After picking up our car we headed south for the 3 hr interstate drive to The Algarve. About an hour on the road (enjoying our stick shift VW Golf), deep in the Alentejo Region, we saw a road sign for a historic site and decided to see where it would take us. Our TomTom told us to follow narrow cobble stone roads, climbing up a hill with a large old structure to our left. We parked at the top and were amazed by an incredible overlook revealing the beautiful landscape of the Sado river and Alentejo’s plains.

Behind us, occupying a strategic hilltop position overlooking the Sado River, was the castle of Alcácer do Sal Castle. We walked inside a door for the Cripta Arqueológica do Castelo, paid less than 2 euros a person, and had our first history lesson.

The hilltop has been settled since prehistoric times, but today stands an Islamic fortress that dominates the hill; a fortress that played a part in the struggles between Muslims and Christians for Portugal. The castle is of Arabesque construction dating back to the 6th century and conquered by the Portuguese crown in 1217. It also once served as a home to a convent. Nowadays, it preserves its high walls and 31 towers. The castle's walled area also holds the Igreja de Santa Maria do Castelo church, a hotel, and the Alcacer do Sal Castle Archaeological Crypt, the largest crypt of this kind in Portugal.

During excavations required for the refurbishment of the convent into a hotel, they found remnants of some 2,700 years of human occupation on the hill. Medieval walls from both the Christian and Islamic occupation of the castle are built on top of Roman walls, which are in turn above Iron Age walls dating to the 7th century BC. We saw thousands of years of history, Roman busts, coins from a Roman wishing well, and so much more. It was an incredible education and a reminder to be open and follow our whims (and the TomTom).