old tiger's Blog

Badajoz..regio Estramadura..can be very hot in summer..
it's maybe 10kms.from the Portugese border..
did not see much of these place..i recall it's on a river..
forgot the name..Zafra..inbetween Badajoz-Sevilla...
was not easy to reach..but I made it that day anyway..
it has got a castle..some of these provincial towns look
quite nice..it was getting sunny..the south of Spain,you know..
the next day..got a ride to Sevilla..and took a bus to the town
of Jerez de la Frontera..this place is known for sherry..
http://www.goodcooking.com/sherry1.htm
in fact...that same day..from Jerez I got a ride to Tarifa+Alg?ciras..
had to do that in 2 stretches...stood a while in Cadiz..
Tarifa..is very close to Morocco and the African continent..
Alg?ciras..was a busy ferry port..don't recall where I slept..
I believe it was in a small hostal..I did not like Alg?ciras that much..
next day..I was gonna try to get into Morroco..my initial planning
was crossing the whole of Morrocco and go via Agadir+Tan Tan..
into the Western Sahara(El Aaioun)but..this thurned out a bummer..
will tell you what happened in Ceuta later on(Tiger)

so..finally I left Lissabon by bus..towards Evora..
not expensive at all..but still..money went..
buses were quite organised..the railway system..
did not reach every place..but bus system did..
although i did not speak Portugese at all..
people were friendly and outgoing..
Evora..was a small provincial town..regio Alentejo..
people were poor in these days..mostly peasants..
but still..Evora got some charm..it's not the hustle
and bustle of Lissabon..or the Algarve...
I tried to hitch a ride to Elvas..which I got soon enough..
surprising..I thought..it was gonna be a lot more difficult..
Elvas..is close to the Spanish border regio of Estramadura..
this regio can be the hottest place in Spain in summer..
I was there during winter..so..no problem..
I recall I crossed the Portugese-Spanish border..
without any difficulties...and reached Badajoz..
where I slept outside somewhere..on the outskirts..
direction Sevilla...yip..again to Sevilla..via Zafra..
was not gonna be easy hitch hiking..but..I was gonna try..
my aim was Sevilla-Jerez de la Frontera-Cadiz-Alg?ciras..
boat to Ceuta...and finally..crossing into Morroco..
but..that turned out..to be a bummer..
one cannot get everything in life,you know??
Tiger

so..Lisboa..stayed 2 nights at youth hostel..
lovely city it was..it has an old an new part..
Lissabon is on the Tejo river..the old city..
is worth exploring..ask for Alfama,Baixa or Rossio..
lots of narrow streets..little restaurants etc..
I did not do any musea..just wandered around a lot..
just like flamenco in Sevilla..it's fado here in Lisboa..
I'll try to get a link on that style of singing...
http://home.online.no/~nancys/portugal/lisboa/night/fado.html
the barrio Alfama got lots of churches,a castle as well..
Oriente is the railway station of Lisboa..what's typical..
and very touristic in Lissabon are the tramways...
try to take tramway 28..I did not..but I think it must be fun...
I used to walk a lot in these days..kept me healthy,I suppose??
I went to see the bridge ponte de 25 Abril..one can see a huge
Christ statue overlooking the Tejo river and Lisboa..real nice..
Belem tower was a tourist attraction..did not go there..one cannot
see everything..around Lissabon Estoril,Sintra and Cascais are well
worth a visit..but I concentrated myself on the old part of LIsboa..
was gonna take a bus towards Evora...and then try to hitch to the
Portugese-Spanish border towards Elvas-Badajoz...Tiger..
http://www.atl-turismolisboa.pt/home.asp?lng=uk

so..I left Sevilla direction Costa de la Luz=Huelva..
this Costa stretches from Cadiz towards Alg?ciras..
and was less exposed to mass tourism..might be different now?
close to Huelva is the little port of Palos de la Frontera..
nothing special..but historically it was the place where Columbus
started one of his discovery voyages..I recall as well the small ferry
i took from Ayamonte(Spain)to cross over to Vila Real(Portugal)
this regio is known as Algarve..and stretches from Vila Real..
towards Faro-Albufeira-Lagos-Sagres-Cabo San Vicente..
fantastic beaches..I did only hitch up to Faro via Tavira..
http://www.portugalvirtual.pt/_tourism/algarve/index.html
I don't remember where I stayed in Faro..in fact..I did not like this
city too much..Portugal these days..was less touristical then Spain..
nice people..difficult language..I spoke a few sentences..that's all..
faz favor..um bica=please..a coffee..obrigado..thanks..
I decided to hitch up north towards S?tubal-Lisboa...but I knew..
it was gonna be more difficult even then Spain..
the regio above Faro..was very remote as a tourist destination..
Portugese cars..did barely stop..or payed attention to rucksack
hitch hikers..so..i was heading for Beja..set out from Faro..
stood few hours..got a short ride..with local youngsters..
they were just curious where I was going,I guess..Portugese did
not make big distances..it was mostly from village to villlage..
Beja is on the main road from Sevilla towards Lisboa..
but was not easy to reach..damned difficult to hitch a ride...
I recall I slept out somewhere in between..
next day...I reached Beja..nothing much..provincial town...
Beja-S?tubal..I took a bus..I got sick of standing for hours along
the roadside..baahh..bus prices were dirt cheap..also if one takes
a bus..one sees the local folks..I recall in Portugal..old ladies..
dressed from top to toes in black..and with a hat on..tradition??
S?tubal..is like a short distance from the capital Lisboa..
in Lissabon(Lisboa)I stayed in the youth hostel..it was O.K.
I will relate about Lissabon town in next entry..
Tiger

So..I reached Malaga...even in these days..very touristical spot..
turnpoint for the Costa del Sol destinations like Torremolinos etc..
I did not continue on towards Marbella etc..but hitched a ride...
direction Sevilla..difficult traject..road splits to Granada..it took me
quite a while to reach Osuna and Sevilla..i decided to see this place..
took a small hostal(pension like hotel)I recall a very nice old lady..
pointing me out there was no hot running water..well..it was cheap
enough for cold running water..ahah...so..Sevilla..famous for this big
cathedral called la Giralda=ask for barrio Santa Cruz..i never liked all
these churches too much..but this one..is impressiv..the little streets around..
are full of busy little shops,restaurants,tapa bars,flamenco etc..
anyway..I treated myself a cerveza negra=dark beer..in some pub..
SEvilla folks are very lively people..you can see the difference with the
north of Spain..same thing I saw between north and south Italians..
they just live more..they like to celebrate..i did not go to a flamenco
gig..usually quite expensiv..not for hippie rucksack travellers??
Granada and Sevilla are THE places to be to see flamenco dance..
I'll see if I can find a good link..usually flamenco is associated with gypsies..
wonderful people..these ladies wear these colourful robes...amazing..
I would say here..if you ever go to Southern Spain..
don't miss the triangle..Malaga-Sevilla-Cordoba-Granada..
it's really worthwhile exploring..one can see Moorish(Arabic)influence..
in the architecture..but also in the mentality of these people..
so..I was gonna make a trip into Portugal..Algarve=Faro rtc..
will tell you all later..if you are interested???Tiger
http://www.flamenco-world.com/flamenco.htm
click audio+audio of the week..to listen to some flamenco..
all the other links..if you ask me..commercial internet..baaah..