TAVIRA AND ONWARDS

At the moment still in Tavira where the weather has taken a definite turn for the better. Nights still quite cool but the days under a cloudless blue sky are exactly what I have been waiting for. 
A few pictures here of some everyday sights that are seen in the Algarve such as a church in Luz which lies just south of here by the sea. 

And then the typical kind of water pump from a not so long bygone age. This one has a  clothes washing shelter standing beside it - used before water pipes were connected to the houses. Of course, the washing machine reigns supreme now much the same as in any other European country. It seems that Portugal has modernized tremendously since it became part of the Union. 

The hedgerows and fields are also a lot more different from those further north in Europe. Oranges and lemons dominate the scenery here but also cactus flourish.

Wine production is a large industry in this part of the world and of course Port is synonymous with Portugal.  Not only that, Portugal has been responsible for a major percentage of the cork  used to seal  bottles produced all over Europe. But in recent years plastic stoppers have taken over, giving the small farmers a problem as how to survive without a steady market for their product. Cork is harvested from the lower 2 metres of the tree trunks and then the tree will regenerate the layer of cork over a period of ten years. 

Cork stripped from the trunk of the tree

A few more days and I'll be back on my travels. This time it will be about 9 days of short hops up the interior of this country, and then back to Lisbon for the flight home.
Starting at Vila Real St Antonio, next to the Spanish border, a bus north to Mertola. Then if all goes well on to Beja, Evora, Estremoz, Portalegre, Castelo Branco, and finally Lisbon on the 15th Feb. Fly home 16th.
That's all for now. D