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| Leigh alongside the Gilão River, Tavira, Portugal |
After a lovely time in southern Spain, we crossed the
border into Portugal, the oldest nation in Europe.
Soon, we arrived in Tavira, found a good parking spot in
the town, then strolled alongside the Gilão River, seeing a lovely mix of
traditional Portuguese and Moorish architecture.
After crossing the historic Roman Bridge, we wandered
through the town, and found a labyrinth of cobbled streets, lined with quaint
whitewashed houses, churches, and a huge and lively market.
Tavira is on the Algarve, Portugal’s southern coastline. The
Algarve is well known for its sandy beaches and picturesque fishing villages,
such as Tavira, and Olhão which is our next stop.
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| Campsite tinged red by nearby bushfires in Olhão, Portugal |
We found a campsite in Olhão that had large
trees, lots of shade, and sea breezes, which helped us in the 43 degree heat.
On our second night at the camp, there was big bush fire
about 25 kms inland. It sent a huge amount of smoke and ash over our campsite and
surrounding area, and the sun appeared red. We had to shut all windows and use
the air-con.
It was a little frightening at one stage,
because the wind turned and was blowing the fire toward us, and we were in a
pine forest. Eventually the fire was brought under control, but there was still
smoke and ash in the air for the rest of the week.
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| Olhão boats, Portugal |
We rode our bikes into Olhão several times.
It’s a 14th century fishing village, and we enjoyed some lovely seafood meals at cafés
along the waterfront as we watched the boats bob about.
We
also enjoyed seeing Olhão’s Moorish architecture, vibrant market, and attractive
churches.
While cycling home one day, Marg was attacked
by a dog that tried to bite her on the thigh. We peddled like crazy to get away,
but her leg was quite bruised.
Leaving Olhão we stopped to look at Faros and
other Algarve beaches, then visited ‘Camperserv’ to get Vanni’s air-conditioner
filters cleaned after the ash from the Olhão bush fire.
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| Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Assunção Mértola, Portugal |
Our next stop was Mértola, a small and historic riverside town.
Mértola
has some lovely old buildings, including an impressive white church topped with
conical decorations. It was converted from a mosque in the 12th century, and still has quite an Islamic feel.
We also walked up to the 7th century castle
and were rewarded with lovely views of the entire town and river. Then we
wandered through Mértola’s interesting medieval cobbled streets.
After that, we drove north to Beja, a town founded
by Julius Caesar in the 1st century BC. We strolled around this ancient town looking at
its whitewashed houses
and historic buildings, and really enjoyed it.
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| Convent of Our Lady of Conception, Beja, Portugal |
A favourite place was the Convent of
Our Lady of Conception, especially the painted ceiling and cloisters that are
completely covered in 16th century tiles.
We also liked the Visigoth Basilica of Santo Amaro, one of the country's oldest-standing
buildings. Some of its columns date back to the 6th century.
Also from the 6th century was the Church
of Santa Maria with its massive round pillars and Mudejar arches. It used to be a Visigoth temple.
Then we visited the 13th century castle, and its 40 metre high
tower. We were going to climb 183 steps up the spiral staircase to the top of
the tower, but decided not to in the 38 degree heat!
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| Azulejos tiled shopfront in Beja, Portugal |
Overall, what we liked most in Beja was the
blue and white tiles used inside and out of both the historic and modern buildings. We
have seen them many times in Portugal, and each time, we are amazed at the artistic beauty
of them.
This kind
of tile work is apparently, a form of painted tin-glazed ceramic
tile-work called ‘azulejos’. The details and the motifs, especially those with
a blue and white theme, are prevalent in Portuguese architecture, and often tell a history.
Our next stop was Monsaraz, a tiny place with
a population of under 800, but one of the oldest Portuguese settlements in
southern Portugal, dating back to prehistoric times.
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| Leigh in the hilly, cobbled streets of ancient Monsaraz, Portugal |
Monsaraz now-days, is a lovely whitewashed village
full of winding cobbled streets.
It’s situated on a hill, surrounded by a wall
that was fortified by the Knights Templar. We walked through the village gates
and the town, and up to the castle.
It is a stunning place. From inside the walls,
you can see all across the Alentejo Plain, the Alqueva Lakes and the Guadiana
River into Spain. The views were wonderful.
Our next stop was Évora, where we
found a campsite outside the town. We used our bicycles to get into town, but the
cobblestones were rough so we locked them to a post and explored on foot.
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| Marg in Praça do Giraldo, Évora old town centre (UNESCO) |
Évora has a Roman and Moor background, and its old centre is a UNESCO
World Heritage Site.
It’s a lovely old place surrounded by a
fortified wall that protects its interesting maze of twisting alleyways and streets.
We walked for ages, seeing the Praça do Giraldo, the 12th century towers of the Sé where the flags of Vasco da Gama's ships were blessed
before his voyage to India, an ancient aqueduct, the Jesuit University, Graça Church, and lots of other significant places.
Footsore by then, we found a lovely café
in the square to have a delicious regional lunch, with a nice big glass of
local white wine.
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| Marg at the Elvas fortified walls (UNESCO) |
Moving on, we headed east, to Elvas, a lovely hill town close to the Spanish
border. It has a fort with walls reputed to be the best
preserved in Europe. These star-shaped walls and the historic centre of Elvas, are a UNESCO
World Heritage Site.
The fort is a result of centuries of border
disputes, and threats of invasion from nearby Spain.
We visited the fort and the walls, walked for
ages around the narrow, cobbled streets of the historic centre, enjoyed a meal
in one of the cafes in the Praça da República, and marvelled at the ancient
cathedral. Elvas is a wonderful place.
However, we had to move on, and our next stop
is a brief break back in Spain.
This blog describes part of our 6 month
campervan trip around western Europe, which began in Prague in April.