065 Portugal: Lisbon area

Portugal: Lisbon area
Figueira de Foz, Fatima, Nazare, Caldas das Rainha
Carcavelos, sintra, Cabo da Roca, Estoril, Monserrate & Lisbon

We don't like to drive for more than three hours in any day so on our way to Lisbon we had a stopover at Caldas das Rainha. We stop at a couple of locations on the way for coffee, lunch etc. The road is empty. There had been a two car accident (how?) which impacted one lane and there was a 5 car tailback!!!

We stop, by chance, in a place called Fatima and are really glad we did. This is a new church, and it is lovely to see it being plain and simple. Supposedly three children saw visions of Mary. What surprised us was that all this was supposed to have happened in 1917.
There is a huge open space (similar to but bigger than the Vatican) as each year on October 13th hundreds of thousands of  pilgrims visit on the anniversary of the Virgins supposed apparition.

Nazare beach. We saw a postcard of a massive wave. Seems this area is famous for the massive waves and just this year a woman died while trying to surf one.

Every now and then we stay in an apartment so that we have access to a washing machine. As we didn't really like Porto and we had been told Lisbon was similar, we stayed outside in a place called Carcavelos. A really lovely apartment and our host, Antonio, is fantastic. We can walk to the beach and to the station

The beach

Handing out the washing! We are on the first floor and the washing line is outside the kitchen window. Took me ages to find it and it was only because the lady across the road hung hers out that I looked.

We had a great day trip to Sintra. The place is packed. Possibly the best place in Portugal (in our  opinion). While very tailored to the tourist it was well done. This is inside the palace. We have been very impressed with the blue tile paintings.

View from the Moor fort. We thought about walking up but decided to take the bus and boy was that a great decision.

This was formerly a private home in Monserrate, donated to the public. We've seen a trend that shows even if you are rich you are not immune from changes in politics or religion. Plenty of places are 'donated' back to the government of the time.

We take the train to Lisbon. Many areas are run down. Some areas of the city are lovely, especially along the river. This is the Jeronimo Monestery, where we saw a wonderful wedding.

The Discoveries monument

The Tower of Belem.
Frank climbed the tower.
I waited at the bottom where a young man tried to convert me to Christianity, speaking firstly in Portuguese, then English, then German and finally French. I just smiled saying nothing and then finally said shush until he went away (which took ages)

Just a sculpture that made me  smile.

We will return to Lisbon to fly out to Turkey on the 2nd October.

064 Signs

Signs and interesting objects

We have 81 photos of silly and unusual signs plus funny objects, sights etc.
There were loads more that we saw but either didn't have the camera or were in transit.
Here are the top ones from the trip so far:

I wonder what the Organic farmers make of this little drop? 

appealing drinks

We didn't bother looking at the menu

At last an honest label on a beer bottle

Would you risk buying your jewellery here?

Come on!
Every silly list has to have some toilet humour

A bit disturbing when your own hire car is a Citroen

So bad they named it twice

Someone called Frank a master of complications? Never!

Not quite sure what was to manifest. The car park?

What else would you name your driving school?

Only to be served to those important people in your life that you want to impress

Dry ginger or tonic with your Foetus?

Does the other side say Yes molestar?

and  here you have a choice of where you want to go to be sick








Well I hope at least one of these made you groan and at least one made you chuckle :)

063 Portugal: Porto

Portugal: Porto
We have 81 photos in Porto, here is a selection:

We have a remarkable room, on a corner, with four windows, each with a panoramic view.
With the window open we can hear the city noises (not too loud, really quite nice). Below us is the railway station and we can just hear the jingle before the train announcement. Seagulls are flying level with us. A light cool breeze comes in the window. It is lovely.

This is one of the many 'real' craft markets. By real I mean that the artists/ creators have made the goods they are selling.
One thing that surprises us is how much they use cork in both their crafts and in goods such as handbags, glasses cases and wallets. The guitarist sings in English and most of the people also speak English. We think there is a lot of property investment by the English here.

A photo exhibition with a difference. This is open to all the elements. The photos are on a waterproofed canvas.

First we spot the unusual phone boxes 

and then this unusual post-box.

From a distance the old city looks wonderful. 

On the opposite side of the river are all the Port wine houses. They are on this side because the state owned the land and the taxes were cheaper. The Catholic Church owned (still does?) the land under the old city and charged more tax.

The Moor influence is everywhere (blue tiles here).  This is the railway station.

We hop on the Tourist bus which takes us out of the old city and allows us to get a feel for the whole of Porto.
We 'hop off' at one of the beaches and as it is so long decide a pedalo is better than walking, plus it gives shade. Note the fisherman's net in the sky behind us.

Look at the top window. The guy is cleaning the window - OH&S eat your heart out. 

 

Look at the bridge in these three photos.
There is a 'fog' that rolls up the river. It comes and goes. When we first arrived there was a haze over Porto, which we thought might be pollution but is the reaction between the sea and the land, which is extremely hilly.

 

We had a lovely stay in Porto but with mixed emotions. There is a great deal of poverty. Many areas of the old city are in a state of extreme decay. There are a great number of beggars. It was daunting at first. The difference between the haves and have-nots is wide. Lots to do. Lots to see. Need good knees to navigate the hills. I think I saw Sting and his wife.

062 Spain: Avila and Salamanca

Spain: Avila and Salamanca

On our way to Salamanca we visit the walled city of Avila.

While we've seen many walled cities we've never seen a total view of one like this. It really was breathtaking.

Inside the Cathedral was one of the best (simplest?) Bibliographies I've ever seen. There were about 15 of these 'tiles' putting the church history side by side with the national history and the wold history. It really made understanding 'history' so much easier.

Both the wood and the stone carvings were amongst the most elaborate we have seen (and believe me we've now seen a lot!!!)

I loved this book. It was a massive hymn book which the monks all shared by way of a lectern in the choir stalls.

Finally Frank meets a woman he can see right through.

We are now addicted to Churros and Chocolate. In the best places the chocolate is simply melted dark chocolate. Yummy. Night view of Avila walled city on the wall.

While I realise there have been loads of photos of churches we continue to be impressed.
This one is unusual for its layers.

The roads in Spain are almost empty most of the time. We see these run offs and as there is a motorway (tolls) next to us we are just thinking this is just more infrastructure overkill.

 

but then we see a truck with smoke billowing from its wheels (that for some reason is not visible in the photo) and realise those run offs are 'deadly' serious. The hill is 6km long and 6%. If your breaks were not 100% when you start the descent in a heavy truck you could easily burn them out. 

Frank is tired of only me to talk to so he has a quick chat with a local and gets about just as much response as he does out of me some days!!!!!





We leave Spain and head for Portugal but we will be back.
We like Spain more than we expected and more than France. The weather is better, it is less crowded, the prices are cheaper, the infrastructure (Trains & Roads) are amazing however the food was nowhere near as good. It takes a lot to beat a French bread and patisserie, in our book :)