May 20th – Convent of Christ and Castelo de Vide, Portugal
We started the day in Tomar with a visit to the hilltop Convent of Christ with its famous Manueline window. The convent was founded by the Knights Templar in 1118. Following the dissolution of the Templar Order, in 1319, Pope John XXII instituted the Order of Christ. It was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983.
We had just arrived at our first stop and I start snapping away when NOOOOOOO, my camera battery had died. Now I always carry a spare with me, but being still only half with it taking cold meds, I had left it on the bus. So I turned to Tim and asked to use his camera. Well, the camera God’s were frowning on me – his battery was ALSO DEAD!!!!
I tried the old trick of taking the battery out, rubbing the contacts and putting it back in and managed to get a couple shots out of my camera before it totally gave up and would not even open the lens. At least Tim had his iPhone with him and we managed to take a few shots of the spectacular inside and Manueline window before returning to the bus and access to our spare batteries.
Convent of Christ
Later, we drove south and cross the Tagus river, passing Port wine vineyards and Cork Oak Trees along the way. The Cork Oaks can have their bark “harvested” every 9 years.
Vineyards with red poppies along the sidelines
Cork trees in the background
Castelo de Vide – Views from on top of the castle:
And a stroll through the small towns old Jewish Quarter where time seems to have stood still with cobbled streets and whitewashed houses (most of them with Gothic doorways and potted plants on the doorsteps). Here is also the oldest synagogue in the country, although all that remains is one modest little room.
The church of Santa Maria da Devise
Interior of church
As much as I enjoy seeing the historic sights, it was the wildflowers that most grabbed my attention today. Vibrant yellow, cool blue, crisp white, deep purple and brilliant red. Field after glorious field, God painted a wide stroke on todays canvas…
And then we continued on to Evora for dinner and overnight.
Our hotel room in Evora at the Mar de Ar Aqueduto
Overnight: Evora – Mar De Ar Aqueduto
GRATITUDE MOMENT: Today I am grateful for the many wild flowers that grace our world and make it so much more pleasant. How sad it would be without them…
A Note From Abroad 
thank goodness for iPhones!!! And I concur about the wildflowers. Hugs to you both!!
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Always good to have backups and plan B 😃
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All your photos are so captivating.
It’s hard to have favorites because each one is so spectacular and has a such a great story behind it, but the ones of the older gentleman and his cane pulled me in.
His cap, the rocky path, steep walkway… I wanted to sit down and have a conversation with him.
Thanks for sharing such intimate moments and beautiful scenery.
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Brenda, I took two pictures of this gentleman as he climbed the steps. This was my favorite but Tim likes the other one even more. I’ll have to share it with you sometime. There were so many stories captured in that moment and I’m sure many of us could recognize a parent, grandparent or beloved uncle…
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Ah, I sympathise – I have also forgotten to recharge my batteries on occasion. Tomar is spectacular – a complete, self-contained ‘city’; I very much enjoy Castelo de Vide, and am just posting about a walk which finished there in a coffee shop; and of course Evora is unforgettable. I am so pleased you are enjoying your travels in Portugal.
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Candy, Portugal has so many amazing churches and historical sites to keep one on the go and enthralled for days. But it is the natural beauty that has captured my heart even more.
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We loved Evora!
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Ah yes those battery devils Just this morning I grabbed my camera to get a perfect backlit shot of a pair of doves at one of my feeders and — you guessed it — dead battery.
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Dang! Sorry you missed a shot as well.
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Clearly the Goddess of flowers was smiling on you, while the God of energy and batteries was annoyed for some reason 😉 Enjoyed all the photos, but the shot above the rooftops with all those red tiles was particularly evocative of those European towns. Lovely post despite your photo difficulties.
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What a beautiful place – all of it. And you got some good shots once you’d resolved the battery issue.
Alison
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Beautiful photos showing my country! 🙂
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Glad you enjoyed them.
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I enjoy following your blog posts! It’s awful if you run out of camera battery, I feel your pain! But your wild flower photos are lovely.
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Having a dead camera battery was so frustrating. Lesson learned…
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I’ve been there. I had an old camera that would die unexpectedly that caused much heartache. Now all I have is mental memories of those days.
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My pictures are a memory aid for me. I am crushed when I can’t take them.
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Even with dead batteries your photos are absolutely beautiful!
Sent from Karen’s iPad
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Thanks Karen. I was sad to miss getting a couple of shots, but thankful that once we returned to the bus I had a spare battery and was able to snap away the rest of the day.
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