Lisbon, Amsterdam ...and home

Leaving Evora was the start of our long trip home.  It was a 90 minute drive down the A6 to Lisbon, during which we paused for sustenance in Vendas Novas.  After a slightly chaotic drive to their hotel at the airport, we parted ways with Kevin and Linda.  They fly out early for their extra legs through Ireland and Scotland,while Sue and I are on our way back to NZ.

Driving south we saw many stork nests.  These ones on the pylons were particularly crazy.

I'm not sure how the storks nesting on the high tension lines avoid electrocution!  Although looking at the photograph above they do seem be avoiding the main three phase conductors.  I guess natural selection would have taught them the basics of high voltage transmission lines!

The 12 km Vasco da Gama bridge crossing back into Lisbon

We stayed overnight down near the new marina area ("Park of Nations"), just to taste a different part of the city, and flew out the next day at a civilized time of day.  At the airport we were swept off our feet by the efficient no-fuss Avis rental car drop-off operation, which took about one minute, but walking into the terminal we passed a queue of about 200 grumpy customers queuing at the Avis desk to pick up cars.  We were very glad not to be in that queue, recalling our hassles picking up our car 8 days ago.

Our (Cathay Pacific) flight back to New Zealand leaves from Amsterdam, so we had to first fly there from Lisbon, and spend one more night in a hotel.  I had booked one right at the airport, so we could walk there and back.  It was very modern and rather interesting, with completely electronic self check-in, and everything in the room controlled from an i-Pad!  However the room was quite small and had a startling "bathroom" arrangement, as you can see in this photo:

The hotel "bathroom" arrangements.

Obviously you would only want to share this room with a close friend!  The bed was a queen-sized square shape, so you could sleep across it or along it, as you prefer.  The room was completely soundproof so we could look out over the runways but hear no sound from the aircraft.

Our flight home went through Hong Kong, where there were daily reports of pro-democracy demonstrations including attempts to disrupt the airport.  However there was no sign of that from inside the airport as we passed through.

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Evora

We lastly drove south to Evora, a walled hill town about 100 km east of Lisbon.  Here we reverted to hotel accommodation, at the simple and economical Moov Hotel.  No more AirBnbs on this trip for us, although Kevin and Linda have another leg in Scotland and Ireland after we return to NZ.  It's my birthday today, and what's more I'm now an old-age pensioner, or as we prefer to say these days a superannuant.  I got my first over-65 discount here, although I can't remember what for (because I'm so old?).

The square in Evora, set up for a concert that evening.

This little shop mysteriously sells just cans of sardines, each printed with the date of a year between 1942 and now.

Those mysterious dated sardine cans...

Window shopping in Evora.

The sleek Hotel Moov.  Modern, cheap, and comfortable!

The macabre Capela dos Ossos (Chapel of Bones) is lined with human bones!

Something a little less confronting.

Portugal means cork, so you can buy just about anything made of cork.

The portuguese rooster, the "Rooster of Barcelos".  Wikipedia explains the significance...

The roman temple of Evora, two thousand years old.

We stayed up past our bedtimes to join the concert crowd in the town square.

Evora was in the midst of a cultural or music festival, and in the evening there was a free concert in the square.  We found ourselves listening to Munir Hossn, a Brazilian jazz musician and composer with an international reputation.  He is obviously talented but his high speed avante-garde jazz was hard work for our old ears, and we made our exit after a few pieces.

From Evora we drove the final road leg of our epic european tour, to Lisbon.

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Elvas

From Manteigas in the Serra da Estrela national park we next continued south for another long day, this time headed for Evora - our last stop before Lisbon.  We are travelling down the eastern side of Portugal, and sometimes not far from the Spanish border.

We stopped at the village of Castelo Novo (new castle), which was almost deserted and did not offer the morning coffee we were looking for.  It does have a great view from the ruins of the castle out toward Spain, though.

A tiny door in Castelo Novo.  We saw no tiny people, though.

Sue (tiny) looking out from the castle ruins in Castelo Novo, over the village toward Spain.

The road south passed huge areas of these cork oak trees and dry grass.

At Portalegre we stopped for lunch, and found a place to eat at the top of this central park.

These feet have done quite a lot of walking this last month.  From Russia to Portugal!

Our last stop before Evora was at Elvas.  We made a detour to go to there because it is reputed to be one of the best preserved medieval fortified towns in Europe.  Most walled towns we have seen in Europe have expanded beyond their medieval walls into newer suburbs outside, but Elvas is largely still contained within its extensive walls.

