Tag Archives: Travel

Day 8 Part 1 – Leaving Vila Nova da Barquinha

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Friday 4 September 2026 – Another day, another Uber. The forecast was unchanged – a very warm (30°C, cloudy and humid) day was in prospect. With a 23km walk, meaning at least 6 hours and probably seven on the road, and an elevation profile like this

helped us decide on taking a ride to our next destination, Tomar. Not therefore having to get out at sparrowfart allowed us to take time to look round Vila Nova da Barquinha in more detail, seeking out the bits of street art which were within walking distance and revisiting the sculpture trail in the park that we’d pottered around yesterday evening, to see things in decent light.

Barquinha (for such I’ll call it in the interests of brevity) is typical of our experience of Portugal so far – touches of great elegance against a backdrop of neglect. So, for example, some wonderful azulejos

but a badly-maintained backdrop.

One thing that looked in good nick was the bullring.

We saw from a poster by the railway station that a corrida was happening in a week’s time; whether this clean and tidy appearance was due to the imminent event or whether civic pride generally kept it looking nice we will never know. However, I happened to notice that one of the doors, the second one, labelled “Camarotes”

was open. So we looked in. It would appear that “Camarotes” means “Boxes” in the sense of privileged viewing places.

and we got a good view of the arena, which was being worked on, presumably, again, for the forthcoming festivities.

I had formed the impression (see the featured image for why) that the “Vila Nova” (“new town”) part of Barquinha’s name meant that it was only about a century old. Wrongly, as it turns out. It has a significant history stretching back centuries. Actually, the development of the region is strongly related to the Reconquista period, when the nearby river Tagus was the border between the dominions of Christians and Moors. In the 12th century, the defence of this border was in charge of the Knights Templar, who built several castles along the river. One of these is the Castle of Almourol, (which we didn’t get round to visiting for various reasons). At the end of the 13th century, when the Reconquista was finished, the importance of the castles of the region declined and the villages along the Tagus then became important riverside ports for the transport of agricultural goods of the region to Lisbon. There’s an azulejo in the riverside park about this.

Vila Nova da Barquinha was created in the 17th century around a fluvial port. In the 18th and 19th centuries the village became the most important in the region, and it was turned into the seat of the municipality in 1836. The history of the place explains the touches of elegance we saw as we walked around.

And it was quite a walk to the first street art installation,

tiling placed round what we think is (or was once) an electricity substation. The tiling was done by Manel Vieira in 2018, and it doesn’t look as if the building has had much TLC ever since, which is a shame. We pressed on, going back past the bullring and a tiled installation

which is apparently about 500 years of the Reformation in Europe. A tiling panel next to it dated it as 2017, but I couldn’t decipher the artist’s name.

We walked some way out of the centre of Barquinha and passed a mural that I’d actually noted on our ride into the town;

another piece that would have been impressive at the time but which looks very sad now. The same was true of the next instance we came to;

a further example of an attempt to prettify infrastructure which has been allowed to decay. The final piece on this part of the walkabout was an impressive work, once again using infrastructure as the canvas.

In it, the artist (whose name was not specified in the accompanying panel) expresses his concern about pollution in the Tagus River. (There was one more example of prettified infrastructure, which I’ll come to later.)

As we walked about, we noted that the mosaic pavements were decorated in a very specific pattern,

which Jane correctly identified as a small boat, which is, of course, how “Barquinha” translates into English. This was confirmed at the municipality offices.

The mosaic pavements stretched across much of our walk. We came across a couple of guys working on the maintenance of a section,

which makes one realise what a huge scope of work all of these pavements are.

Not everywhere is tatty. The sports pavilion is tidy and announces itself with great panache.

and many of the houses and apartments are in good shape.

We were struck by all the white space around

that was completely devoid of graffiti. Until we got to the station, that is.

I wonder whether there’s a specific anti-graffiti task force which keeps (almost) everything clean; it certainly makes a change from everywhere else we’ve been, where graffiti is depressingly ubiquitous.

On returning from the above peregrination, we walked around the park, where there is that other example I mentioned earlier, of an electricity substation that has been gussied up.

and we walked past the various sculptures beside the paths in the park.

