Saturday, 15 March 2014

Monsaraz


Monsaraz was a place we wanted to visit last year but having stuck to the coastal route we missed out on a superb location


We arrived early up the steep cobbled approach road and settled in for a couple of days
The views of the barragems are something to behold, the book stating that this was the best view from an aire in Portugal. The reality was quite true we feel




A happy bunny…




A small hilltop village perfect for hoards of summer tourists but thankfully nice and quiet for us



Another seemingly lost pooch that Nina wanted to adopt


That Health & Safety issue again…...





Another village, another castle


a grinning fool…..


Nice cafe, nice coffee


Tourist hardware for sale..






All smiles looking at what we will choose for tomorrow evening's meal


Then sad as the vinho tinto was obviously placed too close to Nina




Definitely a good choice driver!


Tame sheep yesterday….


Looking back up to Monsaraz whilst out cycling


We missed these two being born by minutes



3 km in to a much needed cycle ride we are entrenched at a remote cafe checking up on family back home and trying not to order refreshing beer


Great place and a great view, hope tonight's meal is just as rewarding




Wednesday, 12 March 2014

Elvas

On leaving the site which took ages saying our goodbyes we moved south to Elvas and located ourselves with just a few others in an enormous car park next to the monumental viaduct




The 'only van in the village'




This hilltop fortified town is again steeped in history due mainly to its border location and the castle visit revealed a very chequered past with numerous build-ons







Nina's vertigo kicked in nicely here and I expected her landing on top of me at some stage


The castle sports a small cafe, just dandy!


€3.00 total, tasty and hot, come on France!







Elvas is a really nice town with a friendly feel and lots of quaint shops. Nina's particular favourite was the linen shop from which we bought tea towels and table cloths at silly prices, thanks for these goodies Nina…..



Rather natty market square art


Don't agree with this but cute anyway


Scene of our lunch, 2/3 courses, lots of wine and coffee, €15.00 all in….






We returned to a rather hot van as we had forgotten to deploy the blinds again and sauntered off to Terrugem to stay the night in a very quiet Aire……hopefully