Shall I, shan’t I? …. I did.
I walked past this gentleman a handful of times as l was running errands in Lisbon. He appeared totally engrossed in reading his newspaper. Something I rarely see these days. Phones yes, I’m on mine now, newspapers no.
As unobtrusively as possible, I took the shot.
These two donkeys lived in the hotel grounds that we stayed in while down in the Algarve over the weekend. They were not always in their corral, but sometimes were wandering the grounds. On our return one afternoon, the older one greeted us with some loud braying as we got out of the car and walked towards him.
Fresh fruit. Young grapes on the vine growing above us, and providing shade from the sun.
Ciao!
This way.
An Algarve morning.
This is one way to protect your car from the heat of the day.
Shapes and shadows by a pool of water.
Yesterday’s exhibition. Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza Vieira at the Gulbenkian Museum. He is so prolific, even into his 90s, that I found the exhibition exhausting. Fascinating, inspiring, but exhausting.
Church, Vila Ruiva, southern Alentejo.
Spotted while driving through Vila Ruiva is southern Alentejo today. A little bit of searching online revealed this information on the insect zoo.
I found this cage with Budgerigars in the Center of Alcácer. Next to it was a similar cage with pigeons. I don’t know what or who they were for? It has obviously been there for a some time - though how long, I don’t know?
I miss maps, old paper maps that you could spread out over the floor to plan your route. That you could fold up to hold on your lap with the section of the map that you were traveling through. I loved looking over them to see all the details they hold - thinking here especially of the British Ordinance Survey maps. Maps that you could stick pins in of places visited and draw out roads traveled.
The Sado estuary.
Another photograph of Cais Palafitico da Carrasqueira, the ramshackle, zigzagging, interlocking piers on wooden stilts, near to Comporta in Portugal. There have been other photographs of the same area here on my website. It’s a very photogenic area.
Barrosinha, Alcácer do Sal.
Images of Design Week in Lisbon.
Some of welcome relief from the hot sun yesterday afternoon in Lisbon.
Checking out the wine.
Monsaraz - one street of maybe two.
At Barrosinha nr, Alcácer do Sal
A hotel lobby greeting.
Thursday, May 16, 2024
Two boys playing cricket just off the Karakoram Highway While traveling the Karakoram Highway through Pakistan I stopped in Passu for three nights. My memory of Passu in July of 1989 was it just being made up of a small collection of houses. Nothing else. One of those was the guest house that I stayed in. This was run by a lovely man who use to be in the Pakistan army.
Looking north from Arrábida Natural Park.
Man with goat in the Hunza Valley, Pakistan in 1989
Passing the car ferry heading to Setúbal as we are on the other ferry heading to Comporta. A very small boat with a couple of people fishing from it, sits between us.
Some more paintings from artist Veronika Blyzniuchenko. The stars in the lower left are sponsored by visitors, a percentage of the sponsorship going towards the restoration of the Basilica.
Friday, May 10, 2024
My wife and I were in Lisbon yesterday and met up with an old Portland friend who had been living Portugal for eight years. After lunch she took us to an art exhibition at the Estrela Basilica, by a young Ukrainian artist, Veronika Blizniuchenko. It is not an easily found exhibition, situated as it is in the former convent behind the Basilica. While visiting the Basilica, Bluzniuchenko noticed the convent from its rooftop gallery.
We found this very hidden Gelato shop today. What a gem it is. The owner trained in Italy and now makes his own. Delicious. Repeat visit assured.
Highways in the sky.
