🌳 ☀️ 💦

The first day starts early, at 5 am I wake up and read about what's going on here.

An idea comes to me quickly - grab some fruit and a smoothie and drive to the village of Mata Pequena (about 30 minutes away). If you're looking for peace and seclusion, that's the place to go.

But first we drive into Ericeira to find the yoga studio where I will be taking a class on Friday. We spend some time at the beach, quite chilly🥶. With wet pants (mother was inattentive), we start making our way to MP.

With a view over the green hills in complete silence - because signs saying "silêncio por favor" are everywhere - we enjoy ourselves... strawberries, grapes, and bananas while the sun is shining. The tranquility and sunbathing make mother sleepy, she enjoys it so much (oh, and the pants are dry again). And me? I knew why I wanted to come back here♥️.

We drive over rough terrain to Mafra. The most famous building in the city is its monumental palace, the Palácio Nacional de Mafra.

The National Palace of Mafra is the largest palace complex in Portugal. It is currently applying for UNESCO World Heritage status. The facades of the palace and monastery complex are a total of 220 meters long. The palace covers an area of ​​around 38,000 square meters, has 1,200 rooms and 156 staircases. The two bell towers, each equipped with 48 bells, come from Antwerp. In the center of the complex is the church, the Basilica Minor, with six finely crafted organs. Also worth seeing is the large historical library with around 40,000 books from the 16th and 18th centuries. Behind the palace library is the extensive Botanical Garden. To the north of it is the 819-hectare Tapada Nacional de Mafra Park. Numerous deer, deer, wild boars and many other wild animals live in the former royal hunting ground. A network of hiking trails has been laid out and guided hikes are also offered. Every year in October, a classical music festival takes place near the palace. The magnificent baroque palace and monastery complex of Mafra was designed by the German architect Johann Friedrich Ludwig. The Rococo library, located in the rear part of the second floor, is the highlight of this palace and can compete with the splendor of the library of Melk Abbey in Austria. This library, designed by Manuel Caetano de Sousa, is 88 meters long, 9.5 meters wide and 13 meters high. The magnificent floor is covered with tiles made of pink, gray and white marble. The wooden bookshelves in the rococo style are arranged in two rows on the side walls, separated by a balcony with a wooden railing. They contain over 36,000 volumes bound in leather, testifying to the extent of Western knowledge from the 14th to the 19th century. Among them are many valuable bibliographic jewels such as incunabula. These beautifully crafted volumes were bound in the local workshop (Livraria) in the rocaille style (also by Manuel Caetano de Sousa).

The Royal Monastery Library of the National Palace of Mafra is one of the most important European libraries with a valuable collection of approximately 36,000 volumes. The library is known for its search for bats, which protect the books from insect damage. The library was used as the Grand War Chamber for the Emperor of Lilliput in Gulliver's Travels (1996).

We are thrilled, the infinity of the palace leaves us amazed. If you live here, domestic peace is guaranteed, after all, you never see each other♥️.

I admit, we want to skip the library. I ask an employee in my best Portuguese where the exit is. Then we meet her again, and she asks if we have already been to the library!? I deny. Without further ado, she sends us back, we can't leave without admiring the library☺️.

Back in Ericeira, we look at the water and take a leisurely stroll. But it takes us a while to decide that we want to eat something. Beginner's mistake, after half past four, we can't get in anywhere. Break until 7 pm. We wander around for 1.5 hours and ask for entry at every restaurant - but no entrada. Our stomachs are growling. We decide: let's go to Burger King. On the way to the car, however, we spot 3 cafes that are open and order. My food is good and tasty and as for mother?! I think she was unlucky and got food poisoning.

She's feeling better today☺️.