My morning was lazy, lovely and lazy with a latish start and a little housekeeping. I had planned to grab a coffee and then go into the Botanical Gardens for a few hours before going to lunch. Why not wander around back streets to explore further I have no commitments until my 1pm reservation at ‘Club Navale’ recommended by my landlord Pedro. I turned up my street Calcada do Galvao and hooked right mainly to capture the colours and tiles and doors. I love doors and door hardware. I turn up and down short streets past houses that appear loved and lived in and others that look abandoned but here looks can be deceiving. There’s a row of gorgeous cafe’s and restaurants which no doubt cater to the locals rather than the tourists and I stop at a delightful little bespoke grocery store (heaven knows how she makes any money) and enjoy a very good coffee and watch, just watch. The delivery van arrives and 5 25kg bags of potatoes are unloaded along with another of onions and taken to the restaurant next door. I decide these are for the traditional ‘cod cakes’ and notice the older men at the cafe opposite heads together, coffee in one hand and cigarettes in the other. The younger set vape but there is still a lot of cigarette smoke wafting in Portugal both indoors and outdoors and no one seems to be offended. I take many photos of all the beautiful tiles which in the back streets are more prominent this is where the generations have lived and continue to live.
Now I am heading toward the river which is several blocks in front of me down Calcada da Ajuda. I am taking photos of beautiful architecture and detail when I see a sign ‘Escola Portuguese de Arte Equestre’ I can read that it’s about horses. What!!!! There in front of me is the Horse School of Portugal. I walk inside the entrance door and a lovely young woman explains the ticketing and welcomes me as a Senior 12 Euro = I am pretty sure I added a zero to that figure when I went to the Viennese Riding School where the Lippizaner Stallions perform. Actually I just looked the prices up it is very organised and time limited. You do not walk around the stables just watch from the auditorium and the cheapest ticket was 187Euro…..omg! So, here I am talking to a lovely young lady with excellent English inviting me to wander literally just wander in the equestrian centre across the road. I cried when I walked into the yard area where there were 10 horses literally tied and waiting for their next. The Farrier was parked in a bay and there was some quiet chatter and these gloriously magnificent animals. Everything here is maintained as in the 18th Century tradition of the original Lusitanos horses that are bred at the Alter Real Stud Farm founded in 1748 by King Joao V to stock the Royal household and this academy. They are all Bay in colour and beautifully bred. You can spend 3 hours here all for the same price, unbelievable really. I was encouraged to go ‘behind the scenes’ and wander through the stable block to see many of the horses in their stalls chomping away on their feed bins. They are huge and start at 16hh with most reaching a giant type proportion of 17+ hh. They have thick lush manes and tails and forlocks that drop over their beautiful dreamy eyes. I asked if they windsuck a fairly common occurrence in horses that are stabled and become bored. It is not a habit that they have succumbed to. There are 60 horses here the Farrier tells me and they are all stallions except for 2 gelded horses for their own medical reasons. It was incredible to see stallions standing next to each other with no attitude and competitive spirit which is very common in many breeds and can make them dangerous to have together or work with. The Farrier is also an Equine vet and he tells me that they are shod every 4-6 weeks which is typical of any horse doing ground work. These stallions only have shoes on their front hooves not their back to ensure they are safer to be around. In the actual stable block there are horses in their stalls and others in an area waiting to be shod. I enter the tack room and you are told that you can actually touch the saddles and bridles. No one guides you – I was free to wander at my leisure. There is a ménage and in here horses are being lunged in preparation for the arena across the road where they are given serious routines to practise. Everything is a drill and on the last Friday of every month a full Gala performance is presented. One of the riders chats to me and explains how some of the horses are more suited to do ground work as Dressage horses. They are powerful and really magnificent. I notice over at the arena which you are not allowed to take photographs in that each horse has different tack from single snaffle bits to double and kerbs and pelhams which shows that each horse is handled according to their personalities and stage of training including their age. They are bred and at the age of 4 begin the earnest training here in the School. They are ridden gently and one in particular has a real mind of his own. I watch them execute magical collected trots and flying changes, half passes and extended work. I did cry I felt so very fortunate to have found the stables and leave after watching more lunging on cloud nine.
I cross the bridge over the main road and railway line and here the cool wind whips around making me grateful to have booked my lunch at Club Navale. This is a lovely restaurant and I make the most of it by ordering a seafood soup to start and another small entree of melt in the mouth squid and the most delicious steamed green beans. I have a house white wine and don’t feel at all uncomfortable despite the tables around me being taken by couples and groups. It’s time to pay the bill and wander further. I travel down Avenida de India and notice that the Carriage Museum is actually open despite being advised yesterday that no museum opens on a Monday. I do think lost in translation is the only reason misinformation occurs. I am keen to spend time in the gardens ‘Jardin de Botanico Tropica’ and decide to leave the carriage museum which I believe is vast for another time. I would love to return to Belem and Portugal. Into the gardens I go after passing Pasteis de Belem which has a winding queue out on the street. The gardens are on a large 12 acre plot and prides itself in the many varieties of plants and trees in particular from Africa, South America and Australia. There is a maze and the gorgeous Palace which needs a lot of money spent to bring it back to its former glory. Peacocks strut through the gardens and they do decide to put on a magnificent display of fanned tail feathers. I take this as a symbol of the beginning and the end of my journey as a pilgrim on the Camino as I had this beautiful sight in the Crystal Palace Gardens in Porto 21 days ago. It’s time to wander back up the hill use my huge key to enter and climb the 5 stories to the top and step into the apartment which has been home for the last 5 days. I couldn’t ask for a better place to take time out and to sleep. I will wake tomorrow to the still of the streets of Belem and look across to the river and the bridge and then I will head to the airport completely satiated and ready for what is waiting at home for me….if only I knew it was the joy and simple happiness that I and my family deserve. Trusting God with all my heart…..
amandaraeliddell 