Day 234 Mar 26 2015 Faro Portugal

The walk into the ruins

selfie at Troia |Ruins

Photo Bomb

On the walk back to the car

looking at a cork tree

Day 234  Mar 26  2015  Faro Portugal

We drove to the Quinta da Regaleria ( Regaleira Palace); however by the time we got there it was raining quite hard so we decided to skip it and begin our drive to Faro.  As we were driving we saw a highway sign advertising the Troia Roman Ruins.  We decided to make the 50 km trip to see them.  When we got to the site it was closed for the season so we walked the 2.4 km into the ruins only to discover that there was a fence around the site.  Evy and the kids played on the beach while I went to explore if I could find an easy way in.  Along the beach there was a very low gate that was easy to get over.  I took a few selfies of the ruins then rejoined everybody on the beach.   We then returned to the car and continued our drive towards Faro.  The walk was through a forest and was very enjoyable as there was nobody else around and the temperature was decent. 

Day 233 Mar 25 2015 Estoril Portugal

Europe's most westerly  point

Castelo dos Mouros

Castelo dos Mouros

Palacio Nacional da Pena Entrance

A window inside the Pena Palace

an intense game of checkers between rival factions! 

Day 233  Mar 25  2015  Estoril Portugal

Our first stop of the day was at Cabo do Roca which is the most westerly point in Europe.  The view from the cliff was very beautiful with large waves crashing into the shore blow.  It was extremely windy and the strong gusts would make you stager.  We also visited the Castelo dos Mouros which is the ruins of a castle built from the 9^th century onward by the Moors.  It was crazy windy there and the wind almost knocked Isabel off of a high walkway on the castle walls and then the wind blew Isabel down some stairs.  It was a good thing she was just starting to ascend the stairs when it happened so she only went down a few steps.  I held her hand very tightly after that when we got to areas of high wind.  The last stop of the day was at the Palacio Nacional da Pena.  The palace started life as a monastery and was converted into a palace by King Ferdinad II.  The king decided that he needed more room and had a large addition constructed.  In the evening I played ping pong and checkers with the kids in the hotel games room while Evy cooked us supper.

Day 232 Mar 24 2015 Estoril Portugal

an old bridge we stopped to look at

Castle in Elvas Portugal

Narrow streets in the town of Elvas

give me that camera!

500 year old acuaduct

Day 232  Mar 24  2015  Estoril Portugal

We left Salamanca Spain in the morning and stopped at a few places on the way when we saw something that looked interesting.  The closer we got to Lisbon the hotter the temperature got.  When we started driving in the morning the temperature was at 1 deg C., when we got to Lisbon the temperature was at 16 deg C.  I think we can stop driving south now and start doing the tourist thing and enjoy Europe.  We stopped in Elvas Portugal for a few hours to tour a Castle that was initially constructed sometime before 1166 ad.  There was also the remains of an impressive 7790 meter long aqueduct that was inaugurated in 1692. 

Day 231 Mar 23 2015 Salamanca Spain

What are we doing here??

I could have stayed in Canada for this!

Day 231  Mar 23  2015  Salamanca Spain

We drove from Bayonne France to Salamanca Spain passing through quite a bit of snow.  We were planning on stopping at a few places. The miserable weather changed our minds and we did not stop to see any sites.

Day 230 Mar 22 2015 Bayonne France

Walking around a park in France

Walking trails by Prieure De Cayac

Statue at Prieure De Cayac

how do we turn on the heat?

beach treasures in Saint Julien en Born

Day 230  Mar 22  2015  Bayonne  France

We drove the back roads between Bordeaux and Bayonne passing along the Compostella route for a good portion of the day.  We stopped for a walk at Prieure De Cayac which is a church and hospital built somewhere around 1210 to serve the people on pilgrimage to Saint Jacques de Compostela.  We had a picnic lunch at La chapelle Saint Roch du Muret, one of the old churches that served the pilgrims that walked the route.  David started eating but his tooth hurt so we decided to pull it out ( it was ready).  As I was tying a piece of dental floss around it David asked me if I was going to pull it.  I said we would tie it to the car door and he could slam the door.  As soon as I got it tied I yanked the string and pulled the tooth out.  David was relieved to have the tooth out and had no more problems eating. We stopped for a walk along the sea side in Saint Julien En Born, it was cold and windy but still pretty.  Our original plan was to drive to Pamplona Spain but we decided it was stupid to drive in the dark and not see the country, so we got a hotel in Boyonne.

Day 229 Mar 21 2015 Bordeaux France

along the Loire River in France

Day 229  Mar 21  2015  Bordeaux  France 

The first thing we did when we work up was to book a hotel on Expedia for the night.  We spent the day driving along the Loire River from Orleans to Tours admiring the beautiful country side and the amazing chateaus and antique churches.  We ate lunch in the parking lot of a grocery store and supper at a highway rest stop.  Once we got to Tours we got on the toll highway and drove to our hotel in Bordeaux.  Once we arrived at the hotel we found it dark with no one in reception.   The notes on Expedia stated that if you were expecting a late check in contact the hotel.  We were not expecting to arrive late but did arrive just before 10 pm.  We contacted Expedia and they could do nothing for us.  We ended up booking a second hotel where we spent the night.  When we got to the hotel, I called Visa to try to stop the charges but was too late.  I was told I would have to call back during business hours to dispute the charges.

Day 228 Mar 20 2015 Orleans France

view from the apartment we rented in France

Day 228  Mar 20  2015  Orleans France

We started the day hoping to see the solar eclipse but between the fog and the smog we did not see the sun at all in the morning.   We picked up our car at the Renault car center and then drove to the apartment to pick up our luggage.  The next stop was at Ikea where we bought some knives, forks and few other odds and sods so we can have picnic lunches as restaurants are expensive in France.  A meal at Ikea cost us 50 CAD and McDonalds cost 40 CAD.  We used the built in GPS in the car and selected a hotel in Orleans.  We spent an hour in traffic only to miss our turn because we were on the wrong side of the traffic, the GPS recalculated and we continued our trip for another 1 ½ hours.  As we were passing Versailles Evy said "I think we are going the wrong way".  The GPS listed a hotel near the English Channel as being in Orleans and since we were blindly following it we were driving in the wrong direction.  We ended up getting to Orleans but it was quite a bit latter than we had originally expected.  Maps of the countries we are going to visit in Europe are on our list of things to purchase tomorrow.