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Europe » Portugal » Lisbon & Tagus Valley » Cascais
May 20th 2013
Published: May 21st 2013
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We woke early, really really early …..



Woolly says – dawn was breaking more like, Ian told us it was half seven so with the kettle boiling we all went about our morning wake up rituals, checking Jo’s phone I found that it was actually 6.30am!!!! What a time to wake me up!!



For some reason Ian’s roaming time was still on Spanish time but in our cross over into Portugal we had gained an hour and were now on BST again. Not to be downhearted, it was a lovely morning and the sun was coming up along with the temperature, 15 degrees by the time we were packed and ready to go.



Woolly says – I was down hearted! But putting my grumps away I sat eagerly looking around me as we headed down the worse road on our travels so far, an N (probably for nasty), with potholes everywhere Oliver had do take a slalom course to navigate through. As we started to head into the mountains the roads improved and the view was jaw dropping, with high leafy trees through which we could see a huge lake, it looked wonderful. Within a few more kilometres and we were feasting our eyes on Savannah like landscapes with a specular blanket of purple, white and yellow flowers. With cries of sheep, cows and goats Woolly ringing in my ears I found the houses we were passing even more interesting. Blinding white residences with colourful yellow and sometimes blue painted round the windows and doors, it made everything seem sunny with no help at all for the clear blue skies above us.



We covered the 236KM easily and found ourselves approaching the walled city of Evora, Oliver was none too keen on the cobblestones (every town seems to have them), but as a traffic control measure it certainly slows the traffic down. Following the signs we pulled up at Parque de Campismo de Evora, less than a kilometre to the town walls. For 15 Euros (approximately £12.20 GBP) and 20 for Motorhomes we were told to pitch anywhere behind the facilities. A pick axe might have been handy for getting the rock out of the ground because hammering the pegs in wasn’t an easy option, with most of them in the ground and quite a few in the 2 inches of solid we had to make the most of it. With very basic showers, toilets and no washing up area noticeable it was clean, the pool looked lovely but with a sudden downpour we resisted the temptation and instead headed into the town itself. Evora fell under Roman domination, when it was called Liberalitas Julia and, among other ruins, still retains those of the Temple of Diana. Under the Moors in 1165,the castle walls were constructed as a further defense system.



Woolly says – It looked most impressive with the castle walls surrounding the whole place, lovely little cobbled streets would have looked even better if the rain stopped! Finding the cathedral we headed inside with the hope that the rain would have gone back to Spain by the time we came out. Built in 1186, it was a simple building inside, with only four chapels; they were ornate but lacked the splendour of Segovia. In the middle section there was a huge gold embellished display surrounding the Virgin Mary complete with cupids. The cloister was however really pretty, we found some steps leading upwards and went to investigate, they brought us out on the roof! It looked a long way down and with a quick couple of pictures taken we headed back down again. The rain had stopped and we decided to head to the left and there in front of us was a Roman Temple, I didn’t see that coming! In very good condition, there was no information about it and we weren’t able to go up close but it made a stunning view in contrast to the Cathedral next door. Feeling tired from our exertions and early morning we made our way back to camp, early night for me, it feels like it must be bedtime already!


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22nd May 2013

Sines
Wow, you have come a long way since I last checked on you! Don't know why but I thought you were going North, not South. If you go South of Lisbon, check out Sines. It's not a very touristy place but the castle is worth a visit and the town itself is interesting. I described it in my blog [blog=760766]. Are you headed for Morocco? John
22nd May 2013

Tooooooo Cold
The plan was to head North but it's been so cold we thought we would come South and then pedal back in the summer months. We got to Sines yesterday and it was beautiful, unfortunately our cameras were out of battery following the 3 million pics we had taken at the Safari Park. Were not doing Morocco yet, that comes under phase 4!!!! Heading to Gibraltar and then back up through Spain, we have to be in Milan for the 12th June but who knows after that.

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