At the Centre

Here's our group at the geodesic centre of Portugal; I'm standing at the actual triangulation point. Gorgeous piney smell in the air, pine and eucalyptus forests and hills stretching out in every direction.

Again, it's very different to how Mike and I would do things... lots of driving and then a quick look at some famous place, back in the cars, stops for a strong black coffee, and to buy scratch cards, and repeat. Went to Tomar this morning, beautiful town on a river, where Mike won a canoeing trophy the year we were engaged.

Had cozido à portuguesa for lunch. Never going to be my favourite Portuguese recipe, I'm afraid, but all the Portuguese seem to rave about it. Went to Mass in a gorgeous church in Bêco, simple white walls, sandstone pillars, and an amazing gold and wine on a dusty blue background altar, and no image, just two angels holding a huge gold crown with a space below, bit like the ark of the covenant in the Jewish Bible. And the singing, coming from above behind and before us, was excellent.

Then off to Dornes, a village on a peninsula on the Têrere River, really quite spectacular, but we zoomed up in our cars to the church, took a few photos and zoomed off again, to Vila do Rei and this photo on the location above it.

A few minutes free now before dinner...

Gratefuls:
- being in such a different place and with these folk; truly, a change is as good as a rest
- the amazing privilege of seeing Portugal from the inside, as it were
- Cecílio, our driver, doing a great job, feel really safe with him - there have been a lot of twisting roads up and down hills