April 25 Elvas - NO not Presley!

 Yesterday we drove from Pechao to Evora which is much more inland - we are not in the Algarve any more.  Michael wants to go to Elvas which is almost on the Spanish border - but if we stayed there our drive to Mafra would be quite long.  So we found a hotel on the outskirts of Evora to stay for two nights.  I got a couple of good sunset images the first night we were there.

Our Friday visit to Elvas really met with Michaels expectations.  This was something he really enjoyed.  It was all about war, strategy and a very unusual shaped fort.  Forte Graca is in the shape of a star.  If you are interested in war strategy go to http://de-intimidator.blogspot.com/.  He can explain it for you.

I'll start somewhere in the middle and show you the miniature version of the fort- it looked like it was made of toothpicks.  First a close up.

And then back to the tourist entrance to the fort.

And then going inside and starting to go around the star tips.  We found various pictures.  A lot of them said 1959.  I think that is when they redid the fort.  I have no idea what the words say about the pictures.

I walked from room to room - lost Michael and eventually came to a dead end.

Then I headed out into the courtyard and onto the next level of the complex.

the central building had some plaques and hallways.

Each of the star points had similar style buildings as above.

A view of the aqueduct from the fort.

I am sure the home on top of the fort did not look like this originally.  After we reached the top we headed down and back into Elvas to find some lunch. We started with pate and bread.  I ate the pate, but didn't think it was that great.  Michael later told me it was sardine - no wonder - I hate sardines!  My main dish was a forest salad.  I expected lots of vegetables with a small amount of fruit.  It turned out to be a fruit salad with lettuce underneath.  I don't know what the dressing was (something with honey and basil), but the fruit was amazing.  All the fruit was at perfect ripeness.  It was mostly strawberries, bananas, and apples, with peanuts and pine nuts.  The proportions of fruit to nut to lettuce to dressing - and I forgot the raisons was perfect.  We will try to duplicate it when we get home.

Then - on to the castle. Michael  wanted to leave our car and walk to the castle - all up hill.  We finally agreed that if there was no parking at the castle we would just go back to the hotel.  We drove all the way up to the castle.  There were only a few people there and no fee to get in.  Only the walls of the castle were left.  Not much to see but the views were great.  

A few from the castle back to Forte Garca.

Really not a whole lot to see - and we were parked in the handicap parking - so we left quickly.

As we headed back to the hotel we passed right by the parking lot for the aqueduct - and so we decided to stop for a few photos before heading home.

April 27 Back to Faro

 I was in this same region of Portugal in February of 2020 - just before the world shut down from Covid with daughter Alexis and family.  Being in the Algarve with Michael we have avoided a lot of the places that I went to in 2020.  But Faro is so close and is quite interesting so that I won't mind a second visit.  

There were definitely more tourists in Faro than some of the other small towns we have visited.  This is the first time we have encountered large tour groups.  I can only imagine how crowded it must get during high season.

We headed for the old city and soon entered through the Porta Arco Da Vila or city gate.

This plaque was just before the gate.  The blue tile in the style of the region. 

And through the gate and into the old city.

The entrance to the Municipal Museum.  We went in later.

Statue of Alfonzo the First.

The Faro Cathedral - side view.

The entrance to the cathedral - that tourists are not allowed to enter.

One of the many chapels in the Cathredral.

The main chapel rebuilt between 1630 and 1640.

We took the steps up to the choir loft - I really liked the views.

And we are right at the level of the organ.  We did not hear it play (sadly), but it was very interesting.  The designs are Chinese.

I liked how the pipes were placed.

A close up of one of the panels.

Then we walked down the steps to see a couple of more chapels.  The story is that the cemetery was full, so they built another chapel using the skulls and all the bones.

Then on to the bell tower.  Michael and I had to really think about this.  There are a whole lot of stairs and they are uneven and way too steep.  My memories are that the climb is awful for someone our age - but the views are worth it.  What do you think?

I am sure the rooster is not that old!

After that we back track to the Museum.  This is what you see inside.  The exhibits are spaced around the two stories.  There was space for many temporary exhibits - none of which were now open.

Love this hallway.

Inside the Roman exhibit - sorry I did not change the light settings - so it is green.

This is a close up (well as close as I could get) of the man in the motifs below.

Then back out into the light and there is this very modern sculpture in white.

By then we were very hungry and found the best star rated place.  It is pub food.  Michael had a beef dish and I had sausage.  Both were served with bread.  He had one pickled cauliflower with his.

Wandering around old town.

Boat houses.  

The train station - outside of the old city.