It was a rare two castle day. While we were deep into the interior we drove 30 min from Maurão to Monsaraz. It is odd how few people there are, yet there are tons of bridges and nice roads. Monsaraz is more like Obidos, the walled city, than a castle. There was a castle at the top of the city though. There were stages, lights and speakers set up everywhere. I don’t know if they were preparing for or recovering from a festival. By the time we got there it was very hot. The only cold drinks I could find were carbonated and none of the kids enjoyed them. It was around noon and shade was at a premium.
The night before we had gone to an observatory and looked through telescopes at various objects. We were not able to see the Milky Way due to the super bright moon that was out. The kids were all tired after the event and we didn’t get them to bed until after 12:30.
One of the two motorized telescopes we got to look through. The bright thing in the sky is the moon. It was crazy how bright it was after our eyes adjusted. When the kids looked at the moon through the telescope it was bright enough to hurt their eyes.
Monsaraz was much safer and the kids were able to walk along the castle walls.
The castle was at the top of the city and we walked through Monsaraz to get there. You can see some of the AV equipment leaning against the building.
The day before we had also stopped at the Chapel of Bones. Yes, it is exactly that.
The Maurão Castle we started the day at is on one of the hills in this photo. We crossed that long bridge on the way to Monsaraz.