Day trip to Beja

 Wednesday 31/08/22

We took another day trip in Bokkie today, partly to do some food shopping, partly to give Bokkie a decent test drive and partly to try and see more of this area of Portugal.  

We picked Beja, a historic city just over an hour's drive from us, and it was a lovely day out.  

Bokkie performed fantastically so we're really hopeful we have finally made progress on the intermittent fault.  All the work we have done has made a real difference to her and she seems much more smooth on the road.  We have inserted some foam holders for our plates and non-slip pads under all the cutlery as Bokkie occasionally goes over a speed bump too quickly and, as the kitchen is right at the back, items sometime get noisily re-arranged.  She was as quiet as a mouse today, drove like a Rolls and behaved impeccably. Go Bokkie!

The chapel of Saint Andrew at Beja

We feel like honorary Portuguese already, we always have to have an espresso before anything 
else can happen.

The impressive castle keep

I can't see any savages, just as well as I forgot my bow and arrow.

The first floor of the castle; a knight's tomb

Beja was a lovely place to visit, the weather was stunning and we had a great lunch in town before finally heading home.  

The Castle visit was definitely the highlight of the day - it was built by King Denis of Portugal in 1310, as part of the policy to strengthen the defence of this territory, although it's foundations sit on Roman ruins which date from as early as the 3rd century. 

The most significant part of the Castle is the imposing Keep, with its battlements and the veranda all around, all built in marble.  The interior consists of 3 floors and the top is reached by 183 very narrow steps - called the snail staircase, (we climbed them all!) which leads to the most amazing views over the city and countryside; one can only imagine the battles that have taken place over this land over the years.

The very ornate Capela de Nossa Senhora da Piedade

We've also included a short video of the dreaded entrance to the property: the gate is only slightly wider than Bokkie and the road is quite uneven which makes entries and exits rather interesting.  We park Bokkie mid-way along the drive to benefit from the shade of the Blue gum trees as the sun tends to scorch her if parked near the house. Enjoy.