Mourao

The castle where I was busy riding cannons was at Mourao, 8km from the Spanish border. Given the size of the castle there I suspect it was the Spanish border at some stage in its existence. The castle is very open to the public so not only can you jump on cannons you can can climb the walls and and pace the ramparts pretending you're a soldier watching over the town or over the lake to Monsarraz. All good clean honest fun if you like narrow staircases and vertigo-inducing views. Personally I don't so I resisted the temptation until the end when a group of Spanish guys and girls headed up to the top and my new-found Latino machismo got the better of me: "if they can do it, I can!". Mourao is now separated from the rest of Portugal by a dam built in the last 10 years, which if nothing else makes for nice backgrounds to photos.