Category Portugal
The butter babies of Igreja Matriz
Fellow church hounds, I know you get it: the delight of stumbling on an unexpected and, more importantly, unlocked church. With an unanticipated free afternoon in northeast Portugal’s Vila Nova de Foz Côa, HOB and I were lucky to find the 16th century parish church Igreja Matriz, smack in the middle of Foz Côa’s main […]
The Unfinished Chapels of Batalha: architecture shocks sky
There’s a monastery in the town of Batalha that looks as it is carved from crystalized honey. One of my finer life choices was to spend an entire day looking at it. (Okay, full disclosure, I probably would have crammed in at least one other monastery in our itinerary that day had the bus schedules […]
Draw your family: prehistoric rock art of the Côa Valley
Arriving at the site of the 22,000 year old rock art in northwestern Portugal was uncomplicated—too uncomplicated. I enjoyed getting there so much that I was hoping to drag the experience out more. After sharing jeep ride with our guide from the Museu do Côa and another couple, we hiked a short distance through a […]
Jerónimos Monastery: first person to spot the phallic gargoyle wins a free corn dog
Do yourself a favor and go see Jerónimos Monastery, a Manueline-style UNESCO World Heritage Site just outside of Lisbon. Do yourself another favor and get there early. HOB and I did arrive early, though not early enough to avoid a giant line. While this was annoying and the catalyst of predictable marital discord (why, […]
Porto: you can skip ahead to the sardines
Every country has what I call “the circuit.” The circuit is the travel itinerary most tourists follow (Rome-Florence-Venice-eat lots of gelato-fly home). When I put together our Portugal itinerary, I stuck to the circuit much more than I usually do. HOB was having problems with his foot and I couldn’t anticipate if he’d be able […]
Pimped out nautical: an introduction to Manueline architecture in Portugal
Since I’ll be posting a lot about the Manueline buildings we saw in Portugal, I’ll start with an overview this particular style of architecture and ornamentation. What happened was this: Portuguese explorers, relying on the navigational instruments left behind by the Moors during the years Portugal was under Muslim control, sailed all over the globe, […]
Getting our ya-ya’s out in Vila Nova de Foz Côa
Our only reason for stopping in Vila Nova de Foz Côa was to see to nearby prehistoric rock art in the Côa Valley. As we were leaving the archeological site to walk the 4K back to town, a nice couple who shared our hike to the petroglyphs offered us a ride, so we ended up […]
Food and fado in Coimbra
We’re in Portugal. Current location: Coimbra. Current occupation: eating. (I politely request that anyone who notices the food stuck in my teeth refrain from mentioning it). This was today’s lunch, from a bar inside a food market. (I hope you been a good student of this blog and have noted that the best food is […]
Picnic at the Cathedral 