Friday, February 19, 2016

Day 4


We started out the beautiful sunny day with a farm visit to Quinta da LaGoalva north of Lisbon about 40 miles.  This farm started in the 12th century run by a religious order, including a chapel that is only used currently for family events.  Later in the 18th century it was purchased and operated by the current family.  They operate a very diversified farm that includes, walnuts, cows, corn, peas, potatoes, wheat, lucitano horses (a native Portugal pure-bred horse breed), with emphasis on grapes and wine along with world-award-winning olive oil.  The scope of the farm includes 7,000 hecters and 30 employees.  They are trying to incorporate long lasting traditions with more modern technologies across their farm.










We enjoyed lunch at a local Coruche family restaurant. 



After our lunch we toured the local Coruche County museum that focused on the natural history of the area.  The museum houses the oldest bell found in Portugal from the 13th century. 




We traveled just a few blocks to the Coruche Cork Observatory, a hands on learning center about the cork industry.  Cork is the number one agricultural industry to Portugal, and in Coruche County, 50% of the land is covered by cork oak trees.  Cork continues to be the highest economic valued crops in the country. 



We traveled to Beja to spend the evening to start again tomorrow