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Published: September 13th 2008
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Castle entrada from garden area
One of the most beautiful spots in the castle, the panoramic view you get from this point shows the area here as seen, and on its left there is a nice open area with grape vines and you get a pretty maestic view of the Tomar lower area and surrounding lush hills Tim version:
* Back to Lisbon, chilled with Caitlin for ages, awesome girl.
* Went to Tomar for the day and night and saw the Knights Templar castle + assorted other stuff.
Fuller version:
So back to Lisbon from Sagres and due to my slowness getting up n stuff I miss out on going to Tomar today. Not only that but Tomar has been wiped from the train website as a destination, wtf! Small nuclear attack up there perhaps? Or is it really that sleepy and not much goin on that they just decided that meh, noone wants to go there so we're gonna stop running services? Heh in my nerdy way, this stuff all pops into my head as a more likely situation that just that someone has stuffed up the website locations list... I trust this stuff too much! Busses from Rede Expressos go there anyway so thats the aim tomorrow...
Had an easy night just relaxing 'at home' at Oasis with Caitlin and others and ended up watchin DVDs and stuff wit her over in another building that Oasis owns. So good, so relaxing, was nice to have another bit of a night off. In the
Tomar square
Tomar square across from the bus station. A government building of some sort, this isnt the main square. Thats further into town i think... morning, to Tomar...
Well, kinda the morning. The only bus going didnt go until around 1pm which is good coz I got a good sleep, good laze around, and all the time in the world to lose my wallet, freak out, rip everything outta my bag to find it, check all over the other building and stuff only to turn around and find it in the front pocket of my freakin bag! Thanks for the patience with that one Caitlin, Ida killed me after I found it!
2 hours bus to Tomar so not all too long and when you get there after being in Lisbon it seems so quiet and slow paced. Well, thats kinda because it is! Noone in the hostel had heard of it or anything but its a beautiful place. Up there besides checking out the Knights Templar castle I think it would be hard to check out much without a car, but since I only had a few hours to kill before Jill Bull found me (I was staying with them that night, some family friends) that worked out pretty well! I had a good conversation with a guy from France I think
Gardens near Templar Castle
The gardens I trekked around thats gounds adjoin the Knights Templar castle. Quite steep at some points but a beautiful area to walk. while hiking around one of the gardens near the castle too, both of us speaking almost no Spanish so I spoke in English and he spoke in French, kinda a cool conversation too even though we were talking about totally different things Im sure. Kinda let you have one of those really selfish conversations where you just say exactly what you want and dont worry if the other party is interested heh.
I wont stick much up on the Knights Templar castle coz its easier just to look it up but its pretty cool. I found myself drawn so much more to the nature side of it, were it was overgrown and outdoors, and the same with the big gardens next to it. Im turning into such a hippie over here! A nature loving greeny, preferring no shoes and grubby feet, makin my own food, and hating on the shops a bit for wasting so much plastic with packaging and bags... Wonder if the last part of my trip will end up with me on a greenpeace ship sailing around the Galapagos saving al sortsa living creatures. Be a kinda cool finish I think!
Thanks Jill and family
Small cave
In the gardens, a small cave of some sort. for a wicked dinner that night, a big roast, that thing was awesome! Chilled and talked with them, and theyve done some really good travelling. Katie, the daughter, was just back from trekking around Afrika, while Daniel their son had just climbed Mount Everest and reached the peak! Pretty hard not to be inspired by the stories of those two. I didnt have much to share back but man, I can only hope that after this travel Ive got some stories to share like these guys. Once the everest photos are up somewhere Ill probably stick a link on here too. I only saw a couple but theyre so breathtaking, and knowing the guy you are talking to took them is insane! Also martin and Jill the proud parents have been living in Tomar since May (theyre from Melbourne I forgot to mention) at this farm house with Martin working remotely, while doing a whole bunch of European travelling as well, which fits in pretty well with my dream of living in funky places working remotely that Stefan is also managing to do! Seeing people doing it already makes it feel so much more real and achievable, so once I
Tomar town
A small view of a small part of town, taken from the weathered cobblestone path up to the castle. get back I just need to stick the effort in and itll get there im sure.
Morning in Tomar from this farm house gives the best view of the valley... I think i grabbed a few snaps of it so ill stick them up. So quiet here, its around 8am and I figure its about 6 from the sleepyness of it all. Itd be easy for weeks to pass by here and not even know it, but today im on a 10:15 bus outta here so not for me! I nearly missed the bus, cutting my timing real fine, but the bus was late so all good and back to Lisbon for lunch, not bad at all!
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