Azulejos and other Monsaraz, Portugal Local Custom Tips

As is common throughout the country, blue and white ceramic tiles, called Azulejos, were common in Monsaraz. These are a legacy of the hundreds of years of Moorish occupation, a custom that was then carried forward and fine-tuned by the Portugese themselves over the next 800 years. They are extremely durable and are used for decorations both inside and outside of buildings. They also come in different styles depending on their era - but most of the ones that we came across seemed to be similar to this particular example of a decoration at a simple rest stop along one of the streets. Do I look happy sitting in the sun in Portugal while it rains at home?

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The drive north from Redondo gave us the first chance to have a close-up look at the many cork oak trees that we had seen thus far in our trip. It was very interesting to see the smooth dark bark on the lower parts of the tree where the thicker spongy bark had been peeled off.

These trees are native to the Mediterranean but only grow in a few places and nowhere near as many as in Portugal - the world's largest producer. The trees can live to be about 150 years old and it takes about 10 years for the dead layers of bark to become thick enough that it can be cut off in square-curved chunks.

The tree trunks are numbered with the date of the year of last harvest, 04 for instance, so it will be quite obvious when it is safe to have another go at it!

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Along the drive between Redondo and Vila Vicosa, we were astounded to come across huge piles of marble blocks of all shapes and sizes towering into the air! This is one of the prime marble quarrying areas of Portugal, the world's number 2 producer of this elegant stone (their output is 80% of the production in number 1 Italy). This photo shows merely a paltry and flat pile of partially processed marble blocks after they have been sawed clear of the much larger blocks. During our drive, we also met a number of large semi-trailers loads trundling along the highway, with each vehicle carrying only a few blocks of this very heavy material.

There is so much marble in this area that it is used even for the construction of small houses or for streetside curb stones!

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