Monsaraz | Alentejo

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Over the next 5 weeks I´m going to be blogging a series of Alentejo towns… an Alentejo special! My family came to visit us in May, it was their first time in Portugal so we spent 3 weeks driving the country flat and because this is my favourite part, we spent quite a lot of time exploring the region. Monsaraz is a small hill-top town on the Alqueva lake, right on the border with Spain. Because of it´s strategic location on a hill near the Spanish border it is one of the oldest towns in the southern part of Portugal…

Alentejo

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As you may have noticed by now, I am quite a big fan of the Alentejo region of Portugal. South of the Tagus river (Tejo) but before you get to the southern most coast, this part of the country is typified by olive trees and cork oaks, vineyards and tiny sunbleached villages. I love it here and visit as often as possible (except for during the peak of the summer, when the heat is unbearable). These are a few iPhone photos from the last year or so of visits…  Barragem da Alqueva Évora  Alcaçovas Casa Branca

Évora, Alentejo

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The first time I visited Évora was back in 2007 and I fell in love with the city immediately… so much so that we were even talking about maybe living there once we decided to settle in Portugal. But then the second time I visited was in the peak of the summer, and I quickly changed my mind. The city is incredibly beautiful, yes… but 40 degree heat and absolutely no cooling breeze for 2 months of the year… not to mention the fact that it´s a bit far from the coast, is all too much for this wind and ocean loving…

herdade do freixo do meio

Herdade do Freixo do Meio

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I am 100% a warm weather person… I don´t like to be cold and more than 4 days of consecutive rain is guaranteed to drive me completely crazy. But having said that, I really like autumn and I think, photographically speaking, it might just be my favourite time of year. The jury´s still out on that one, because summer is pretty awesome, but there´s just something about the colours and the light of autumn… In November last year we visited the Herdade do Freixo do Meio for their annual “Encontro do Outono” or Autumn Meet-up. The Herdade is an organic farm…