The Shepherd eagle and other Turquel, Portugal Off The Beaten Path Tips

My neighbor has sheep. Nothing unusual. He also has dogs, but, I think he only uses them to hunt and guard the house. So, who guarded the sheep?
Looking closer, today, I noticed that it was a... eagle. At least, she was there, carefully looking at the animals. As a matter of fact I don't know if it was guarding or seizing them, maybe thinking they were a little big to swallow. I'll see it better next days and let you know.

It seems that a couple of cats are now helping the eagle. What a confusion!

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Included in the Natural Park of Aire and Candeeiros, this mountain is a wild area, excellent for trekking and watching natural life and geologic formations. The sights are awesome, and, from caves to dinosaur trails there's a lot to see and do far from the crowd rushes.

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The Natural Park of Serra de Aire e Candeeiros is a reserve for wildlife and flora, but these days, the landscape is changing. The "talefe" is a geodesic construction that marks the highest point of the mountain of Candeeiros. In my youth one of our bigger challenges was to walk up to the mountain, and climb to the talefe. Deep changes turned the highest point into a midget. Does it still motivate the youngster?

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In the way up to the Natural Park, from Turquel, you pass close to a small chapel. It's an indistinctive building, standing as a landmark of the locals religiosity, that made some popular people build it, away from everything, almost lost in the mountain. Once a year there's a popular celebration in the chapel, and I think that it is all. One interesting thing to notice is that the chapel was made in the beginning of the 20th century and rebuilt in the forties, when school was still a luxury only available for some Portuguese. The inscription above the door keeps the memory of those time. To understand what I mean you would have to know some Portuguese, at least what is a "Qumição"

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Forgive me if I insist on my uncle's wooden carving, displayed in the Ethnographic Museum, but I have to make justice to his sense of humor and manual skills. Though hardly concentrated in only two displays, some of the pieces are really fun

The museum has moved to a more suitable building, fifty meters distant, but I didn't visit the new exhibition yet.

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"Relego" was the name of a tax paid in the historic days to the monks of Alcobaça, who owned all the surrounded area, including Turquel. Relego is the name is the highest hill of Turquel, maybe because it was the place where the tax was collected, and it is now one of the most preserved area of this quickly changing small town. Till when?

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A small lagoon gives the name to this area of Turquel. The lagoon is no more than a big pond, but, with some care by the neighbours, it presents clear water where we may see some big fishes.

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Right in the centre of town stands this modest chapel built in 1762. It still keeps some tiles representing Sainte Veronica, but the hospital was closed long ago. Recent construction around it didn't respect the building, that has been almost swallowed by the greed of mass construction. I lived there for many years, and, believe me, moving away was the best idea, not only because I got free from the flea market that happens each Sunday in the street, but I only need to write "R. Luisa" in my address, instead of "Rua do Senhor Jesus do Hospital nº X". Uff!

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