This picture is going to be the main memory of my holiday. I was happily strolling around little winding backstreets in Evora, turned a corner and found this in front of me. Isn't it wonderful? About 5 minutes walk away is this rather splendid ruined Roman temple.
So yes, I like Evora. As for Estoril (where we were staying), I like that too but it's a funny little place. Lovely beach:
Huge casino:
Lots of beautiful and crumbling houses that the owners can't afford to restore:
And no shops. Well that's not strictly true. The shops consisted of two little supermarkets, an Audi dealership and this:
Yes gang, that would be a Hello Kitty shop. I don't quite understand the lack of "normal" shops but I can't say it particularly bothered me. It's just odd. There was nowhere to buy a corkscrew but I could have had a choice of about 8 different Hello Kitty suitcases.I suppose everyone must go to Lisbon. It's only 20 mins away by train. They've got a Primark and everything (*rolls eyes*). No, I didn't go there. I may have given into the temptation of H&M though...
A lovely lion supporting Vasco de Gama's tomb
Monument to Portuguese explorersWe went to Sintra and I liked that very much too (are you sensing a theme here? Alex likes Portugal). You basically drive up the coast road to the westernmost point of Continental Europe:
and then drive up into the hills. It has beautiful houses, a royal palace, a castle and the most amazing cafe. If you ever go, you MUST have travesseiros de Sintra, fresh out of the oven. I am drooling at the very memory of them.
And finally, because you rock for getting this far, here's a picture of a sign in the hotel lift. Schindler's Lift. *snorks*
