The beach at Albufeira

Click on the photo to see a larger image.

The favorite route to old town was by the beach - an easy 15 or 20 minute walk - time to enjoy the sand and the sound and cool of the water. Nice. But it took us a bit of time to figure out that one needs to keep an eye on the tide behaviour. Failure to pay attention to the tide compounded by lack of respect for the power of the water got us into a bit of trouble on the way home one day. We misjudged the rate at which the waves come in and because we weren't quick enough to get out of the way, we ended up being swamped and knocked over by the water. A few scratches and scrapes but, fortunately, no serious personal damage and no damage to cameras. The next day we hunted up a tide table.

The photo of the Fishermans' beach taken from an overlook in old town shows an absence of fishing boats. This apparently is a change since Ruth was last here when there were a lot of colourful fishing boats and fishermen tending to their nets and gear here on the beach. All this has now been moved to an area to the west which is enclosed by a breakwater and effectively out of sight. Maybe it is an improvement in conditions for the fisherman and, if so, that's great. It does, however, eliminate one of the colourful scenes from this area of the beach.

An interesting meeting in Albufeira

On one of our walks John and I passed a small house where we noticed a table behind the fence/wall on which there were a few stone sculptures - a fish and a dolphin and others which I don't recall. The person who created them was at the back carving something and when he noticed us he came to the front to show his work to us. He told us that he picks up the stones on the beach (likely limestone) and brings them to his house to carve them. He has been doing this as a winter "job" since 1999. He had been interested in carving figures in wood but a friend introduced him to the idea of using stone so he decided to have a go at it and he has been quite successful at both carving and selling his "product".

We thought it would be nice to have one of his stone figures, but the ones that he had available were a bit big and heavy to cart home on the plane. About 3 days before we were to leave for home Ruth and I decided to go by and see if he had anything small enough to pack into already limited available suitcase space. He told us that he didn't but he had recently picked up some small stones and would make a small figure for us from a rock which he showed us (already marked) and have it ready for us the day before we left. He was true to his word, so we were able to bring back a small stone carving of a dolphin as well as pictures of the artist, whose name is Lionel, the original stone and the dolphin figure that emerged from the stone. Cool.

By the way, Lionel has a wonderfully friendly dog named... you guessed it, Stone!

In the first photo Lionel is holding the stone which became our dolphin (check out the bottom left corner of the photo to see a larger version he had carved). In the second photo he is holding the finished carving and the final one is a clearer picture of it sitting on our stereo/tv cabinet.

More Sevilla and Real Alcazar

The photos included are all in the Alcazar - the top photo is the entry gate with the what may be the original walls, the next 3 are in various rooms inside. The third is a close up of the tile above the doorway behind the arch in the second photo. The fifth is a relatively poor view of the garden but it seems like the best single photo which shows a very small piece of the garden. When I get some collages together it will give a better indication of the extent and beauty of both the rooms and the gardens.

Remember, you can see a larger version of any photo by clicking on it.

According to one source the original building of the Real Alcazar was built in the 10th century on the orders of the King, Abd al-Rahman III, as the Governor's house or palace on the site of an old Basilica which had been dedicated to St. Vincent. Here again there are different stories about the history. A different source suggests that most of the buildings were actually built (by Moorish workmen it's true) for King Pedro the Cruel of Castile in the 1360's when the Moors had already been driven from Spain and Portugal. Pedro, with his mistress Maria de Padilla, allegedly lived in and ruled from the Alcazar. He embarked upon a complete rebuilding of the palace, employing workmen from Granada and utilising fragments of earlier Moorish buildings in Seville, Cordoba and Valencia.

In any case, over the centuries the Alcazar has undergone extensive expansion, demolition, reconstruction, more expansion and additions ultimately to include extensive gardens dedicated to all manner of groups and the whole influenced in its design by the period in which the particular part was built (medieval, renaissance, etc.). Through all of this, according to one source, it has remained a "Royal House", a dwelling of the ruler and continues to be occupied at least intermittently by the Royal family of Spain.

