doing laundry
October 29, 2016 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 63 °F
Because vacation is not all fun and games!
apartment building designed by Gaudi
October 30, 2016 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 63 °F
Our first stop on our day of Gaudi
second stop on Gaudi tour
October 30, 2016 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 63 °F
Rhonda and Russell are playing tour guides and doing a great job.
third Gaudi building
October 30, 2016 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 63 °F
Park Güell
October 30, 2016 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 64 °F
It looks kind of like a cross between Arizona and Dr. Seuss.
La Sagrada Familia
October 30, 2016 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 66 °F
The crown jewel of our tour.
and so we leave Barcelona
October 31, 2016 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 59 °F
We are on the bus to the airport. R came down with my cold yesterday so he is not at 100℅ , but it should be a not to hard day.
welcome to Portugal!
October 31, 2016 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 70 °F
We splurged and got a car that is picking us up at the airport and driving us all the way to our hotel in Évora so we avoided having to figure out metro and train and bus transfers.
So when we cameRead more
Évora is amazing!
October 31, 2016 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 75 °F
Quaint cobblestone streets. Very narrow and all the buildings have these blazingly white walls. We are enjoying our first meal in Portugal.
snack for dinner
October 31, 2016 in Portugal ⋅ 🌙 66 °F
We weren't up for a real dinner and then the hotel offered us this little welcome snack. It's perfect!
view from our hotel window
November 1, 2016 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 61 °F
Those are the ancient walls of the city in the background
Chapel of Bones
November 1, 2016 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 63 °F
This chapel is lined on the interior with thousands of human bones. They had to move a whole bunch of monastery cemeteries many years ago to build estates on the land and so the monks disinterred theRead more
city center of Évora
November 1, 2016 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 63 °F
This feels like a small village in the city center, but it is actually quite a large town
Igreinha
November 1, 2016 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 68 °F
This is a little village. The houses are all blazing white with a stripe of color along the ground level. Usually blue or yellow, but sometimes other colors.
cork tree
November 1, 2016 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 70 °F
We passed some cork trees along the way. You can see where they have harvested the cork. They take the first cork (virgin cork) when the tree is about 20 years old. That harvest is not very useful.Read more
cork factory
November 1, 2016 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 73 °F
Next stop was a cork factory. They harvest a given tree every 9 years. Then they dry the slabs for about 3 months. There is Russell standing in front of a drying pile. Then they boil the cork for anRead more
lunch break
November 1, 2016 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 73 °F
After spending all our money at the cork factory, we had to hit an ATM before finally eating a late lunch.
wine tasting in São Miguel
November 1, 2016 in Portugal ⋅ 🌙 72 °F
We went to a very fancy winery. Got a great tour and tasted a bunch of yummy wines. The winery is trying an experiment making wine in ancient Amphorae. We tried some. It was kind of rough, but it wasRead more
first real dinner in portugal
November 1, 2016 in Portugal ⋅ 🌙 64 °F
Russell ordered a half portion of beans to start. It was huge. Then they mixed up and missed my dinner order which was a really good thing because Russell and I together barely made a dent in hisRead more
pottery village
November 2, 2016 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 68 °F
Our first stop on our second day bike tour is a little village known for their clay, and therefore their pottery. After all the stuff we bought yesterday, we have no room in our luggage for moreRead more
the Love Rock
November 2, 2016 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 70 °F
Our next stop was a megalithic monument that is known locally as the Love Rock. The young single women of the village come here on the first Monday of the Easter season (first Monday of Lent? FirstRead more
cows and egrets with watermelon
November 2, 2016 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 72 °F
As we were biking, we passed a field of watermelons that must have spoiled before harvest, so they just left them in the field and let a herd of cows in. Evidently, egrets follow cows around here. SoRead more
another megalithic monument
November 2, 2016 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 72 °F
Located near a very nice farmhouse
biking to castle
November 2, 2016 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 73 °F
Next we biked up a short (1mile) but very very steep road to an small village and ancient castle on the top of a hill. Good thing I had an electric bike! I was able to power up the hill without tooRead more
lunch on top of a mountain
November 2, 2016 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 75 °F
Biking is hungry work. Forgot to take a picture before we ate, but here is the view from our table.





































































Donna BielakI wondered what you were going to do about the laundry situation on a long trip. Were laundromats easy to find?