- Agava and Corsica
- Sunset in Caparica
Costa da Caparica and the hills of Sintra in the background. - Fountain
A relief on an early Renaissance water basin with the coat-of-arms of the monastery. - Mosteiro de Santa Maria de Alcobaça
The interior of the church is empty, corresponding to the Cistercian order, but huge! The main nave is 106 m long. - Room of the Kings
Room of the kings is full of statues of kings. The tiles depict the monastery history. - Claustro Real
The royal cloister was built by architect Fernão de Évora in 1448-1477. - Praia da Gigi
Early morning walk on the beach. - Hall of Destiny
The ceiling in the Hall of Destiny: Lusitania, surrounded by the Portugal kings. Afonso Henriques, who has the Book of Destinies of Portugal, is surrounded by Hugues Capet, King of France, and Henry of Burgundy, father of Afonso Henriques. - Mafra furniture
What a lovely detail in one of the plate cabinets. - View from Monte Arco (276 m)
View towards Porto Azzurro. - Laghetto di Terranera
An artificial lake about 20m from the sea. It used to be a mine, hematite, magnesite and pyrite. The lake, however, is too sulphurous to swim. - Black sand
This is the blackest beach I've seen. And I've seen quite a few, which claim to be black... Not to mention that compass does not work on this beach. I mean... it works ... but the direction it points to is very locally determined. - Chiessi
Chiessi, of course. My favourite spot on the whole island. - Isola di Pianosa
We call it the 'pancake' island. You can guess why. - Sunset
And the northern tip of Corsica. - Another sunset
Another lovely sunset. Taken from Capo di Stella, the sun sets behind Monte Fonza and Monte Tambone. - Monte Capanne
Early morning start towards Monte Capanne. The bird-cages did not run yet. - Hermitage of San Cerbone
Saint Cerbone moved here in the 6th century, this church is from the 15th century. There is a lovely pique-nique area behind the church. - Marciana
- Monte Capanne
The rocky path up Monte Capanne. - Chiessi
- Monte Renoso
Wonderful view of the mountains of Corsica. I think this is Monre Renoso (2352 m). - Portoferraio and Castello del Volterraio
Hike up the Cima del Monte (515 m). A wonderful path with views of Portoferraio and Castello del Volterraio. - Wild boar family!
In broad daylight. Mum with a bunch of squeakers. - Wild boar family!
There is seven of them! Plus the mum, of course. - 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.