rooms to be too gloomy and they had several other palaces scattered throughout the country to choose from. This music conservatory was in the "sunnier" wing -- there were actual rays of sunlight coming in through the windows.
As always, I am a sucker for a good library. The one here is one of the best Enlightenment-era libraries in Europe, with all kinds of books -- illuminated manuscripts, the first Encyclopedia, books on the Vatican's "Forbidden" list...you know, the stuff you can't usually pick up at the local library drive-thru window.
The typical town library might have hefty fines for overdue books, but this particular library is subject to a papal bull (from 1754) threatening excommunication for anyone who tries to take, remove, or lend books from this collection without express permission from the king of Portugal. And yet you could walk right by a few of the shelves...so very tempting!
We had a pleasant walk through the park next to the palace -- it was the hunting grounds of the royal family and is now a preserve that is home to deer, foxes, and wild boar. It is large -- about 8 square kilometers -- so we only walked a small bit of it, but it was very pretty and green. A forest fit for a king!
After our stop in Mafra, it was a short 15 minute drive to the coastal town of Ericeira.
This beachy town has a great coastline for surfing and is one of the official World Surfing Reserves. (Little-known fact: there are World Surfing Reserves). The rocky beachfront is dominated by a huge hotel - the Hotel Vila Galé. We strolled the small old town area and had coffee in a cafe, then walked along the boardwalk, then hiked uphill to a fantastic viewpoint of the town.
No comments:
Post a Comment