“Rotter” – a representation of a wicker basket used in fishing in the Algarve
“House in the Sky” – industrial storage boxes used to build a prefab
“Line of Earth and River” – in polished and brushed stainless steel
Untitled – actually four tall steel mirrors, turning the garden into a stage
“Contramundo” – artistic tosh in the description of this trilobite
“Square house with tree inside”. Nuff said
“Castle” was once in yellow granite
“Concrete Poem”
“Irrigation”
“Over the forest” inspired by a mandala

As well as all the above slightly pretentious stuff, there were a couple of rotating disks, one of which gave a very compelling illusion.

 

The park was opened in 2005 and the sculpture trail inaugurated in 2012. The building decorations seem to date from around 2017 or 2018, so it’s clear that sporadic efforts have been made to bring art into the public spaces. It’s just a shame that, having done this good work, so much of it has been left to decay.

The café in the park got some more of our business after all that walking, and then we whistled up an Uber to take us on to Tomar, where we have a rest day. (Well, I suppose you could call today and the preceding couple of days “rest days” since we didn’t actually walk any of the Caminho. But we have walked a bit – today’s wandering round Barquinha was a 7km path, so we haven’t been entirely idle.) Tomar has significant historical and cultural significance and so I’ll deal with it in subsequent entries.

 

Day 7 – Azinhaga and Vila Nova da Barquinha

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Thursday 3 September 2026 – A very quick update, as not much happened. That’s not to say the day was not without event, but we didn’t do any walking. Had we done so, we would have needed to cover 16.6km, which would probably have taken us five hours. According to Accuweather, even if we’d started out at 7am, we’d have been pretty uncomfortable by the end.

So I investigated what Uber could do for us. Bearing in mind that we were a long way from anywhere of any pith or moment, I was a little surprised to find that a car could be with us within a quarter of an hour. After a very basic breakfast – toast and tea, basically – we lazed most of the morning away and added a pin to Helena’s map to show where we were from. Assuming that she hasn’t spent many nights stabbing random pins into her large map of the world, Helena has hosted a huge number of visitors from every corner of the globe (except, of course, Antarctica, since no-one actually lives there). We took our leave of the delightful Helena at 11am.

We waited outside her house

for a couple of minutes for our Uber ride to turn up, and then Campos took us swiftly, and with equal disdain for both speed limits and small talk, along the road to Vila Nova da Barquinha. When we got into his car at 11am, the temperature was 30°C and when we got out some twenty minutes later it had risen to 32°C. Some of the road he drove was also the Caminho route and it became clear how unrewarding a walk it would have been.

We actually passed some peregrinos;

my hat is off to them for their courage, if not their judgement.

Having arrived in Vila Nova da Barquinha, we had about 90 minutes to pass before we knew, courtesy of a message exchange with our next accommodation, that someone would be on reception to check us in. Fortunately, just by the hotel is a park

and in that park there is a café,

so we could rest in the shade and stay hydrated. Actually by 1pm, the temperature had become uncomfortable even for just sitting still in the shade and so we hied ourselves across the road to the River House Hotel. It was locked, but there appeared to be someone visible inside through the window, and after we peered in theatrically for a few minutes there was a click and the entrance was unlocked, allowing us through into a blissfully cool reception area, where a lady peregrino was checking in, having very clearly done a fair bit of walking in the heat. Then it was our turn ad we were efficiently checked in, stamped, and handed the keys to our room.

The hotel is small and modern, and, as is so often the case with this combination, the rooms are well-organised. And, importantly, air-conditioned. We knew about one restaurant in the village, Tasquinha Adélia, and Google told us it was open until 2.30, so we hightailed it over there in the hope that they could fit us in for lunch. At first, it wasn’t certain, as the place was very busy

and the staff seemed to have their hands more than full. But they methodically worked at placing some ladies who had arrived just before us (because we vacillated; our fault) and a family who arrived after us, presumably having booked, and then we had our table. Like Peitaças yesterday evening, the menu was basic and the food was good, honest and copious. The place itself though, as you can see from the photo, is very eclectically decorated, and it had a nice buzz of conversation going.

