Portugal – Climbing Castles and Exploring Caves
June 30, 2008
Visiting Convento do Cristo in Tomar was like entering a labyrinth. You go through a doorway and find yourself on a balcony overlooking the courtyard with the fountain you took closeup photos of half an hour ago. You go straight through a long tiled corridor with doors on either side and end up in the same hall you just left – or one that looks the same.
Above “a giant jellyfish, who knows?”
Caves are equally confusing. Luckily we had a guide to show us around. I didn’t learn as many geological facts as I had expected, but was shown more animal-like formations than I needed. Obviously the guide has seen that cave too many times. Above “a giant jellyfish, who knows?”
The cave was dicovered by a shephard boy who saw birds diving towards the ground and disappearing. He went over to the spot and found a hole in the ground. He thought it was an old well and dropped a stone in to see how deep it was. Quite deep indeed. Cavers later explored the cave and found it to be a great pillared hall with an area of 6000 square metres – the pillars being stalagmites and stalactitesgrown together at the rate of one centimetre per century.
Portugal in June
June 27, 2008
First coat of paint on miniature replicas of traditional Portuguese fishing boats drying in the sun. After a great seafood lunch on top of a cliff we went for a climb and stroll to the beach in Nazaré and found a playmate (a fisherman’s dog).
I’d like to see him land on an egg, though
The beaches are white and many miles long. Sandstone sculptures make perfect view points for watching ridge soaring seagulls. My boyfriend (above right) kept saying: “I could do that in my hang glider, it’s easy”. I’d like to see him land on an egg, though.
