Those Pantomime Baddies The Spanish
Batalha, Portugal
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Those Pantomime Baddies The Spanish
Thursday 22nd of January 2009
Batalha, Portugal: 9:00
Batalha is Portugal's Battle Abbey, Hastings, only difference is in Portugal, the home team won. To cut a long story short, Joao nicked the throne, and those pantomime baddies the Spanish decided to invade. The Portugese army were outnumbered 3-1, so Joao promised he'd build a nice big monastery if he won. Here it is, and Joao must have felt seriously indebted to God, cause it's ****ing huge! Don't think I've ever felt so dwarfed, alone in such a ridiculously big building, so the lord only knows how those tiny Portugese feel. It's chucking it down today, and the cloisters are full of the sound of dripping water. Here's Portugal's official war memorial, with two motionless soldiers on guard, and one pacing around, waiting his turn. The thing with Batalha is the intricate masonry, where solid rock is weaved into a fine lace, but the whole effect is gloriously sombre, imposing, and strangely melancholly. There's the cool Escola Profissional de Artes e Oficios Tradicionais da Batalha, where you can watch pierced and bleach blonde young kids batter lumps of plaster and rock into various cool shapes. All very fascinating, but I've spent far, far too long here, I should have been down the road bloody ages ago.
Doh! (Again)
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