A hilly area

Mystic of Holyhead (successor to Lynn Rival)
Rachel and Paul Chandler
Tue 13 Oct 2020 17:55
Still exploring the Alentejo (beyond the Tagus), in the NP da Serra de Sao Mamede:-


Castelo de Vide, in the old town, looking down past the synagogue . . .


. . . towards the fountain


Marvao, the neighbouring village (about 10km away), also has a castle


How old? The menhir da Meada was re-erected in the 1990s, from 2 bits found on the ground
It's the largest free standing stone in Iberia;  age unknown - it's megalithic (I know that just means 'big stones');  the guy propping it up is 70.


But this nearby (close to Povoa Dam Reservoir) dolmen is said to be unreconstructed


The local reservoir - but no sailing club!


I spy supper!  Porco preto Iberico (Iberian black pig), aka an acorn processing factory; they make very tasty meat


Coffee smugglers' walk. (Spain is a stones' throw astern of us)


Back on the tourist trail - Evora, from Sao Bento hill; 'our' Quinta just out of pic to the right


The view from our bedroom window


Underneath the (aqueduct) arches - same principle as the railway arches in London?


Monsaraz - an afternoon outing to another of those castles near the border


View from Monsaraz castle - a reservoir on the River Guadiana again.


Almendras Cromelech - this one is old.  About 7,500 years (Stonehenge hadn't even been thought of)

After all this inland stuff - climbing up and down hills, steps and cobbled streets, spotting castles and megalithic stones, it's time to move on; 'To the sea side!'