Evora - 14th to 15th of July 2010

Inland we went, for a few hours by bus to Evora. Another walled city, another afternoon wandering the streets before reading our books in the sun, another couple of drinks on a terrace overlooking the countryside. Isn't life tough?

Lisbon - 12th to 14th of July 2010

We've been setting the alarm clock and racing out the door early every morning to grab an early train or bus, and the bus south to Lisbon was the tour record (to date) of 7.45am. Too early really, but with a trip of 5 1/2 hours in front of us, it had to be done.

By the time we finally got to Lisbon, we really just wanted to sleep, but with time being ever crucial, we hit the streets. Luckily there were sights aplenty to keep our eyes busy, first up a trip up to the Castelo de Sao Jorge which overlooks Lisbon and really impressed us, via another super-cute tram. Back into town via the maze (or "warren" if you like...) of medieval streets in the oldest part of town, through the newer centre of town, and out on the train to the suburb of Belem west of the city for a kebab in the park. Another great day in Portugal (well, the afternoon anyway).

Day two in Lisbon wasn't spent in Lisbon. We day-tripped it out for 45 minutes west of the city, to a lovely little tourist town called Sintra. Situated on a hill it has a great view over the forested hills and out to the sea. It also has an awesome castle situated on a hilltop with some awesome walls, one of the best we've visited.

Another 45 minute journey south from Sintra to Estoril. Warren thought it was only famous for its race track which is popular with bikies, but it also has a nice little sandy beach. Luckily for us the sun came out in the afternoon in time for a few hours in the sun. The Altlantic Ocean is still freezing, so only one short dip for Warren.

Peso da Regua - 11th and 12th of July 2010

Portugal seems to be the land of the blue painted tile, an illustrious title. They are everywhere, as exterior cladding on buildings, as interior decoration, and as far as the eye can see. This is Porto train station, where, after saying goodbye to Warren's sister Angie, the two of us got a 2 hour train east, to Pesa da Regua.

The train took us along side the Douro River, in a region surprisingly called the Douro Valley. It's full-on port country with vines lining every inch of available space, so with nothing else to do we popped along to a local winery for a little tour, some port tasting, and a superb lunch of "Steak de Portugeusa". Clearly we needed a little snooze after such a tough day, which we did before getting up for the world cup final in a beatiful spot right on the river, a rather timid affair compared to the rowdiness of the semi final win in Leon, Spain. This is Portugal after all...

Porto - 10th to 11th of July 2010

Taking a much needed break from Spanish sangria and tapas (!), we made a break for Portugal for a week or so. 3 hours due south took us to Porto, a city that didn't immediately strike us, but by the time we had climbed the tower (apparently the tallest in Portugal), taken a rediculously cute tram out to its beach on the atlantic coast and spent some time on its waterfront next to the River Duoro we realised that it's actually very pretty in its own way. We had a great meal on the southbank of the river overlooking the tumbling mass of houses of the city on its northern shores.

Santiago de Compostela - 9th to 10th of July 2010

Further west we marched, but unlike a number of visiters to Santiago de Compostela that had walked a portion of the 700+ km pilgrim's walk known as the Camino de Santiago, we took a 2 hour leisurely bus from Lugo. Now well into a routine of travel in the morning and sightseeing in the afternoon we repeated the process of wandering the streets before having a yummy dinner and a few wines. Santiago was our last taste of Spain for a while before we hit portugal for a week, and we saved the best for last, Santiago is an amazingly beautiful city with a huge cathedral that dominates the skyline, awesome winding narrow streets and a beautiful park. A truly top class little city.

Lugo - 8th to 9th of July 2010

West this time, for 2 1/2 hours by bus to Lugo. Home of more city walls, these ones built by the Romans between 260 and 310 AD. And very cool they are too, able to be fully circumnavigated by foot, but unfortunately are rather lost in the concrete jungle of a rather rundown city. We made it most of the way around before a wander through the streets.Those of you with a keen eye may have noticed the difference in the backgrounds of these photos. Where as Madrid and surrounds was basically a desert with parched brown dirt, northwest Spain of Lugo etc is lush and green. The greeness comes at a cost though, and we experienced a heavy thunderstorm and massive hailstones as we cowered inside at the internet cafe.

Leon - 7th to 8th of July 2010

Another 3 hour journey, this time north to Leon by bus. Leon is another city with an astonishing cathedral, this one with some beautiful stained glass windows. The town was totally gripped with the Spain vs Germany semi final thou, so we found ourselves a little spot and watched some football with some very excited locals. A great night out, very lucky to be in Spain at the right time. Go Spain!

Salamanca - 5th to 7th of July 2010

From Madrid, we trained 3 hours west to Salamanca, a university town with a superb Cathedral and amazing architecture. We did our usual stroll through the city centre, the Cathedral and up the Tower.
With a day to spare between our two nights in Salamanca, we day tripped it back towards Madrid to an awesome town called Avila. Fully enclosed by a stone wall with its 88 watchtowers, we wandered along the top of the portion that was open to the public in the sweltering heat of an early afternoon in mid-Spain.
Back to Salamanca to watch the Dutch get through to the final at our hotel before a trip into the centre of town for some awesome nightime shots of Salamanca´s Cathedral and Plaza Major.