On our last outing before the world as we know it changed, we went to Sand City. the largest sand sculpture theme park in the world. It was absolutely incredible. Very few people there, we sure had no trouble keeping a good distance from others.
We talked to a couple of the artists. The sculpture starts out as blocks of compacted sand.
The sculptures last a long time, one artist told us some of the sculptures have been there for almost a year… although there is a wee bit of wear and tear showing.
I have at least “a million” more pictures. They all have detailed carvings and we spent an enjoyable couple of hours wandering around.
After leaving Sand City we went looking for another ruin. This one, the Castle of Paderne, was built in the 12th century. We drove country mountainous road for a very long time… I was sure we were at the end of the earth… until eventually we arrived. We could walk around the castle but it was not open. It was massive and is one of the seven castle symbols on the Portuguese flag.
Daryl is tall enough that he was able to see over the walls and get a picture of the inside. The place truly is massive.
Way down in the valley we could see the Medival Bridge of the Paderne. It dates back to Roman times. Apparently the date 1711 is inscribed on the central arch and is thought to indicate renovations to the bridge.
There is also a walking trail in the valley. We could clearly hear people talking but did not see anyone.
There was one more castle we wanted to see that was on our way home, the Castelo de S Joao Do Arade. We were sure this one was open to the public, except when we arrived at 4 PM it was all shut up. Not sure if this was the beginning of public facilities being closed.
This castle will be on our list on our next trip to Portugal. There is so much more we had planned to see, that we were hoping to do with Heather and Mike. This part of Portugal has been amazing and we will be back.
Cheers
Ruth
ruthkennedysretirementblog 
Wow, some of the sand sculptures look absolutely amazing! Portugal is our favourite country to explore and I would love to go back one day, but it doesn’t look like anyone is going anywhere anytime soon due to coronavirus. Thanks for sharing and have a good day 😀 Aiva
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