Jayne’s Travels

 Wednesday 28th Barcelona (as sung by Freddie)  The Sagrada Familia is awesome! Over the top on the outside, Especially on the entrance /Nativity side but simplistic on the inside, columns in porphyry the ones of the evangelists that will eventually be holding up the tallest tower yet to be built, others made of basalt, granite and sandstone, are said to suggest trees with their branches forming the arches, all dusted in the light of the fabulous stained glass windows. the trouble with such an imposing building in a city is that it is hard to get a photo that conveys just how stunning it is. Later on I have a city view that shows how high it is, but now for some close up of the towers, Love the blobs of colour provided by the mosaics at the top of towers and other crests. Then on the entrance side - above the doors - this helps to exclude all the people, tourism is what is funding the rebuild, so things slowed down over lockdown, It is very organic and complicated, but everyon...

 Monday 28th M at Barcelona  Took a long walk into the Placa de Catalunya to catch the hop on hop off for a tour around the city, it was mostly about the architecture, but got off to view some gardens, think I went the wrong way as not much there but some good views over the city  And the port - with the column on the left being Christopher Columbus  Caught the bus again and managed to get a close up view, this statue is at the bottom of La Rambla, which is where tourists and pick pockets go, Will probably brave it in a couple of days!  There is some cool sculpture around one by Roy Lichtenstein, I managed to get a photo of  Then it was onward, through the port area, once considered not a good place to live, but with the redevelopment for Olympic Games in 1992 has now become more desirable, close to town, close to the beach. A bit of modern architecture for a change - by a French architect. Then I got off to photograph the Casa Batilo, there was a big waiti...

Sunday 26th May - Lisboa    Not much to show for Lisbon, a bit of recovery time from the pace of the tour. I did do a hop on hop off tour, but could do only one route, and I chose the more modern one which took me to the Museo de Azulejos - ceramic tiles, thought it would be a change from churches etc (although found one inside) The tiles date from 16th century onwards, not only displays but part of the building that housed them,  Just a little bit of over the top decoration, but definitely blue and white tiles in situ, I found a small smattering of 20th century tiles near the end which were appreciated but I would like to have seen more.  Riding around in a double decker bus gives a good view of the city and its buildings but few photo opportunities. When I got back to the centre I walked down the Avenida da Liberade which had all the brand shops on the outside but in the wide tree lined median strip had market stalls, and bars, was a pleasant walk but nothing was p...

 Saturday 25th May Estremoz to Lisbon. First stop Evora, a World heritage site, we stopped here for second breakfast or early lunch - so a couple of hours to wander around. We climbed the church tower and took in the view from the roof, there are some Roman ruins, Templo de Diana, in one direction. A quick look through the Cloisters and the Church, as we have seen some very amazing places along the way, but there was an Ossary in the town we wanted to look at - for something a little different, but not sure I’d be in a hurry to see any more. This one was decorated by a Monk. Then after a quick early lunch it was on to Lisbon, We had seen quite a few Stork’s nest along the way but as we got close to Lisbon we hadn’t imagined we would see something like this… shots taken while bus is speeding a long but they will convey the spectacle of the power pylons  We counted sixteen nest on one of the pylons, they are of course protected birds, but interesting to see where they make their...

 Friday 24th May Aracena to Estremoz  We stopped in a little town to use the ATM and to have a coffee if we were inclined. Our tour leader had told us sometimes they will whitewash the trunks of trees to keep the bugs away, apparently it is true! And then the time went back by an hour and we were in  It is very dry is this part of Portugal So they have built the Alqueva dam to assist with irrigation, unusually it is not one big lake but has lots of arms so its reach is quite far, driving along and over parts of it doesn’t make the surrounding country side greener. But leant a lovely reflection to the hillside town of Monsaraz, where we were to spend a couple of hours over lunchtime. You can just see it on top of the hill. Yet another beautiful day around 29 degrees wandering around this exquisite little town. We soon found somewhere to lunch and keep cool. Bruschetta with sheep’s cheese, tomato and basil. Then we found out there was a little terrace on the other side of t...