Portugal

A lonely village

We spent the New Year’s day in a small village recommended in my guidebook. It is called Mertola in Alentejo, Portugal, and located close to Spain. There is a castle on top of…

Portugal

Party at Beja

In a small ordinary town called Beja in Portugal, the year end party started. All of the people, young and old have gathered in the main square. The local band played their favourite…

Portugal

A town called Beja

After spending a few days in Evora in Portugal, we came to a town called Beja, about 50km south of Evora. This is an ordinary small town where ordinary people live, in contrast…

Portugal

Bright coloured pottery

Portugal is famous for its bright coloured potteries. In the tour in Alentejo, we were taken to one of those craft workshops. I love this sort of places. After looking at how they…

Portugal

Visit a palace

 In the schedule of the tour in Alentejo in Portugal, a visit to Paco Ducal palace in Vila Vicoca was included. We had to follow a guide who spoke only Portuguese for about one…

Portugal

Home of cork

 In Alentejo in Portugal, it was not easy to travel around by public transport, so we joined a tour. The first destination was Evoramonte, where they have a castle on top of a mountain….

Portugal

The town with blue flames

 A lot of the houses in Arraiolos in Alentejo in Portugal have white wall with blue flames. I did not know at that time, but I heard afterwards that blue flames are protecting them…

Portugal

Carpet

 Soon after we arrived in Portugal, I noticed their carpets with a curious way of weaving. We found that a small town in Alentejo, about 20km north of Evora called Arraiolos is the main…

Evora

A pretty room

This is a hotel room where we stayed in Evora, Portugal. It is very nicely furnished. The painting on the wall was done by a 13-year-old Ukrainian boy, which was amazing. This house…