Day Four: July 1st 2012: Journey Into Portugal's Past Using Its Present

The Fun Of Working Vacations!  

Taking a working vacation is not what it is cut up to be. There are too many conflicts concerning where one member of the family wants to go versus another’s. Usually the conflict is between me and my family. When they want up; I want down and when I want up they want down. That means much wasted time for any true blogging items and/or filming but there is a God throws me a couple of bones from time to time. Here is an account of what happened.   

Vila Vicosa, July 1^st  

Some thirty five kilometers from Redondo was Vila Vicosa, a lovely and beautifully spaced city that came complete with clean streets lined with citrus trees of orange and lime. One could take in the summer atmosphere, shop or frequent one of the pleasant cafes and at the same time treat him/herself to a ripe orange.   

The seemingly amplified bird sounds are quite noticeable when sitting at a café and enjoying a coffee or meal. The sweet sound of Canary Finches melodically entertains the guests and adds so much to the experience.

Vicosa Castle

From the main square can be seen the castle fortress high on the hill above the town. It was normal in days of old to have the fortress on high ground as both a preventative measure and a defense should the village, town be attacked.

Residents who lived outside the city would seek safety inside the fortress which was surrounded by a moat (a deep water channel) that separated the fortress from the rest of the land area. Thus it was inaccessible since the steep walls that met the deep water gave no possibility for enemies to climb. The only connection to the land was a “Drawbridge” which was lowered to allow people in or out and then drawn up when a protective emergency took place.

The large and quite grandiose fort is now a museum which features some very fine historical relics and also so  a collection of animal displays featuring, a large display of “horned” animal species such as the Cape Fear Buffalo from Africa, many Gazelles and Impalas, hunting birds, members of the cat family, American Bison and so on. It was obvious that these were remnants of days when hunting for trophies was the norm and people expressed how important they were as to the exotic trips they could take and killing to satisfy their egos. I couldn’t help feeling as to how far we have come. Now most hunt with a camera and leave the animals to future generations. I couldn’t also help thinking that now we must educate those who poach for a living so they do not complete the eradication of many species.

The fortress museum also included a hunting rifle collection used to kill many of the now residents of the exhibit. It also featured some very ancient whaling harpoon guns and very old sailing logs. I had to remind myself that Portugal was a maritime power in the past so this was definitely in keeping with tradition.

The best feature of the building was at the top, on the bastions high above the fort and the rest of the town. 

The panoramic view of the entire area was breath taking. One could see the town and other small villages that patterned themselves as if they were embroidery. The blue sky, yellow brown/somewhat parched land and trees with green canopies were in contrast with the red tiled clay roofs and whiter than white buildings found  throughout the community.

By the way, the fortress was very interesting but not uncommon because Portugal in the past consisted of many city states each with their fort and community. It was brought together by a number of “heroes”. They united the people and the country which at that time was under domination of the Moors. The Christians fought hard and slowly took back the land and their Portuguese country began to take shape.  

Time To Relax

Taryn, Jessica, Darlene and I came out of Vilcosa Fortress much better informed but thirsty and hungry. All that climbing and moving around affected our appetites. So, we went down to the main square and selected a café where I had a coffee “Americano” which basically was a lighter style but large Espresso.   

The “late lunch” snack that we ordered was delicious and very reasonably priced.  Darlene did not finish her “Burger” which I consumed with glee!

By the time we finished our food and drink, it was time to go back to our spot at Herdade Sao Miguel.