By about 3.30, we’d finished our food and so headed back to the hotel, stepping out into really stinging hot temperatures. We had hoped to buy some milk at somewhere Google described as a grocery, but that was another of Google’s fantasy moments – it was (a) a clothes shop and (b) closed. The route from it back to the hotel led past an intriguing building

and we wondered what kind of museum it was, apart from a sealed closed one, of course. Apparently it has a variety of unusual exhibits, but it’s labelled as “temporarily closed” so we’ll never find out. Given its name, one might expect it rather to be permanently sealed.

Vila Nova da Barquinha has a couple of things worth looking at – a sculpture park and some street art. We went for a stroll down by the river

and saw some of the sculptures, but it was dusk by that stage. We’ll potter around tomorrow before we depart for Tomar and take some photos in good light. One engaging item we found comprised a couple of rotating disks, and one of them carries a compelling illusion.

So: plans for tomorrow, then. The coming weather prospect is not encouraging for long distance walking.

The Caminho route to Tomar is 23km, and involves some uphill work; to walk six or seven hours in what are expected to be hot and humid conditions seems to us to be a poor choice; so we will take a ride again tomorrow. Tomar, though, has an interesting history and one or two particularly significant buildings to explore. A rest day is on our schedule, and so I hope there will be plenty to entertain you from our time there.

Day 6 – Walking around Santarém

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Wednesday 2 September 2026 – Today is the first day of a 3-day heat wave, with forecast temperatures rising to 35°C today, 40°C tomorrow and 36°C in Friday. Our bags go to Azinhaga today, and that would be a 27km walk – probably seven hours on foot, with just the one possible coffee stop shown on the map, at about the halfway point. In any case the wisdom of undertaking such a walk is questionable; given that Jane has yet to get back to full health, it made the Uber decision an easy one. So: no Caminho hiking today. But Santarém is an interesting city, and so we walked around it before riding to Azinhaga.

Our hotel room had been comfortable, but the breakfast provided was not one that I would expect from a hotel that parades a four-star rating on its roof. The selection of fruit was meagre and of breakfast cereals dismal. We made up for the shortfall with toast and pastries. One consolation was that as one waited the interminable time for the toast to become, well, toasted, there was at least a delightful cabaret going on outside the window.

The hotel is a couple of kilometres outside downtown Sentarém, and the walk in took us past the bull ring, which is clearly a thriving entertainment centre.

Jane had worked out a list of Things To See, which included a number of churches, which we like to look into. The first church, the Edifício e Igreja da Misericórdia, an attractive edifice,

was closed for maintenance. So we carried on. Our next destination was the cathedral,

which we fully expected to be open, and it was. The building it’s in is a combined church and museum, and the official route through takes you first into the church and then the museum. As one would expect, the church’s interior is very impressive. It’s opulently appointed,

and its ceiling is remarkable.

Many areas are lavishly tiled, for example behind the altar,

although appearances may be deceptive. In other, more accessible, places, we could see that some of the decorative work is painted or inlaid stonework, rather than tiles.

The ceiling above the altar is another impressive piece of artwork

and there are ornate chapels around the sides of the nave.

The museum has, as one would expect, many artefacts to display, including this wooden crucifix, the Christ of Mont’Iraz, dating from the 13th century

which is unusual, as it shows Christ with one arm detached from the cross. it is said that Christ crucified released one arm from the cross to address a shepherd begging for divine intercession and in Catholic theology, this “Cross of Forgiveness” symbolizes Christ reaching down in mercy towards humanity.

My interest was mainly in some beautiful azulejos,

and other lovely tiling work in the refectory area as well as elsewhere.

Outside the cathedral is the Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Piedade.

We looked in, and it would seem to be an interesting interior, but Something Was Going On

which we think was probably choir practice, as the standard of singing was really quite high.

Also outside the Cathedral is a café, so we availed ourselves of its offerings, marvelling at the existence of a Benetton shop nearby. Who knew that Benetton was still A Thing? Not I, for sure.

The central area of Santarém is a cheerful place

with some very decorative tiling for street names.

