Stan and Janie Take a Walk

We hiked today through pretty residential areas and farmlands.  We talked to and tried to calm the angry-sounding dogs barking behind fences around tiny yards.  Most were just telling us they knew we were there but a couple might have been terrible had they been able to escape the fence.   We stopped often to smell roses in yards and take photos of wildflowers along the roads.  Our route took us down long hills and up great, long, never-ending hills which made our hearts pump hard and our butts hurt.  The views were spectacular and worth every step.  These kinds of experiences cannot be bought; they just have to be found.  After a long trek downhill, we arrived in a valley near the Rio Lizanndro and found a small white chapel.  All around us and in the distance were vegetable farms where fields of pole beans, bush beans, kale, corn, and grapes were flourishing.  A field of hay had just been mowed and bailed.  We waved at the farmer on his tractor as he prepared another field for planting.  The Rio Lizandro lazily winds through the farms and is the source for irrigating the crops.  We stood on the Lizandro’s small arched bridge originally built hundreds of years ago and watched the dark clear water flow by.  Surely this quiet little place has been described and adored in a poem by a gentle poet sometime. 

Our goal today was to walk to Mafra.  A bus would have taken us there in about 50 minutes with stops along the way, Uber could have gotten us there in 15 minutes but we wanted to hike.  To us, exercise is good for the body, mind, and soul and the grand views make the trek a much shorter one.  Today’s hike from our apartment in Ericeira to Mafra was about 7 miles.  We entered the town and marched right up to the Nacional Palace of Mafra – the grand centerpiece of old town Mafra and the jewel of the entire region.  We did not know if visitors were admitted or not.  But before we investigated, we had a light but very pleasant outdoor lunch at a restaurant just across from the Palaces’ frontward plaza.  Our waiter, garçom, was anxious to speak English.  Of course, we made friends with him.  He said, of course, we should tour the Palace and he took the time to write down the names of other important places we should see in Mafra.  He even pointed out the nearest bus stop to take us back to Ericeira.  He warned us that UBER in these parts may not be reliable.  It’s much better to take the bus he said.

The Palace of Mafra is also known as the Palace Convent of Mafra and the Royal Building of Mafra.  In plain terms, it is the grand summer house of 18^th-century Portuguese royalty.  We had never heard of lit until we arrived here.  It is grand both in opulence and in size.  The King’s domed tower is the North side rotunda and the Queen’s matching domed tower is the South rotunda.  The most dazzling component of the palace is a lavish basilica, one of the most beautiful we have ever seen and we have seen many in our travels.  Not plied with gold and jewels like some palaces we have toured, its stately classic baroque interior rivals St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.  Its construction began in 1717 marking the birth of King John V’s first child with his wife, Queen Marianna. Originally intended as a monastery, it soon also became the palace.  Its final construction was completed in about 1750 and for all those years, only the best artists, sculptors, and craftsmen were hired to fulfill the plan. The entire vast complex includes the tremendously beautiful grand basilica which has six ancient pipe organs built into the walls just below the ceiling, (just imagine the sound!).  It features arches and columns of beautiful marble that lend a pink and gray tone to the interior.  Life-size pearl marble sculptures of all the saints line the walls. 

Then we entered the royal living quarters.   In all, there are over 1200 rooms in the complex which we did not see, thankfully, but we did pass through huge ballroom size rooms, one after another decorated with graceful frescos, murals and arched ceilings.  We passed through rooms such as the throne room, the game room, the stringed music room, the trophy room, grand dining halls, ladies receiving rooms, and bedrooms for the King and for the Queen plus bedrooms for older children and a nursery.  Finally, we were brought to the crème de la creme, the library that today contains over 30,000 rare books, some dating back to the 1500s before the printing press was invented.  The u-shaped living quarters and library, bound by King/Queen towers connect with the basilica forming a huge rectangle around a garden that can be seen from all rooms. All magnificent!

Oh, and each time we stopped to pose a question to one of the proctors of the palace, we had long wonderful conversations, making each of the three of us very happy.  We learned and we laughed.  They laughed too.  These people love their country.  We do too.

In case one might wonder, we took the bus back to Ericeira.