We stayed in the marvelous Pousada Dom Joao IV, a former convent next to the king's palace. The palace is fronted in magnificent gray marble, though only a room or two deep, probably to catch breezes. Furnishings are indeed lavish, but not overdone for a king. The gardens behind are nice, though certainly not so well kept as they might have been in royal times. The convent was to house the ladies in waiting for the queen as well as the illegitimate daughters (from the purported second "marriage") of the king. The father was good to these girls: Our accommodations were spacious and the gardens lovely, now including a pool. We swam the evening of our arrival, as did a Portuguese family of five. The father played in the pool with the children, two boys and a girl, later the mother joined them, and then, while lounging on chairs beside the pool, the father told fantastical stories to entertain the children, who laughed with glee. When touring the palace the next day, the children looked bored, though followed dutifully until the end when then ran around the gardens.

    Before going to the palace, we went to the marble museum, located in and around the old train station. It was there, when trying to capture a photo from the overgrown tracks, that Dan stumbled and fractured his heel bone and perhaps disrupted the attachment to his Achilles tendon. He hopped down from the platform and didn't land on the grass, but rather on a part of the rail. From that moment onward, he limped as we toured. Once home, he was x-rayed and given an air cast, with advice to rest the foot for six weeks. At least he was able to carry on for the remainder of our trip with only ibuprofen!

    After swimming and a rest, we walked around the castle, though it was closed. We had dinner in a little restaurant across from the palace, frequented by locals, where we had fish and prawns grilled on skewers.