(more on the Portas do Sol later) as well as some other quirks, like this mosaic David

and this delightfully-named street – Pastry Shop Passage!

The Igreja de Santa Maria de Marvila has a very decorative Manueline portal,

and is apparently the most tiled church in Portugal.

It was originally a mosque, but became a church under the reconquista* of Portugal in the late 12th century. Some of its Moorish architecture remains, for example in the shape of this doorway,

but the church has had extensive makeovers, not least in the Manueline style, and has tiles over practically every surface – some 65,000 in total we were told!

The roof over the altar is a lovely piece of decorative vaulting.

There was one more church to look into (and get a selo from) – the Igreja da Graça.

Again, this has a beautiful Manueline portal

and it has a huge, though barely elaborated, interior.

It also has, unusually, a 20-segment Rose Window,

which is the emblem the church uses in its selo.

Outside of the churches, there were a couple of things that were must-see, such as this Bordalo II Hoopoe,

a part of the city walls of interest to peregrinos, the St. James Gate (Santiago Gate),

and a couple of viewpoints exploiting the city’s elevated position. These could be found in the environs of the gardens of the Portas do Sol. The walk there took us past a couple of artworks. The first was a reverse of something I’ve noted a few times in Portugal; you catch a glimpse of something that might be artwork on the outside of a building, only to find that it’s actually decaying plaster creating pattern. This work, though, was the other way round; I thought at first it was decaying plaster, but actually it’s a drawing,

with some kind of Knights Templar overtones, though what the two fingered salute is about is beyond me. The other artwork was similarly obscure in meaning.

The views afforded over the river Targus are lovely. From outside the Portas do Sol, one can see the old city walls

and from the gardens, looking over the city walls, you get sweeping views along the river.

The gardens were attractive and very pleasant – not least because they feature a café!

There are a couple of statues, one to commemorate the soldiers of the First World War

and one of Afonso Henriques.

King Afonso I was the first king of Portugal, from 1139 until his death on 1185. He achieved Portugal’s independence, establishing a new kingdom and doubling its area with the Reconquista, an objective that he pursued until his death.

The gardens also have an aviary, mainly populated by budgerigars,

although there are a couple of other species there as well – this is a cockatiel.

By this stage it was getting hot and so we thought we would head for Azinhaga. Summoning an Uber took literally seconds, and we had an interesting and engaging ride with Yasim, originally from Pakistan and in Portugal via Dubai, to the Casa de Azzancha Alojamento Local in Azinhaga. We had a few moments of dread, as we’d been deposited in, frankly, the middle of nowhere in very hot sunshine in front of somewhere that appeared to be closed. But in a few moments we were hailed from a passing car, and the owner, the delightful Helena, parked up, let us in, and explained how things would work, bidding us make ourselves welcome. It’s a lovely place

and so we helped ourselves gratefully to the kettle and the laundry facilities.

Azinhaga is not a big place, but it does have a restaurant, Peitaças. Life being how it is, it’s at exactly the opposite end of the village from our accommodation, some 20 minutes walk away. The walk over gave us the chance to see the various parts of what’s a nicely maintained village, overall: the newer houses;

the older ones;

the cute ones;

and the rather lovely idea of growing plants out of specially-created holes in the pavements.

The restaurant was pretty much as we’d imagined it: very basic, with a limited food and drinks menu, but a friendly reception, good, honest food and great value. We both had picanha steaks – a rump cut – and chips, and it was excellently tasty. Afterwards, we walked back to the Casa through the gloaming

accompanied by the traditional sound track one finds in these places.

It’s been a good, relaxed day, a sharp contrast to how it would have been if we’d taken on the hike. Tomorrow’s forecast is, as I said earlier, for 40°C heat and so there’s no way we’re walking in that. Our destination, which is another small village, seems to have one or two things that will repay exploring, so doing that is plan A, assuming we can find a cab driver willing to come out to this neck of the woods. Check back in later to find out…

* The Reconquista is one of the terms used to describe the historical process spanning almost eight hundred years, from the 8th to the 15th centuries, during which the Christian kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula progressively sought to recover the territories occupied by the Muslim Moorish kingdoms.