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.