At Elvas we were awed by the Amoreira aqueduct, bringing water from 8 km away since circa 1600.

The location of Evlas is magnificent, from a strategic point of view.  The view from the ramparts of the town extends to a great distance in most directions, so the lookouts could see the enemy coming well in advance.  The Spanish border is only 13 kilometres to the east.

It was very hot there, as it has been most afternoons, so we had to limit how far we walked before retreating to the air-conditioned car.

Exploring the quiet, baking hot backstreets of Elvas.

Kevin on the ramparts, with the oldest tower and walls yonder.

I think that is Spain way over there somewhere.

More tile art, outside an Elvas house.

Elvas main square.  I think locals were probably all asleep.

Elvas was very hot, which is no doubt one of the reasons few people are on the streets.  We found some cold Coke inside a little bar in the ramparts, but did not try and explore all of the old town.  By then we were searching for the way back to our car, so we could get some relief in its air-conditioned interior.

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Manteigas

From Santiago da Compostela in the northwest of Spain, the last leg of our holiday is a drive down the inland route ending in Lisbon, from where we set out for the trip back home.  On this leg we have two relatively long days of driving taking us first to Manteigas in the Serra da Estrela national park, then on to Evora which is inland from Lisbon.

Today we had a long day driving south from Santiago in Spain, back into Portugal on a more inland route than the coastal route we came north on a few days ago.  This time we chose an Airbnb house up on a mountain, in the national park of Serra da Estrela ("starry mountains").  The national park is a 100 km long block of mountains which rises out of the surrounding land, and which includes the highest peak in mainland Portugal (just under 2000 m), and this house is at about 1200 metres, on the hill above the town of Manteigas inside the national park.

The view from the house over the valley is wonderful, looking down to the town in the valley below.  There is a balcony we can sit on as the sun goes down, watching the lights come on in the town.  There don't seem to be any biting insects, so we can leave all the windows open all night which made sleeping easier as the day was very hot.  We understand this area is probably more popular as a winter destination, when people come up here for the snow.  There is no snow in sight at this time of year.

Looking down on Manteigas from our balcony at night.

The daytime view.  The town nestles within a valley between the mountains.

Ours was a traditional house with thick stone walls, and polished creaky wooden floors.

We visited the woollen mill, recently re-established.

The woollen mill in Manteigas once provided many jobs for the the inhabitants, but went into decline until it was "rediscovered" in 2010 by enthusiasts who set out to re-establish it.  It is the source of "Burel" woollen textiles sourced entirely from local sheep, and marketed around the world.  It is still a much smaller operation than at its peak, but has all the original looms some of which are 60 years old.  The manager provided a personal guided tour explaining the story of Burel wool and products - very interesting, especially all the old punch-card driven looms.

Even this small town has an elaborately decorated church.

We got lost and overheated in the steep winding and almost deserted streets of Manteigas.

We had a bit of excitement when in the afternoon we heard the fire sirens go off in the town, and saw smoke rising in the distance.  As we drove here we had passed through a large area of burnt trees, the remnants of a major fire in 2016, so we were a bit nervous.  On Kevin's advice we hurriedly packed our bags and put them in the car, ready for a quick escape!  This house is up on the hillside surrounded by forest, so we felt a bit vulnerable, as Kevin reminded us that forest fire can spread very quickly.

After some time we made contact with our landlord, who reassured us that the fire was some distance away, and not a threat.  He also explained that this house is actually the official gathering point for this area in the event of a forest fire, so should be safe!

Breakfast alfresco at Manteigas.  Looking out at the valley and mountains.

After 2 nights in Manteigas we set off south again.  We are now in the last days of this epic trip, doing fairly long days on the road to get all the way back down to Lisbon again.  However we are taking an inland route, so are covering fresh ground.  Our next overnight is in Evora.

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Santiago de Compostela

Santiago de Compostela is the capital city of of this region of Spain ("Galacia"), and dates back over a thousand years.  It has become very widely known as the destination of the "Camino de Santiago", a pilgrimage thousands (200,000 plus) of people walk every year.  Most people even in New Zealand seem to know someone who has done the camino in some form or other.

The city is built around its large, heavy-set cathedral, which is the destination of the camino walkers, and a popular tourist destination.  We settled into our (very nice) BnB two kilometres from the cathedral.  It was not long before we realised we were on the camino trail.  A steady trickle of "pilgrims" with backpacks and walking sticks went by our windows, heading toward the cathedral.

