Central Portugal to the Algarve south

Abrantes - Portalegre - Castello de Vide - Evora - Lagos - Capo de St Vincent - Sagres - Lagos

Bom dia outro! (Hello again!)

A thing about Tomar:
Tomar is the only place that has this flower festival which is quite interesting and I wish I had the chance to see. I think it is during Easter and a period in May where the men and women dress up in white shirts, black pants/skirt and a brightly coloured sash (men wear coloured ties to match their partner). The women carry on their heads a tall basket of roughly the same height as themselves, which has intertwined bread loaves and fresh flowers, with a crown on the top and a little ornament at the peak. They then walk down the street in a kind of parade. Not sure what else happens but it would be quite a sight to behold!

Also some things about Portugal:

· There seems to be a lot of stray dogs and cats around.

· Manueline architecture is a style only found in Portugal, decoration based on sea themes like intertwining rope, chains, anchors, sails, coral, shells, fish etc, carved and sculptured in marble and stone in a classical style, found usually in window/door frames, porticos and pillars. Very pretty.

· Aculejos are generally blue tile decorations with drawings and carvings, found everywhere in Portugal on walls, influenced by the moors and Muslims several centuries ago. Also quite pretty.

· Siestas (usually between 12 to 4pm) can be quite annoying as everything except some cafes and tourist attractions close then. So you’re left wandering the empty streets during that time...

· Internet access is free in most places which is why these emails can be so long! In Lagos you can even find them in bars and restaurants which you can use if you buy something.

· The good thing about travelling off-season is the availability of accommodation and shorter queues etc. The downside is that a lot of transport doesn’t run or does run but not at convenient times till the peak season in June. As a result I gave up trying to get to Elvas-Badajov-Alburquerque-Cacares-Merida-Elvas in east west/west Spain, and go ahead with my original plan (Evora).

· Buses aren’t always cheaper than trains I found out, for example, I caught a train from Abrantes to Portalegre which cost 5 euros (1.5hrs), where the bus would cost 8 euros and take longer (2hrs). Unfortunately sometimes you have no choice, for example I had to catch a bus from Portalegre to Castello de vide (10 euros return) and it is only 20 minutes away!

Anyway, back to where I left off...

I left Abrantes to Portalegre the next day. Portalegre is a nice town. They have a castle and a cathedral but I was more impressed with the monastery which I think must have been converted to some military building because I was stopped by some friendly guards. By speaking broken Portuguese they finally understood my intentions and told me that I can look outside but not go in.

I must be learning some Portuguese because I spent a night at the pub with some old Portuguese men watching a quiz show in Portuguese, and I was actually able to answer some of the questions! It helps when you can read the question and guess at the gist of what it is saying, combined with a basic grasp of Portuguese and a language dictionary (which John bought me and has been the most useful book I’ve ever had here! And it also has a food dictionary, which is very important to have with you, otherwise you’ll end up ordering something like cabbage soup (which I did in Nazare, called Caldo Verde (literally “hot green”), which luckily turned out delicious with grated up cabbage, potato and slices of chorizo (spiced sausage) in it) ).

Anyway, went to Castello de Vide and it was quite pretty. There are little fountains everywhere, they say anywhere in the walled town above the plains you can hear the sound of water somewhere! The castle was a pretty ordinary ruined castle but the narrow cobbled hilly streets in all directions and the houses with flowerpots and clothes hanging out from the top balcony of the houses was very picturesque! The description of the town is pretty much what most Portugal towns are like.

Was planning to go to Marvao but didn’t in the end due to really bad weather. So I spent the day indoors in Portalegre sitting in the cafes all day eating pastries, drinking coffees and writing in my journal or reading. Was quite relaxing not having to do anything...

Next stop was Evora. Evora is beautiful, and a tourist attraction for good reason. Approaching the town via bus through a road that goes between the arches of the large aqueduct was pretty dramatic, into the walled town with its many churches and buildings of renaissance, Moorish, Manueline and roman influences, the old university, the squares, monasteries, the chapel made of human bones which was really awesome. It was made in the 16th century by three Franciscan monks. The chapel is made of 5,000 human skulls and even more bones. The priest gave me a free personalised tour which was nice of him, (even though he only spoke Portuguese), and saw things I would have missed like some skulls still had teeth, some had jaws etc. It really is quite morbid, and the smell and touch of the place is quite hard to describe.

Now I am in Lagos, after passing through some nice countryside and towns, the plains, hills and valleys with purple, yellow and white wildflowers, and trees which I think are olive trees). Lagos is quite nice, especially walking along the coast to the rock formations on the coast which is quite pretty (Melbourne people think 12 apostles at Port Campbell but much nicer). The beaches are awesome, not much surf but the rocks formations are pretty. And I have a nice tan now

Made friends with the guy who owns the youth hostel down there (still don’t know his name). Spent some nights discussing history with him, I love history and Portugal is full of it. Portugal used to be the richest country in the world but bad industrial planning, a couple of bad rulers and extremely high ransoms paid from kidnapped princes etc, and now the country is not as rich as other countries in Europe. But then when you think about it every country has its time of grandeur and richness (so I’m waiting for the day the Australia becomes one ). I am a firm believer that it’s not what you see, but the people you meet and the things you learn that make travelling, and indeed life, so much richer and wonderful.

Went down to Capo de St Vincent and Sagres for the day, which is the South Westernmost point of Europe and Portugal facing the Atlantic Ocean. The forts and lighthouses were average, but the spectacular huge waves crashing against the rocks was quite a sight to see. Oh and it’s very windy. The place reminds me of a Greek island with its white painted concrete walls, fences and houses.

Anyway, next stop is Seville, in Spain. I’m cant get accommodation on Saturday night because they are having their famous April Festival then, there so what I plan to do is stash my bag in a locker when I get there and stay up all night. After all it is the Seville April Festival!

Adios!