Blogs from Alentejo, Portugal, Europe - page 6

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Europe » Portugal » Alentejo October 20th 2007

Travel blog 6 Wednesday 10th Time to leave this lovely site - amazing being only ones here though a lot of static touring vans filled most spaces. Stopped at bottom of 'la 'ill' as decided to update blog from library in town. Left Andy in the market for few hours while I found the library. That itself was wonderful; extremely old heavy stone building with an ultra modern interior which somehow worked. Headed off for Villa Real and again we had to cross a mountain to get to it - uphill 10 miles and downhill another 10. Villa Real advertised as a commercial centre and thats exactly what it was. We did not like it at all. Camp site right in middle of big town and to get to it had to enter tiny street with ... read more
Castelo Branco
Storks nest
Idanho

Europe » Portugal » Alentejo » Évora October 13th 2007

Hello Again, We’ve been so very lucky with the weather so far - but this week has been almost too much to hope for. We’ve travelled inland about 100 miles and the temperature has gone up several degrees. The site we are staying on is within walking distance of Evora but it really is too hot to walk - fortunately there are plenty of places to park, free of charge, just outside with city walls, so we’re taking advantage of this. The site also has a lovely pool heated to 23c perfect for a swim at the end of a long hot day. Evora has been here since Roman times and there are remains from this period which are in superb condition. The remains of the temple to Diana (were all Roman temples to Diana?) are ... read more
The Capela Dos Ossos
Evora
The Romans Woz 'Ere

Europe » Portugal » Alentejo October 10th 2007

Travel blog 5 If this gets too boring please switch off - I will never know and whatever you do when we get back is not to invite us round if we mention showing you our holiday snaps!! Forgot on last blog to mention that on the awful day across mountains we found a most fabulous site in the nature reserve and we slept by a waterfall at a place called Geres. We thought this would be relaxing, but turned out a big annoying. I had trouble with my ear since I left England and realised how bad it had got when I laid on one side and listened to water and on other side could hear nothing. So as well as sorting van out made visit to Farmacia for drops. Laid in bed thinking how ... read more
Cathedral at San Sebastian (2)
Porto Railway Station
Porto from bus (2)

Europe » Portugal » Alentejo March 31st 2007

You never know what will be similar and what will be different in a foreign country. Parking is like in Seattle where you go to a machine, insert money (not sure if you can use a credit card or not), get a ticket, and put itin you car window. On the other hand, shopping carts are very different. They are locked in a little like the luggage carts at the airport, and you have to insert a .50€ piece to use it. When you put it back, you can retrieve your .50€. Today, I'm in Guimaraes, a lovely small town with tons of flowers and fountains. Quite a culture shock to get out of the big cities. Guimaraes is called the cradle of Portugal. I don't recall the full story, but this is where the Spanish ... read more

Europe » Portugal » Alentejo » Zambujeira do Mar February 26th 2007

“Sulla strada il tempo non ha valore”: il perfetto epitaffio del vero viaggiatore! Io a ‘sta storia del valore del tempo in effetti non ho mai creduto, neanche nei periodi stanziali della mia vita, voglio dire. Secondo me, un giorno, tanto, tanto tempo fa, qualcuno decise che “il mattino ha l’oro in bocca”, che “chi dorme non piglia pesci”, che “mai lasciare a domani ciò che potresti fare oggi” e tutta una lunghissima serie di mal celati inviti a farsi un culo così nella vita. I responsabili delle compagnie di trasporto internazionale devono evidentemente aver aderito senza riserve a questa corrente di pensiero e così anche l’espresso Lisbona-Siviglia parte alle 7 del mattino. Di domenica. E per render breve una storia lunga (perché non dimentichiamo che “il tempo è denaro”), dirò solo che quel bus l’ho ... read more
Giorni Felici sulla Corsia Lenta
L'Antica Università di Coimbra
Camera con Vista

Europe » Portugal » Alentejo » Zambujeira do Mar February 26th 2007

“On the road time is valueless”: the perfect epitaph for the real traveller! I actually have never believed to the tale of the value of time, not even in these sedentary times of my life, I mean. I guess that once, a very, very long ago, someone decided that “Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise”, and “Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today”, and “Procrastination is the thief of time” and so on with a long list of badly disguised invitations to dedicate one’s life to be productive. The folks at Eurolines must evidently have thoroughly accepted such theories and therefore their express bus Lisbon-Seville leaves at 7am. On Sunday. And, well, to make a long story short (do not forget that “time is money”), ... read more
Happy Days on the Slow Line
Coimbra's Old University
A Room with a View

Europe » Portugal » Alentejo » Évora November 17th 2006

Good Days and Bad News in Lagos The Grottoes of Lagos are Beautiful Today started as usual. We got up, figured out how to use the shower (this sounds easy to you stateside people, but every place we’ve been the shower is different), showered, got some quick food and set out about the town. We started out by walking down by the water and checking out the seaside part of the town. Shortly after starting, these salty fisherman types asked us if we wanted to take a 45 minute boat ride up to the cliffs and grottoes just up the coast between Sagres and Lagos. Kel, being extremely excited about the idea, convinced me to go. The guy driving the boat (a small fisherman boat with an outboard motor) looks exactly like what you’d expect ... read more
Cliffs
Danger, Will Robinson!
Elephant Rock

Europe » Portugal » Alentejo » Évora November 15th 2006

A Rainy Day Won’t Stop Our Fun A Night of Fabulous Food Last night we finally got a moment of down time to focus on our finances. After posting yesterday’s blog we went back to our hotel and Kel worked some Excel finance magic. She created a spreadsheet that allows us to tally our daily costs broken down by food, living, transportation, etc. The spreadsheet gives us a daily total, a monthly average and a yearly average. This yearly average, in true Capital One style, gives us a Green/Yellow/Red status on what we expect our average daily expenses to be. Thus, after calculating our expenses thus far, we were able to figure out that we had a decent balance left for the day, which lead us to splurge a little for dinner. Our guidebook suggested ... read more
Cathedral from Cloisters
Igresia Church and Roman Temple
Kel in the Rain

Europe » Portugal » Alentejo » Évora November 14th 2006

Yesterday Lisbon, Today Evora As I told you in yesterday’s blog, today was our first adventure using mass transit within Europe. Last night we had a decent dinner at a restaurant in Barrio Alto where we finally got a chance to try Vinho Verde, which is a carbonated wine. We tried a red variety and found it to be quite tasty (just like you said Leigh C.) but it also packs a decent punch. After the bottle was done I felt a little light headed and Kel was half way drunk. After dinner we got some pastries (Pastel de Nata: see previous blog entry) and then went and got ice cream at Haagen Dazs (SP?). Kel and I each had a single scoop in a cone and sat in a plaza and enjoyed our surroundings. ... read more
Local Cathedral
Cafe
Alley outside our Hotel




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