- Volterraio
Castello di Volteferraio and Moby ferry in the background. I feel we know all the ferries by now. - Towards Cima del Monte
The path (the wild boar family now gone) towards Cima del Monte (515 m). - Cima del Monte
View from the top towards Porto Azzurro and Capoliveri. And Montecristo in the back. - Cima del Monte
View towards Lacona - Cima del Monte
Portoferraio, as seen from Cima del Monte. Capo Bianco can also be seen behind Forte Falcone. - Rio nell'Elba
Public wash house in Rio. And a secret tip: behind the building is probably the best water spring on the whole island. - Rio nell'Elba
Almost perfect reflections in the wash house. - Chiessi
Do we always sit on the same rock? - Corsica
Monte Cinto (2706 m) and Monte Padro (2390 m) on Corsica. - Corsica
Monte d'Oro (2389 m) and Monte Rotondo in clouds (2622 m). - Night in Caparica
View from our hotel room. - Caparica beach
Fishing boats on the Caparica beach. Still a very active fishing port. - Life is good in Lisbon
View from Miradouro de Santa Catarina - Miradouro de Santa Luzia
An angry fish at the Miradouro de Santa Luzia - History of Lisbon
A complete Lisbon history in one passage. Mural by Nuno Saraiva. Every city should have a mural like this one. - Tiles in Alfama
Finding little treasures while getting lost in Alfama. - Padrão dos Descobrimentos
Statue built in 1940/1960 to mark the 500-year anniversary of Henry the Navigator's death. - Padrão dos Descobrimentos
View from the top of the monument. Ponte 25 de Abril, which is 2277 m long, was built in 1966. - Rosa dos Ventos
View from the Monument of the Discoveries. A wind rose and a world map. - Caparica sunset
Another sunset in Caparica. But the Sintra hills are already cloudy. - Quinta Pézinhos no Tejo
A wonderful setting for a wonderful dinner. - Quinta Pézinhos no Tejo
Fado singers at the dinner - Quinta Pézinhos no Tejo
- Óbidos
13th century castle, and one can walk on the walls. - Óbidos
View of the town from the castle walls. - Óbidos
Calcada da Misericordia - Ilha do Baleal
There are some oddly specific signs in Baleal... - Peniche from Baleal
Sunset in Baleal. What a wonderful place. And yes, I saw some dolphins there as well. - R. do Pôr do Sol
The street name says it all: sunset street. - Ilha do Baleal
Northern tip of Ilha do Baleal and Ilha de Fora. - Hotel garden
Wonderful tiny garden of our hotel (Silver coast). - Fountain Hall
Gothic fountain hall in the cloister. - Mosteiro de Santa Maria de Alcobaça
Refectory, where the monks had their daily meals. - Virgin Mary and child
I really like the visible hairstyle of Saint Mary. Unusual to see her hair so long and so curly. - The kitchen
What a kitchen! Built and covered with tiles in the 18th century. A channel carried water from Alcoa river directly through the kitchen (!) to get fresh water and fish. - Cloister of Silence
This cloister was built under King Dinis I (1261-1325). The Manueline top floor is from early 16th century. - Gargoyle in the cloister
A rather interesting gargoyle. - Chapter House
Statue of S. Gregorivs Magn in the Chapter House. - Mosteiro de Santa Maria de Alcobaça
Some old inscriptions on the cloister walls. - Cloister of Silence
- Mosteiro de Santa Maria de Alcobaça
This is the oldest gothic building in Portugal, and still the largest church in the country. - Mosteiro de Santa Maria de Alcobaça
Founded in 1153 by Afonso Henriques and built in 1178-1252. The facade was added later, of course. - Monastery of Saint Mary of the Victory
The monastery was built to celebrate the 1385 victory over the Castilians. The church was built between 1386 and 1517. - Founder's Chapel
The chapel was built in 1426-1434 by Huguet to become the first royal pantheon in Portugal. - Monastery of Saint Mary of the Victory
What an insane attention to detail! - Claustro Real
- Monastery of Saint Mary of the Victory
What a magnificent cathedral! - Capelas Imperfeitas
Insanely beautiful detail. - Capelas Imperfeitas
Ah, the famous Unfinished Chapels, commissioned in 1437 by Dom Duarte. - Capelas Imperfeitas
The portal was originally Gothic and transformed by Mateus Fernandes into Manueline style (1509). - Capelas Imperfeitas
- Capelas Imperfeitas
King Manuel I dedicated this portal to King Edward and the motto "Leauté faray tam yaserei" means "I will always be loyal". - Convento de Cristo in Tomar
A lot of renovation was going on, so we entered through some side doors. This was the first thing that greeted us after climbing the stairs. At 40 deg C outside, these rooms were at least a bit cooler. - Convento de Cristo in Tomar
The Romanesque round church was built in the second half of the 12th century by the Knights Templar. - Convento de Cristo in Tomar
São Cristóvão - Saint Christopher (1484-1500) - Claustro Principal
A very 16th century Renaissance cloister. - Janela do Capítulo
The famous Manueline Window of the Chapter House (1510-1513). - Refectory
Pulpit in the Refectory, which was build in 1535-1536. Royal coat of arms... and some strange faces. - Cistern
One of the many cisterns in the Monastery. - Claustro de Santa Bárbara
And one of the many cloisters in the Monastery, this one was built in the 16th century. - Ilha de Fora
Another sunset in Baleal. Just beautiful. - Sunset in Baleal
- Fog!
