Returning to the marina for the night we then packed our bags for two nights away from the boats. First we stopped at Tui, the medieval Spanish frontier town that sits on one side of the Minho River, facing the fortified town of Fortaleza de Valenca on the Portuguese side.
Adam had booked an Air BnB apartment – a first for us, but it was excellent and very close to the old town, and we headed straight in there to drop off bags before heading into the remarkably well preserved medieval part of the small city.
Paul had just finished reading Pillars of the Earth, set in medieval England, which paints a good picture of the chaotic and cruel life in medieval times, with particular reference to the building of castles, churches and cathedrals and the role of the church and nobility in everyday life.
Val, Lynne and Adam had also read the book and we were all fascinated by this town which is a little piece of history frozen in time. Okay it does have electricity, but the design of the town and the cathedral in particular were fascinating. Work had commenced in 1120 and the building sports cloisters as well as battlements, for this was constructed as a “castle cathedral”.
As we arrived at the cathedral a youth choir were visiting and gave an impromptu concert on the steps of the church – magical! We then wandered inside the church and adjoining cloisters, followed by a trip up the tower accessed from the cloisters and around the battlements along the roof perimeter, with fabulous views of the surrounding landscape.