When I was a teenager, I spent many a spare period in my high school’s library poring over an illustrated book for young people describing an early 20th century American adventurer’s romantic tales of international travel (the Taj Mahal! the pyramids!). Being an academically oriented Canadian convent school (ahem…), this was a rather improbable and …
A final set of photos from my Portugal trip, including a Gothic monastery with roses, Roman ruins, port wine, a miracle, two pilgrimages, and penance, plus wistful cows.
Here’s a next set of photos, from the UNESCO world heritage site of Évora, to a cork oak estate, a local market and medieval monastery (Alcobaça), a fishing town and beach (Nazaré), and a fortified hill town (Óbidos).
In the summer of 2018, I was pleased to have a chance to visit Portugal for the first time. Why Portugal? Fundamentally, I was intrigued with the country’s maritime history, leading to a seafaring empire in the sixteenth century. Beyond that, and the existence of the Portuguese community in Toronto, I didn’t know much. Soccer, …
