Abrantes - October 2008

We headed for Covilhã on Saturday morning, expecting to explore the beautiful Serra da Estrela mountains. And it was a nice choice. I learned never to trust the weather sites as they were predicting heavy rains and we had only Sun, summer Sun :-)





The first stop was in Abrantes - a small village with the most beautiful, romantic gardens I have ever seen(and I've seen some gardens!) from which you have a beautiful view of the Tagus river - the castle's gardens. I took pictures of my lovely pink tree in bloom. Isn't he lovely? :-) Before that, I got to visit the main church attracted by a lady singing Opera. I started to take pictures but was briskly interupted by a gentleman who asked me if I asked for permission in advance. God, there was no sign as to whether I have to ask for permission or to stop taking photos, but he seemed determined to ruin my day. So I stopped taking pictures without saying anything. I guess he saw my sad face and decided to come up with an excuse "you know, you can take pictures, it is just that this church has been rubbed 17 times and we have to keep track of the people that are taking pictures and ask for an i.d.". I was just a "tourist" and he forgave me.