The Real Alcazar truly defies description; even the pictures can only begin to describe it (and even they cannot do justice).

It is an extensive maze of gardens, buildings and rooms all connected through beautiful archways and all exquisitely decorated; the gardens with all manner of plants and the rooms with sculptures, colourful and intricate tiles covering walls, arches, ceilings, reflecting pools and floors. There is far too much to see and take in in this fascinating place and too little time.

Day 10 - Sevilla, Spain

Hard to find the words to describe Sevilla.

A city of about 750,000 people - fourth largest in Spain. A city of history, wealth and beauty, both visual and aromatic - the fragrance of orange blossoms seems to be everywhere (the area of Sevilla produces bitter oranges used for making marmalade).

We have no books on Sevilla or Spain so I have to go by my memory.

The city is a major port situated on a major river, the Guadalquivir, that was once navigable from northern Spain to Sevilla - no longer, though Sevilla remains an important port city. It was in Sevilla that Queen Isabella met with Columbus on his return from his second trip to North America. This meeting allegedly took place in the Real Alcazar (more about this amazing place later).

Our first stop was at the Plaza d'Espana - the Plaza and the building, now a government building, were built in 1929 when Sevilla hosted a Fair of the Americas. At the time of the Fair this beautiful building, adjacent to the Maria Luisa Park, housed displays of Spanish technology. According to our guide Princess Maria Luisa of Spain (Spain still has a King and royal family) apparently loved this city, was married here and lived here in Sevilla. When she died she willed the property on which the plaza and park are located to the city. (However, from what I can learn of the Princess so far, she was not married in Sevilla and never lived there, so I am not sure what the real history is.) In front of the Plaza building is an extensive large open space paved with white and black stone patterns with a large fountain near the centre. There is a "moat" around the building and it is crossed by two beautiful arched bridges decorated with blue and white tiles on the railings and balusters and more colorful tiles along each side of the bridge. And there are tiled areas over large parts on the outside of the entire building - some beautifully decorative but also several creating exquisite pictures, likely of historical significance, relating to a number of Spanish cities.

The first three photos are from the Plaza d'Espana.

From here we moved to an area of the city which is "pedestrianized" near what appears to be the centre of the city and the cathedral and our main area of interest, the Real Alcazar. Here we parted with the tour guide and the rest of the group. We walked to the Cathedral of Seville, a Gothic structure occupies the site of a great mosque from the 12th century. The total area of the Cathedral covers 11,520 square metres and new calculations, based on cubic measurements, have now pushed it in front of Saint Paul's in London and Saint Peter's in Rome, as the largest church in the world - and it is large. There is a tall cathedral tower which allegedly is in the place of the minaret which was part of the original Mosque on this site built by the Moors.

The cathedral is adjacent to the Real Alcazar, the original building of which was also built, according to one source, by the Moors in about the 10th century.

The last two photos are of parts of the cathedral - the last is the tower which is part of the minaret of the mosque that was originally on this site.

More Lisbon and environs

In the western part of Lisbon, an area called Belem, we visited a small fortress (Torre de Belem) built on the edge of the Rio Tejo in the 16th century and an extensive Marine Museum once an elaborate monastery, Mosteiros dos Jeronimos, constructed after Vasco da Gamas' safe return from India. The monastery was built on the site of a small chapel where da Gama and his shipmates had spent time before their departure on the historical journey. A huge amount of money was spent on this elaborate monestery, much of which apparently came from income from pepper and other spices acquired as a result of the explorations and colonization. (Though the discoveries were amazing accomplishments and aptly celebrated as such, they were also early colonization and exploitation of the goods and lives of other civilizations.) South of the monastery near the river (which joins the Atlantic just to the west) is a large and quite spectacular monument to the explorers, the Padrao dos Descombrimentos, inaugurated in 1960 to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Henry the Navigator's death. Both sides are adorned with large sculptures of people of some note with Henry the Navigator at the prow of the ship-like structure.

Have quite a few good photos of much of this area including the Torre de Belem, the outside of the monastery and the Padrao dos Descombrimentos.

