Ah, Algeciras! We finally found you! Three gas stops, the outer edges of 2 rain showers and a chilly 8 hours/500 km later and we made it!It was 14°C when we left this morning, with the threat of some rain, so we departed with rain gear in place. By the time we stopped for lunch, […]

…and another hour time change when we entered Spain! Where does the time go?

We got an early start this morning, in part because Portugal switched to daylight savings time last night. A bit of initial confusion, deconflicting the phone and the watch. A quick shower and breakfast, then we loaded the bikes and took off, winding our way south on smaller and smaller roads until we got to […]

For the afternoon, after checking on the bikes we walked around the town. Lots of narrow roads, most of which people drive along. So many one-way roads! I wonder how many people scrape the sides of their cars entering and exiting what I would normally consider an alley or a footpath! We did find a […]

Some new friends hosted us for a delicious lunch. There are several students at the church from Cape Verde. They practiced their English while we practiced the few words we’ve learned in Portuguese.

We found the local Seventh-day Adventist church, and enjoyed worshipping with the local congregation. Turns out, there’s a lady here who knows Roger!

Here’s where we’re staying in Évora. The hostel experience is always a bit of a gamble – last night the Spanish couple in the room next door smoked like chimneys, so we had to keep the window open, which let in the noise of the dance bar at street level. However, we managed to get […]

So the GPS we brought with us for the trip is misbehavin’, and not in a way that results in serenity for me! Consequently, we were later than we wanted to be on the road. The bikes are running just fine, including the air temperature gauge, which reported the temperature dropping from 24°C to 16°C […]

After lunch, we rode to Tomar and visited the Convent of Christ and Templar Castle, once the headquarters of the Knights Templar. Parts of the building date back to the 13th century, with newer additions from the 16th century. Just amazing to see something so intricate with such longevity. Maybe we should take a page […]

Stopped briefly for lunch in Coimbra at Burger King. Yeah, we chickened out. Bad choice – all the school kids go here too, so the line was very long, and the staff overwhelmed. Should have tried the walk-thru window streetside!