Batalha

Batalha Monasery of Santa Maria da Vitoria and Alcobaca Monastery of Santa Maria de Alcobaça 
  
From Obidos, we took a day trip to two beautiful monasteries, one at Batalha and the other at Alcabaca.  Once again, they are both UNESCO World Heritage sites, due to their artistic and historical importance. 

  

The Batalha Monastery, of Santa Maria da Vitoria, 1386-1517 is a Dominican Convent.

Sculptures at the entrance portal of the main church.

Beautiful cloisters in the Manueline architectural style.

Amazing Gothic interior.

The octagonal Unfinished Chapels.

Renaissance water basin.




The Alcobaca Monastery 1153, is another medieval Roman Catholic Monastery in the town of Alcobaca. It is the Cistercian Order and was the first Gothic building in Portugal.  

Enter here!

View of Alcobaca  from the  front of the Monastery.

The cloisters.

Tomb of Ines de Casto.

Obidos             15, 16, 17, October

Stayed in Obidos for 3 days to explore this beautiful town and the environs.  View from our hotel room - Hotel Real D'Obidos.

3km aqueduct.  Queen Catherine of Austria ordered its construction in the 16th century. 

One of Medieval lanes in this charming village.

More street scenes.

Obidos is a good spot for mountain goats.

The castle, now a Pousada (an historic State Inn).

Bill sampling the local cherry liquor chocolate.

Students singing the tradition, rather mournful, fado music.

Joy had scary fun walking around the walls.

Evora - UNESCO World Heritage Site    14/10/2010

We spent three lovely days at Evora and Portugal continues to impress and amaze us.  The weather is lovely, the people are friendly, the waiters are amazing, the food is good and the sites are wonderfully interesting.

Roman Temple of Diana 1st Century AD at Evora.

Cathedral of Evora - exploring the roof.

This was orientation week for Evora University students and there where parades all over town.  The students wear these gowns not just for special occasions, but all year. 

There seemed to be no limit to the humiliation some of these new student had to endure - all done with good humour.

The courtyard of our hotel - Albergaria do Calvario.

Relaxing in a park.

The Chapel of Bones (Capela do Ossos) in Saint Francis Church.

The Renaissance. Graca Church.

Beja          11/10/2010

After three nights at Silves, we headed inland for a night at Beja, an historic town dating back to Roman times.

Beja had beautiful tiled shops (very Portuguese).

The courtyard of our hotel, Pousada de San Francisco, a former convent.

Inside the beautiful Beja Regional Museum, located in the Convent of Immaculate Conception.

Castle of Beja.

Ruins of the Roman Villa of Pisoes.

Portugal and the Algarve

PORTUGAL            9/10/2010

The Algarve (south Portugal)

Yesterday we left Norwich for Heathrow and took a late flight to Lisbon, Portugal.  After staying overnight near the airport, we headed south in a hire car to the Algarve.  We stayed in a country property just outside Silves.  This area is just wonderful.

Many of the street signs are made with tiles

Typical houses covered with  tiles in Tivera on the coast.

The fort at Lagos.

Tiles everywhere!!

 Algarve coastal scene at Lagos.

Our hotel/B&B just outside Silvres.

View of Silvres.  This is a lovely, interesting town, with great restaurants. 

Ancient water storage systern in the castle at Silvres.  You can tour  underneath this.

York and Yorkshire               2/10/2010

Spent a week in a nice apartment in York, facing the river and near the old wall.  Had a great time in this interesting part of England, despite the rain every second day.

National Train Museum, York.

Very trendy poster these days.

Tiles made in Jackfield (Factory Museum right next to our B&B in Iron Bridge) and found in the National Train Museum.

Steam train on the Yorkshire moors.

Whitby Yorkshire, home of Captain James Cook.

A ceiling in Castle Howard (where Brideshead Revisited  was made.)

Norwich                       6/10/2010

Spent the next few days staying with Jenny and David, enjoying their company and Norwich.

Norwich Cathedral - undoubtedly still the best.

Bill and David enjoy a pub lunch in Norfolk.

The good old Norfolk Broads!  Wind pump to drain the land for agriculture.

Jenny and Joy enjoy lunch at City College.