I just learned a new word: sea fog is called haar. And yes, there was a lot of fog in the morning. - Praia da Gigi
What a wonderful misty - foggy - haary morning :-) - Praia da Gigi
- Praia da Gigi
- Hotel garden
- Ilhéu da Papôa
- Ilhéu da Papôa
If you look closely, you will see a catamaran in the fog. Well, the hull is hidden in the fog, but the sail peeks out. - Cabo Carvoeiro
A fogbow, also known as white rainbow. Because, well, it forms on fog and is whitish. - Cabo Carvoeiro
- Room of discoveries
Ceiling in the Room of Discoveries by Bernardo António de Oliveira Góis (c. 1770-c. 1820) and Cyrillo Volkmar Machado (1748-1823). - Marble Hallway
- Doors in one of the cloister
I don't quite get these doors, to be honest. - Cloister
What a lovely cloister this is. - Palácio Nacional de Mafra
One of the largest royal palaces, this one was commissioned by João V and built in 1717-1755. And yes, there is wildfire smoke in the background. - Palácio Nacional de Mafra
- Monserrate
Triton fountain in the park of Monserrate. - Monserrate
In 1846, Francis Cook, the 1st Viscount of Monserrate, built this Gothic-Indian-Moorish-shiny-pretty palace. - Triton fountain
The base of the Triton fountain. What a lovely angry fish this is. - Monserrate Main Hall
I do have a soft spot for this kind of architecture. - Gallery in Monserrate
- Gallery in Monserrate
- Music room
The ceiling in the Music room. Apparently there is wonderful acoustic in this room. Not if it is crowded with tourists... - Monserrate Main Hall
The ceiling in the Main hall. - Monserrate park
I think this is some kind of cycad, but I really can't figure out which one. - Monserrate park
Again, no idea what this is. Some sort of blossoming succulent. - African lily
Our hotel garden in the early morning mist. - The Initiation Well
- The Initiation Well
- The unfinished initiation well
- An unnamed lake
The lake in front of the Gruta do Labirinto. - Quinta da Rigaleira
Carvalho Monteiro bought the place in 1892 and built this with the Italian architect Luigi Manini. The construction began in 1904 and was completed by 1910. - Quinta da Rigaleira
Heh, this lovely creature is quite literally biting its ass ;-) - Pena park
We decided to take a walk through the Pena gardens (and not visit the palace this time). - Cruz Alta - High Cross
The High Cross is located at the highest point, at 528 m. The first cross was placed here around 1522 by João III. - Chalet of the Countess of Edla
Ferdinand II built this for the opera singer Elise Friederike Hensler, later Countess of Edla. The chalet is alpine like - but dressed in cork. - Chalet of the Countess of Edla
The ceiling in the Grand Hallway. The whole chalet is very very colourful. - Chalet of the Countess of Edla
All the rooms are insanely beautiful, but this Dining room, with cork and wood, is probably my favourite. - View of Sintra
View from the castle towards the town. And you can see the fog over the sea :-)