Next country, please!

Our last stop in Spain was Isla Cristina. Itˋs so close to Portugal, you can see it on the other side of the river.

Isla Cristina is a small fishing town with a charming center, tiled walkways in the pedestrian only streets and a wonderful beach which is next to empty. At least this time of the year. I guess it would look very different in summer. Saying that, the weather is still amazing, about 30 degrees during the day.

Our spot just a couple of kilometers outside the town was amazing. Right next to the beach alongside a little pine forest, plenty of space and most of it level, which is very important for both, living and sleeping comfort. 

There is a charming little boardwalk that starts after the pine forest and gets you into town. Itˋs seen better days, but itˋs still a very nice way to walk into town for a little look around. There is a small lighthouse and a little fishing and yacht harbor. 
As it was Sunday, the locals were out and about in the bars and restaurants, enjoying a midday drink or three. And why not?

Later on we enjoyed the near solitude on the beach, which, by the few people that were there, was declared a nudist beach. Well, one doesnˋt have to go with every trend, does one?

It was a quiet night and a beautiful sunrise, which my human enjoyed doing some Yoga on the beach. After breakfast, her and Carmelo went off on the bike to drive around in the large nature reserve, which was only a few kilometers away. This area is a resting and nesting ground for many bird species. There were even some flamingos!

Following a dirt track you can cross the whole area and get out on the other side of the huge bay, which Isla Cristina sits on one side of. On the other side is Isla Canela, a larger town with one resort next to the other along the beach. Most of the hotels were already locked up, though, and the ones that were open didnˋt seem to be too busy.

One the way back they did a little bit of food shopping before spending a couple more hours on the beach. After dinner they went for a walk during sunset, which you canˋt see from this beach, but the light was amazing anyway.

Shortly after the got back another van pulled up next to us and over came Volker, a 60-ish German. He is currently traveling by himself as well, until he picks up his lady in Lisbon in a few days. Since he had only left Germany a couple of weeks ago, he still had some beer from the motherland on board, Bavarian beer, to be precise. And he was happy to share them with!

At two in the morning the garbage collection truck came. Yes, at two in the morning. Suddenly we were woken up by some very loud beeping noise and peeking out from behind the curtain, there we saw a huge garbage truck, beginning to empty the trash cans. I repeat, it was two oˋclock in the morning!

Volker told us the next day that this was quite common in Spain. Well, luckily this custom has gone right past us until our last night in the country. 

And so, after a sunrise run on the beach and breakfast, we headed across the river on a nice hanging bridge into Portugal. 

First stop - Tavira. Why? No idea? Itˋs close to the border and my human wanted to check it out. So she did. For a couple of hours or so. That did the job. Itˋs a nice little town with an old fortress which has seen better days, but besides that, itˋs nothing to write home about.

So we kept going for another 50km to Faro. 

Faro is somewhat larger and really pretty. We parked a couple of kilometers from the center on a large parking ground with many other camper vans. Quite a few of them seem to be there for good. Which is great, really. Those guys know the people who come past regularly and notice people who have no business sneaking around the vehicles. 

Along the train tracks itˋs just a short walk into the center. Where you get greeted by nesting storks on the roof of the town hall. The city has large parts of itˋs old town walls left, which you can walk along getting an overview of the place. Faro is on the ocean and there is an extensive network of wetlands and waterways, called the Ria Formosa.

                                                                           Hard to see, but there are storks on the top

You can do bird watching trips, dolphin tours and island hopping with smaller and larger boats. There is one company that offers SUP tours, too. After enquiring with them for a trip the next day my human was told they would call her after checking availability. Which then never happened. Oh well, not meant to be then.

After a quiet night and a great pancake, bacon, maple syrup breakfast, and some washing at yet another petrol station, we went on to Èvora, almost three hours drive due North. Not sure if GoogleMaps wanted us to see the scenic route, but by the looks on the faces of the few people in the few settlements we passed we knew, this is not the tourist route. 

After finally arriving at the large camper parking spot we had previously chosen, guess who we ran into? Volker from Isla Cristina. He arrived at exactly the same time as us! And we hadnˋt spoken about meeting here. It is indeed a small world. 

So they set off together to have a look around town. And luckily, it was worth the drive. Èvora is really, really pretty! They visited the Cathedral, mainly because you can run around the roof at will, getting some very nice views of town. Right next to it are some Roman columns, which are in pretty good shape. 

There is also the Capela dos Ossos, a bone chapel. A large cave like room is constructed with the bones of many a skeleton. A little creepy but also very interesting. The museum of religious art above it was only slightly interesting to the two of them.

Itˋs a university city as well, with one of the oldest in the country. And today they celebrate some anniversary and for that reason all the students are out and about, wearing their uniforms, including a Harry Potter style black cape. Looks quite interesting.

What a wonderful setting this would be for Romeo & Juliet

                 This trees is made from scrap metal

These comings and goings they watched sitting in a couple of different bars along the cobbled streets, taking in the local life. And my human has already noticed a difference between Spain and Portugal regarding the hospitality. Often in Spain the waiters were less then attentive and sometimes even a bit rude.

She had a bite to eat in Faro yesterday and the waiters were super friendly. Not in an obnoxious way, though, but genuine, just really nice. And again today here in Èvora. Weˋll see if this was just luck so far, or if this is a thing. Which she would appreciate a lot!

Tomorrow we will be headed for Lisbon! A friend of my humanˋs will come to see us there for a few days. This will be fun!