There were several whitewashed towns and villages, this is Aracena, and the road surface steadily deteriorated as we approached the frontier. Plenty of potholes to avoid, which took some concentration. Finally after a couple of hours we crossed the border - and unexpectedly gained an hour, since Portugal, it seems, runs on different time from Spain and France. Same as the UK in fact. Anyway, here’s the marker post.
The road became a bit narrower on the Portuguese side, but the potholes were somewhat fewer. Particularly striking were the number of storks that had built their nests and taken up residence on the tops of electricity poles.
Our first impression of Portuguese drivers is that they either drive extremely slowly or extremely fast. Not much in between. Given the unexpected time bonus, we decided to make a stop at Beja, the only major town we would be going through before reaching our pousada for the night. Although ignored by our guidebook, Wikipedia filled in and told us there was a good castle to visit. And indeed there was
Sitting right in the hilltop town, with fine views in all directions, it is remarkable well preserved, and has a fine tower - which we did not climb (knees still suffering). But there were nice views of the town from the battlements.
From Beja it was not much than an hour on to Alcacer do Sal, which is where we are now, in the pousada - Portuguese equivalent of the Spanish paradors. The building was originally a convent, founded in 1573, and it stayed that way until religious orders were abolished in Portugal in 1834, when it started to fall into ruin. The restoration to create a pousada was started in the 1990s, and it opened for business in 1998.
We have a pleasant room with a little terrace and a nice view, and took a stroll around outside after settling in.
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