Saturday 26^th May

Started the day with a trip on our bikes to the local market to stock up on fruit and vege.  Put the boys in charge of buying bread.  Ever adventurous they bought what they thought was a date something or rather but when we cut into it we found that it was a bread with sardines in it – yummy!  Have been experimenting with Portuguese pasties BUT they seem to all be filled with the same yellow custard like substance.

We spent the rest of the day exploring the town of Tomar.  The highlight was visiting the Knight’s Templar castle – a massive complex.  Although much of it has been destroyed, the basic structure still remains. A rabbit warren of rooms covering 3 floors.  The highlight was the charola (church) which has been lovingly restored to its former glory with vibrant paintings and an ornate gilded altarpiece.  We of course bought some Templar wine to sample with our bbq dinner.

 Sunday 27^th May

Bikes out again and we cycled to a local village to experience the Tabuleiros (tray) Festival.  We’d been warned it was ‘hilly’ but turned out to be more like riding up the Bombays.  Thank goodness for gears. Kept thinking this will work the wine and nibbles off my rear!  Well worth the effort.  We arrived in plenty of time to soak up the atmosphere of the buildup.  The ladies carry these massive reed towers decorated with bread and flowers on their heads, accompanied by a male partner (in case it gets too heavy), a band and flag bearers.  Very colourful and festive.   On the return trip we visited a huge roman aqueduct.  Tonight we are eating out at a local restaurant an English couple who live in the village recommended to us.  The Portuguese are very pleasant to deal with and many have enough basic English to communicate.  The camping and food is cheaper than Spain and the showers better than France.