The photos included are the Torre de Belem, the Monastery and cathedral, the entrance to the monastery (now a maritime museum), the Padro dos Descomrimentos and one photo of Sintra(see below). (The blogger software only allows 5 photos per posting so will put together some collages so that I can provide more views of these areas.)

From Belem we went to Sintra, a beautiful city (26,000 pop) northwest of Lisbon. Sintra is situated high (about 270 meters) in the mountains - so it extremely hilly and filled with unusual architecture - castle, palaces, churches and botanical gardens. It is said that the Iberians made it a "cult" centre; the Moors built the castle and the palace, the medieval period built the monasteries and the nobility/aristocrats of all groups used it as vacation and refuge - the wealthy fled here during the destructive 1755 earthquake. More narrow and charming streets to wander than you can imagine, and great exercise as it is extremely hilly. If you look closely at the photo of Sintra (last photo in this post) you will see an interesting turreted house situated on the hillside above this part of the town. Apparently Byron visited Sintra and claimed it to be paradise.

We had only a short time here, unfortunately. Walked up and down, took photos and had a drinks and pastry at the "Lord Byron Restauante"! Lot's to return for.

These trips are a nice idea to get a taste of an area, but they have serious limitations, especially for areas like Lisbon and Sintra where there is so much that one could see, learn about and enjoy. On this trip the time factor was a limitation but it was it was also limited by a less than helpful tour guide.

Day 8 - Lisbon and environs.

Portugal is a country of just over 10 million people and about 3 million of them live in Greater Lisbon.

Lisbon is an ancient and complex city of many hills (seven it is said) so there is lots of hill and step climbing involved if you want to see much in this city. Also much, potentially, to say about it.

For descriptive purposes it is "divided" into the lower city and the upper city - from the edge of the river (Rio Tejo), the Placa do Comercio (Placa is like a plaza) and Rossio (the main square of Lisbon - there are many squares throughout the main part of the city) on the lower level to the Barrio Alto (extensive restaurant district) and Castelo de Sao Jorge (Castle of St. Jorge)on the upper levels. Our hotel (Hotel Mundial) was in the lower area so we strolled in and around these Placas, but, strangely, I took no photos in this area.

The Alfama (which we toured on foot) in the southern area of the old city, also the poorer area, was originally established by the Moors (the "Al" prefix indicates an arab derivation of which there are many in Portugal e.g. the Algarve where we are staying or Alentejo, the province just north of the Algarve). The Alfama is a fascinating maze of narrow to narrower lanes/streets connecting the extremes of elevations negotiated by steep stairs or walkways. Though there are still some walls built by the Moors, most of the buildings are newer (17th and 18th century). In the Alfama we also visited the "Se" or Cathedral of Lisbon (a Romanesque church built around 1150 on the site of a Mosque). Though it has its own rather stark beauty, it is dark and plain compared to most of what we experienced in Italy.

Time was short so we saw little of the main city.

All of the photos included here are in Alfama. The first (top) looks over Alfama in the lower city with the Rio Tejo in the background.

More about the rest of the visit to the Lisbon area in the next posting.

Day 5 - Town of Loule.

This visit was to the Loule Gypsy market and the local farmers' market. Bought some more gifts and had a nice lunch.

Bought some flowers for Ruth from an elderly Portuguese woman all bundled up against the cold - it was about 19 or 20 degrees C.


The second photo, also taken at the Farmers' Market right next to the lady selling the flowers, gives a better indication of the temperature - depends on what one is used to.

One added feature for me was a walk up to a lovely church/chapel, de Senhora da Piedade, situated relatively high on a hill overlooking the town. Apparently this is the site of an Easter ritual in which a 16th century image of Our Lady of Piety (presumably Mary) is carried down from the chapel and then two weeks later, amid a procession of worshipers, is carried back up to the chapel; though there are other versions of this story that say this is a maternity rite which involves reuniting Mary and the infant Jesus.

The first of the last three photos is the church, the second is the adjoining chapel dedicated to a Bishop of Lisbon and the third is taken from the bottom of the hill showing the first half of the climb to the top.