"Walking the Camino" - well, the last 2 km of it.

The photo above shows one of the marker posts which show pilgrims the way - the pole with the cross on top.  In the distance one of the cathedral towers is just visible.

The way is also marked with these brass shells set into the pavement.

The Santiago cathedral is a huge building.  We found it undergoing extensive renovations, and crowded with visitors.  Inside there was scaffolding and plastic sheeting everywhere, but people were still filing through and standing in a huge queue to see Saint James' casket (we passed by).  The building is huge and hemmed in by other buildings, so it is very hard to stand back and get a clear view of the whole thing.  On the west side however there is a reasonably large square, so at least you can see that facade.  A wide angle lens is needed here.

One tower of the cathedral.  The whole thing is much to big to fit in one photo.

Santiago de Compostela Cathedral, almost 1,000 years old.

Currently undergoing extensive renovations, but still open for tourist business.

Somewhere inside the scaffolding is the tomb of Saint James.

Obviously hasn't got the "smoking is bad for you" message.

It was baking hot in the sun the day we explored Santiago, so after completing the primary goal of seeing the cathedral we sought out the shade in the "Park of Alameda", where there was rumoured to be a famous statue of the "Two Marias".  The two Marias were sisters from a local family, well known identities who used to walk daily in the park.

Nice and shady in the Parque da Alameda.

Despite arriving exactly where Google told as the status was, we could not see it.  That is until we realised it is not some stone statue up on a pedestal, but was right behind us.  The Two Marias had blended into a another group who were taking selfies with them!  Once the crowd cleared we followed suit:

The "Two Marias".

If you search Google images for "As Duas Marias" you can see that over time they have changed colours several times.  They must get a new coat of paint now and then.

Taking the long way home to our BnB.

We got a bit lost on our way home, so spent more time out in the heat than we should have, wanderng around little backstreets before getting back on to the roads we recognised.

Must be time we headed home again...

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Spain

We have just entered Spain, by driving north out of Portugal to Santiago de Compostela.  Most of the day was passed driving north through Portugal, with a few stops along the way.

Kevin is always drinking fancy coffee (not really).

The Eiffel Bridge in Viana do Castelo, Portugal.

Negotiating another toll gate on our way north to Spain.

Our rental car came fitted with an electronic motorway tag, which meant that in many cases we could drive through the "green lane" without stopping.  We will be charged for those tolls later through my credit card.  We were struck by the network of motorways throughout Portugal, which has a population just twice New Zealand's but has about 3,000 kilometers of motorways compared to about 200 km in NZ!

We have now arrived at Santiago da Compostela, in northern Spain. Santiago is famous as the final destination of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage, a walk now taken by thousands of people every year.

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Porto

On the north to Porto we stopped at a picturesque little village called Obidos, where they were having some sort of medieval festival.

Sue discovers cherry liqueur in an edible chocolate cup!  At Obidos.

Street scene in Obidos.

We managed to get ourselves into Porto and through some challenging narrow and steep streets to our next Airbnb.  Our Porto apartment has a spectacular position, looking out across the river to the old city and with a view down the river almost to the sea. Technically we were in the city of Vila Nova de Gaia, which is that part of Porto on the south side of the river.  Porto is the part on the north bank.

The city is built around the river and grew out of the lucrative trade in port wine, produced from farms all the way up the Douro valley and brought down to the warehouses and traders in Porto for export.  The city is built on the waters edge; up the steep banks on each side, and outwards from there.

A crowd gathers on the park above us in Porto, to watch the sunset and generally party into the night.

Praca da Liberdade, Porto.

A Portugal-supporting cow.

Wall art in Porto, in the old riverbank area.

The Loui I Bridge, looking across the river to where our apartment was on the hill opposite.

Replica of the old boats used to ferry the port wine down to Porto from the wineries up the river Douro.

 On our third day we drove up the Douro Valley to Pinhao, where we had booked a two hour cruise.

A lovely spot for a coffee at Amarante, Portugal.

It was time for some festival in Amarante.

We drove up the lower part of the beautiful Douro Valley, to the town of Pinhao.

At Pinhao we went on a cruise further up the river on one of these boats.

Decorative tiles on the railway station at Pinhao.

On our last Porto evening we drank that cherry liqueur on the roof terrace at sunset.

Kevin and Linda helped.

Sunset over Porto.

...and the same scene in the morning sun.

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