On July 29th of this year, we took a day trip from Cascais to a place recommended for children, Typical Village José Franco, in Mafra. We went to explore this open-air museum after the kids woke up from their nap in the car and everyone was in a great mood, which was great.
The Typical Village José Franco
Text below taken from official website.
In the early 1960s, José Franco gave wings to his dream of recreating an ethnographic village, where his childhood memories would be crystallized, a testament to the way of life of the local people, in homage to his land. His village would have two components: it would be a replica of the old workshops and shops, of the living spaces, decorated and equipped with real objects, where the customs and work activities intrinsic to his childhood and to the peasant life of the Mafra region were reproduced; at the same time, the village included a play area, dedicated to children, full of miniatures of houses and inhabitants that portrayed the activities carried out at the time: work in the fields, carpentry, windmills, chapels, grocery stores, schools, wineries, peasants and even a reproduction of the fishing village of Ericeira and the trades linked to the sea.
Our tour
We started by parking the car at the back of the village and crossing the castle wall. We played a little in the playground, used the bathrooms and tried to buy food for the animals, but they only accepted cash and we didn't have any. The only way was to watch them from afar.
Then we walked past the restaurant, the bakery, the miniature village and then we climbed the waterfall to throw plants into the water and watch them move (Paddy's joke).
We walked around the entire space in just under 2 hours, going through every possible door and seeing the items on display, and I found everything to be very well done and well cared for. The children asked a lot of questions and were very interested in the houses, and I think it would be great to have someone explaining more details about the customs, clothes, and work of the time... the adults and children would learn even more.
At the end of the tour, we bought some bread with chorizo that were delicious and we came back eating them in the car for dinner, much to everyone's delight.
A great afternoon! I recommend it 🙂
