The Algarve, Portugal

The first night on our drive down to the Algarve area....we stayed in a cute little hotel called Colina Dos Mouros....in Silves.  Maria told us it means Columns of the Moors... and in the south of Portugal ...the Moorish influence is pretty evident in a lot of the architecture. TripAdvisor has this shot of it....I didn't get one as we arrived after dark and ...in the morning....I forgot.....




It was a great little hotel... very clean as was every single place we set foot in while in Portugal.  A big plus for us.  We have a big deal with cleanliness....

Every building has granites, marbles and tile incorporated into it....how I wish it was as reasonable to buy here.....sigh.... so easy to keep spotless...looks amazing....

For a few euros...we got an upgrade to a castle view room...
why not?  It was only about 37 euros per night .... we probably should have gone to view the castle too..  here is what Wiki says about it.....  "Silves Castle was built between the 8th and the 13th century AD and is considered to be the best preserved of the Moorish castles of the country."  

Last year we did a lot of wandering through castles, cathedrals and ruins...but, this visit we were more concentrated on "doing the Algarve" ... and that meant seeing the amazing beaches... gawking at some pretty fancy yachts at one of the main marinas... feasting in a fancy restaurant later in the day (not that we didn't feast everywhere we went!) ...oh, man...the food! ...and moving on a bit further to more lovely beaches and another hotel... within walking distance from the beach I showed yesterday.

Feast your eyes on these views !!!

I love seeing and hearing the crashing waves and spent many a shot trying to capture just the right moment in a wave's life.... love this one.

Sure....I could live here.  I'll just take the one on the right...a bit higher up the hill, please...... in case of a very high tide.

Nobody around but us...how perfect.

Onward to another beach .... I have no clue exactly which beach this is...but, again it is probably Praia da Rocha.... means rocks.... they are all beautiful.  Love the colour of the rocks .... the wonderful feel of the sand ... I'm thinking colours like this for the house ....mmmmmm.... golden creamy cupboards ...  sea coloured walls. ....

Oh, yeh.....

Memories of Portugal..

In February we went to Portugal....

Before Christmas I had not been sick with a cold or cough for 17 years...but, we landed and I seemed to have a sore throat.  It got worse.  By the third day I just wanted to lie in Maria's bed, under the soft duvet,   ...and motion the rest to go on without me....but...I couldn't.  We were on holiday dammit!  we only had two weeks!

So...on we went.  It got worse...then poor Mr. BV got it...then our host and hostess finally succumbed.  I did my job well.  I'm terrible.  But, on we went ... onward; ever onward  ....hahahha... what a bunch of nut jobs.  Well, we had to make the best of a bad thing, didn't we?  Fortunately we both took lots of photos..because I honestly don't even remember some of it.  By then I had bronchitis ... was having horrible coughing fits.  It got worse and by the time we were back a week, I was coughing hard enough to damage some rib tissue. Great.  Finally, it's gone away... just barely. That took months ..... man...what happened to healthy me?  It's annoying to say the least.

Anyway... I did post a few pics of Portugal back when...then got side tracked.... with more physio and just with being sick and not even caring if I blogged or not.  Now...I'm looking back at the photos ...and wanted to share some with you.

Portugal ... the Algarve.... not sure exactly which beach ...but, we stayed in a nearby hotel and walked over to this particular beach at sunset.... beautiful...... many of the beaches we saw had amazing rocky formations on them...actually one area had a name that means that..... was it Praia de Rocha ??  Maria??

Here is a link to the many beaches.   Please have a look...it boggles the mind that there are so many. Not all are big...but, some are...  All have amazing sand, coloured rocky cliffs and outcroppings ... unusual formations... all are different.... all are beautiful.  They clear them of debris and keep them nice and clean.  Early the next morning there was a special cleaning machine busy at work....well, the machine was not alone..there was a guy driving it...  and he had a great grid system worked out that he whizzed over easily..  picking up bottles, cans, and other debris...

If you are interested in seeing other photos of our trips to Portugal...click on the Portugal label waaaay down the sidebar... last year and this year will all show up on there and you can scroll through them all...

Batalha, Portugal

Stepped inside and ...WOW...more amazement!
The colour....and the light..... so much light in such a huge area from such small windows....well.... small in the scope of the size of the whole structure.  And...tall...well....they were sooooo tall......  I just gawked around in every single direction and kept snapping shots of all of it..... don't get dizzy.....
In the first shot you can see a few people...for perspective....but, any of the rest of the photos... if anybody was around...they were way down below the bottom of the photos.  This place is gargantuan...

Wiki says some of the oldest of the windows date back as far as the 1400... and done by German artisans... much of the other is from 1500's..and done by Portuguese craftsmen.  They talk about Batalha being the first work shop for stained glass windows...

Entry to the Founder's Chapel.... built between 1426 and 1434
on orders of King Joao... he and his wife are buried there... and this is the first sighting of his tomb.  The statues of Joao and his wife Philippa of Lancaster are on the top of the tomb holding hands.  Very elaborate and intricately carved headresses above their heads.... which are on pillows.

The dome directly over their heads...

The play of light through the stained glass....so beautiful....

The reflections from the sunlight through the glass was so lovely....

I'm really glad it was a brilliantly sunny day so that we got to see such beauty inside.  The walls were perfect for picking up the colours...