A trip to Spain is easy by train from central Portugal. I recently discovered that there are two trains daily to the Spanish city of Badajoz from Entroncamento, an important rail hub about 35 minutes south of where I live. The trip takes about 2 hours 45 minutes, stopping at multiple towns along the route, including Abrantes, Portalegre and Elvas. The cost is 12.45 Euros, or about $13.20, each way.
My friend and I decided to take the early train, which departs from Entroncamento at about 9:30 in the morning, reaching its destination at about 1:15 p.m. Spain is in the European time zone an hour ahead of Portugal so this “adds” an hour to the outward trip and visa versa. When we found our way to the appropriate platform we did a double-take. The train for this international journey consists of exactly one carriage. Most of the trains in Portugal are electric, but this one sounded as though it ran on diesel.
Why travel to Spain when there is so much to see in Portugal? Well, it’s an easy trip and I love a sense of adventure.
Badajoz is in the Spanish province of Estremadura. It has a rich and varied history as we discovered. After checking into our hotel, we crossed the Puente de Palmas over the Guadiana river and found ourselves at the Puerta de Palmas. This was the huge door of an old wall that formerly surrounded the city of Badajoz. From that point, streets to the left lead into a more historic area while heading to the right will take you toward the more modern shopping district.
We wandered through the historic district and found the Museo de Bellas Artes (MUBA) which offered free entry. Of much more interest to me was the Museo de la ciudad “Luis de Morales”. From the exhibits in this museum you get a real sense of the city’s past under the Romans, the Moors and the decades during the 17th century when Portuguese and Spanish forces fought over possession of the city. British visitors may also be interested in the city’s role during the Napoleonic Wars when an Anglo-Portuguese army under the then-Earl of Wellington laid seige to Badajoz in the spring of 1812 and forced the surrender of the French garrison. According to several sources, it was one of the bloodiest battles of the Peninsular War.
We were fortunate enough to only have half a day of rain while we were in Badajoz. After a long dry spring and summer, the rains hit Portugal in mid-October and have barely stopped since. We returned from Badajoz on 7 December and it seems as though the rain has fallen non-stop since then. Tropical-type downpours have filled the depleted reservoirs but also caused widespread flooding and misery. In the Lisbon area many neighborhoods were flooded and one woman died. We all knew we needed the rain, but sometimes you can have too much of a good thing!
Rosalie in the Red and Green 
I love this story, Rosalie! It sounds like a fun mini-adventure! Thank goodness for the rain, but as you say, it can be too much! I love taking trains! We got some kind of golden pass when we were last in Spain, that gave over 65s reduced rates on the trains. We took a lot of trains between our weeks of hospitalero service and walking the Sanabres, visiting A Coruna, Burgos, and other places — Zamora, and Salamanca.
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