New Years Eve.

We went on a car tour up to Mertola a site that has been occupied for over 2000 years.

Placed well above the Guadiana River it was a major trading post for many years.

The Moors expanded it, placing a Mosque on top of the hill below the castle.

As you all must know by now, we are both foodies, and needless to say we stopped for lunch before visiting the castle. The chosen restaurant was one Dee has read about in the tour book called the Alentejo Restaurant. It serves up hearty fare, one soup containing tripe, blood sausage, chrousso sausage with beans and broth. I have to say seeing the blood sausage -- a serious bone of contention with my mother and me, when I was a kid due to my unwillingness to eat it -- kind of turned me off. Unfortunately -- as my wonderfull children pointed out -- one cannot tell your kids to try everything and then not do it yourself. GULP!

Turned out to be great! In fact the whole meal -- we ordered enough for 6 to 8 people -- was excellent.

The castle is ringed with high walls on shear drops on three of the sides, it is a pretty impressive place. And somewhat -- for me -- troubling, in the high winds. Haven't felt scared of heights in many years, but wandering along the parapets with little protection, gave me a bit of a chill.

Just outside the walls of the castle is an old settlement, used by Romans, Moors and Christians, with mosaics dating back to the 6th century AD. Additionally there is a huge cemetary on top of the hill.

After the castle we hit the Mosque, now St Mary's church, where the church has tried its damndist to get rid of all Islamic markings, but a few still survive.

The roads inside the town are seriously rough, but this didn't seem to stop Anwen from falling asleep in the stroller. She amazes me in this ability to just have a nap when she feels like it, no matter where.


By late in the afternoon everything was closing down so we headed back to Espiche, about 150 kms away.

We dove through sun and heavy, heavy rain. All said it was a great day of exploring in a beautiful part of Portugal.

In ending, we'd all like to wish you a Happy New Year.

Ciao