Castellinho is like no place I have ever been. It is the name of a building, but actually represents an entire state of being. As Rute put it, Castellinho is a place where everything is allowed. It was built by Rute's parents as a sort of jungle gym for the kids to romp around in growing up. Although the place is secluded, hidden in a valley amid brush and rocks, it is only a 15 minute walk from her home near Lisbon.

 

Castellinho is a crumbling place build in a haphazard manner. Random chunks of marble and granite make up the patio. Stairways permeate the place in a random fashion, leading to nooks and crannies perfect for small bodies to crawl into. There is no running water or electricity and you can see the remains of spent candles all over the place. The building itself is built into the hillside, and there are places where only bare rock wall emerges from the plaster.

 

At first I was a bit taken aback that I would actually be sleeping in this place. For all intensive purposes, Castellinho resembles a crackhouse with cigarette butts and the remains of blunts lying around and empty bottles of liquor lolling around. But once people started arriving and talking and playing music, the place was transformed. Candlelight does wonders. Outside is an empty metal barrel in which a fire was stoked nightly, lighting up the stained plaster walls with a soft glow.

 

Avoiding the hard tile floors, I managed to secure a space in a tent outside with three physics students from Coimbra, who I plan to visit later in my trip. Rui, Luis, and Ze (short for Jose) turned out to be excellent hosts. They took me on several day trips. The first was to Cabo de Roca, the westernmost point in Europe, where a huge monument topped with a crucifix stands atop the cliffs. We also went to the beach, which succeeded in reminding of southern California with its bikini clad women, tanned people, and surfers aplenty. The next day we went together to Sintra, which I will write about in more detail.