Lagos, Portugal, October 26, 2018

The house where I'm staying-

is the large white one right in the centre of the picture.  There's a pool-

that is only about three quarters full but it really isn't warm enough to swim anyway.  It was only 20 today.  My room doesn't have a great view-

but it's quiet, in fact so quiet, I didn't leave until 2 this afternoon!  I found a blog called theroadchoseme.com and spent hours reading.  It's about "Dan" who is in the process of doing an overland in Africa, the trip I'll be doing shortly.  I'm curious about the roads and the activities that await me and from what Dan says, it's going to be great!

Once I finally got going, my first stop was Ponta da Piedade which is a great lookout spot with many arches and grottos-

From here, I went to the downtown area to stroll around and find chicken piri-piri, a Portuguese specialty.  It's oven roasted or barbecued chicken in a marinade of garlic, red chilies, oregano, paprika, olive oil and red wine vinegar.  It tastes a lot like tandoori chicken to me but it's not red.  I asked an older gentleman running a shop where the best was and he sent me on what I thought would end up being a wild goose chase; to a restaurant about a kilometer away.  When I arrived, they were closing, but sold me a quarter of a chicken to go.  It was really good and I'll definitely be trying it to make it at home.

The Lagos marina and coast-

The tourist trap area is full of restaurants, bars and tacky souvenir shops-

Santa Maria Church was originally built in 1498 but the one that exists today comes from the 19th century.  It has two bell towers, Doric (there are simple circular capitals at the top of the columns) columns and a sculptured, Renaissance door-

The front altar is bright and very different-

I stopped at Intermarché, a huge grocery store and stocked up for a few meals.  Tomorrow, I'm driving to Sagres which is on the west coast, about 30 km from here.  I'm enjoying relaxing!

Evora to Lagos, Portugal, October 25, 2018

I've reached the south of Portugal!  No more cities and no more crazy traffic...heaven!

I went for a walk before breakfast to see the Roman Temple that was built in the first half of the first century A.D. to complement the Forum, which was the political, economical and religious centre of Evora, basically the main square-

I tried to get in the church without paying, thinking it was maybe mass time but no such luck.  The churches look so much like castles-

Carvings at the front door-

Walking along, you never know what you might see if you look up.  And that's my problem.  I have to watch just about ever step I take.  I've already fallen twice!  I thought I was being so careful, but walking quickly and gawking around and all of a sudden my foot is part way on the curb and part way on nothing and boom, I'm going down.  Luckily I haven't hurt myself - touch wood as I tap on my head-

I left Evora on non-toll roads and had a great drive.  It was a one lane highway but there was very little traffic and great views.  The toll roads are very expensive, yesterday was 30 miles for $6!  

I drove through farming communities-

and then forested and small mountainous areas.  All I could think was "I'm glad I'm not on a bike!". 

A restaurant had this automated seat cover toilet.  Just before sitting down, the seat cover automatically changes when you put your hand over the sensor which is on the back of the toilet-

I eventually found my apartment.  Maps.me sent me on another wild goose chase and thank goodness I parked before attempting to find it.  I drove on very narrow streets and asked a couple of people who finally told me I was about 3 km off!  I phoned the place and sure enough.  So, I got my "fix' of cobblestone, people everywhere, one way narrow streets even though I wasn't staying in that area!  My place is good; it's on a very quiet street about a 5 minute walk from Praia de Porto de Moa-

I met a lovely couple from Portsmouth, Virginia who are presently living in Rota, Spain.  Tom works for the U.S. Military and they have 4 destroyers in the area.  He's in charge of maintenance on one of the boats.  Donna is enjoying her time in Spain, learning Spanish and painting.  We visited over a beer and then they ate while I had a glass of wine.  They've been here 3.5 years and travel around during their time off.  I really enjoyed my evening with them.  

Looking forward to tomorrow, whatever it may bring.. Maybe rain???

Almendres Cromlech, Monsaraz and Vila Viçosa, Portugal, October 24, 2018

Good Mood Hostel provides breakfast with the room price but the Portuguese must all read the same 'guide to breakfast' handout because they all serve the same thing:  slices of ham and cheese, fresh buns, coffee, tea, cornflakes and cocopuffs.  Cocopuffs - that's so weird to me because there are many nutritious cereals in the grocery stores and it isn't as if young kids stay in hostels.  Oh well, I really like it when breakfast's included because it just makes the mornings all that much easier.

I walked beside the aqueduct on the way to my car.  It's very low inside the walls-

But gets higher-

And higher once outside the medieval town-

I was on the road by 10, heading to Almendres Cromlech which is Portugal's Stonehenge.  It's a megalithic complex - that means it uses big stones to construct monuments.  It's one of the largest group of structured menhirs- standing stones in the world.  It's about 100 feet by 200 feet and it was just discovered in 1966.  The stones are solid granite and it is believed to date from 6000 - 3000 B.C.  It was used either for religious/ceremonial purposes or as a primitive astronomical observatory-

I'm still wearing my 'uniform'-

There is another single stone a couple kilometers away.  It has a crooked engraving on it that is related to the pastoral/agricultural culture of Neolithic people.  Its alignment corresponds with the other rocks at sunrise on the Summer Solstice- 

Cork trees are everywhere!  The cork has been removed on the bottom or dark part of the trunk.  The light green part is cork-

The number is the year when the last cork was removed, so this was 2011.  Almost time again-

It is pretty thick too-

I drove on nice paved country roads to Monsaraz, population 782.  It's one of the oldest settlements of southern Portugal.  The fortress on the hill was the basis of pre-Roman occupation, then later it was occupied by the Visigoths, Arabs (8th century), Mozarabs, Jews and Christians. The views are exceptional-

The main entrance into the castle-

Other side entrances with different shapes of doors-

The end opposite the main entrance has a small theatre-

Monsaraz from the castle-

The streets are narrow cobblestone and the buildings are bright white-

There are many styles of pottery-

From Monsaraz, I drove through the country again on my way to Vila Viçosa-

New vineyards-

 Every village seems to have a castle up on its highest point-

Marble is mined in the area-

Once in Vila Viçasa, I parked and wandered.  What a beautifully tiled building-

Their castle-

The church of Saint Bartolomeu looks more like city hall from the outside-

But inside it's all church-

Main Streets always have beautiful boulevards and many statues and benches-

Winter pruning: before and after-

On my way back to Evora, I passed this 908 meter long go kart track.  Nico would have loved this-

I had another big day and am enjoying relaxing at the hostel.  I'm off to the beach at Lagos in the Algarve tomorrow for the next week.  Looking forward to each day!