I-spy Portugal – The Results


Ferry crossing, 14 April 2013

How did we get on?
1) Sunshine:   one hour/ all day / too hot / sunburnt
We soon got an hour of sunshine, a full day had to wait until Sagres, but before that I got a sunburnt face at the secret beach. And the warmest time was Santander Port queuing up to go home… Ahhhh
2) Almond Blossom.
No, we don’t think so. This suffered from a lack of research we did not know what it looked like or what the season was! Not much hope here. But the huge variety of fragrant wild flowers, herbs and fruit trees was glorious compensation – so we declare this a success.
3) Waves:  Bigger than me/ Bigger than the Tardis
Yes, bigger than me.
4) Religious Procession.
Yes, on Maundy Thursday in Salamanca.
5) A vehicle that is stuck: any other one/ ours/ one we help

Yes, yes and yes, sadly. We helped some Portuguese men, who had their bonnet stuck, by lending tools. We came to a stop near Aguas de Mura when the exhaust broke. I fixed it in place at the roadside and a good “temporary repair was made at  a garage 10km further on.

6) A motorhome like ours.
No, nothing like ours …. What do you expect. We saw a Bimobil Husky on a pick up. A ford tramsit with no winows and a couple of large merc based conversions.
7) Standing Stones.
Yes, near Evora
 8) Dinosaur footprints.
No, those are near Lisbon, not Sagres as I had thought. We gave Lisbon a wide detour.
9) A deserted beach.
Yes, more than one. We could nothave hoped for more. And the freedom to camp right on the shore. And a sunsetwatched from the Tardis at the same place.
10) Drink water from a mountain spring. 
No but we found scalding hot thermal springs. 
11) A barrel of Port in Porto.
No, we missed out Porto, maybe we could fly there one day.
       12) Christopher Columbus.
Not quite, but we saw Henriquethe Navigator. 
13) Roman ruins that are: big/ interesting / breath-taking.
A big temple in Evora, extensive ruins near Santiago, but  nothing that deserves the description breath-taking. 
14) Sea creatures dolphins/ whales / mermaids / others.
I saw Dolphins on the way out, but Karen missed them and I don’t have photos. A dead turtle on the secretbeach. Ray fish in the harbour at Sagres – I think they gave rise to themermaid folklore.

The judges (self-assessment) award us 10 (out of a possible 14 ish)
You have seen most of the photos, but here are a few extra:







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