The countryside near the Tagus river in Sacavém, Oct.2004.

Fishing boats near the river, in Sacavém. Oct. 2004

Garden near the river, Vila Franca de Xira. Oct. 2004

Contryside near the Tagus, at Vila Franca de Xira.

The Tagus, near Vila Franca de Xira. Here, heading west from Lisbon, the river turns into the Sea of Straw ("Mar da Palha"). It looks wide like the sea, but with a brownish colour sometimes. It can also look like a big lake or group of swamps, with flamingos and seaguls flying around. I was driving nearby and couldn't resist taking some pictures. The Tagus is the most magical river I have ever seen, and I find it soothing just to look at it. Oct. 2004.

Évora, Oct. 2004. Church façade.

The temple of Diana, Goddess of the Hunt, in Évora, an old Roman building from the 1st century AD.

Church façade in Évora. Oct. 2004

The 11th Century "Sé" of Évora, a mixture of Romanic and early Gothic style.

Church façades, Évora Oct. 2004.

An old church in Évora, now used by the Portuguese Army.

Évora, Oct. 2004. An old medieval city, 100kms away from the capital, with its charming romanic churches and old Roman temple dedicated to the goddess Diana, which is 2000 years old. It was a holliday down here and we went there for the day. It is still unusually hot for this time of the year. This is a picture of its main square.

And this is what you see from here. The most romantic view from anywhere in town. You can see the old castle, which is over a thousand years old, and the surrounding area, which was mainly built after the big earthquake of 1755.

Bairro Alto, Lisbon, Oct.2004. My city is a hilly place, with hanging gardens everywhere, like this one near the Bairro Alto, in the old upper area of town. This kind of pavement, made of white and blue stone, is very portuguese (the "calçada portuguesa", which we have sucessfully exported to Brazil and the rest of the old colonial empire.

A house in the Av. Gago Coutinho, near the airport. I like to think of it as a haunted place, as it's been empty for years. In the summer, the trees in its garden look stunning. Oct. 2004

Lisbon in the 21st century. Two monumental apartment towers in the Expo 98 area in the capital, where the price of property is now the highest in Portugal - and Europe... Oct.2004

A beautiful view to Lisbon, from Cacilhas. Picture taken in Oct. 2004.

Cacilhas, Oct. 2004. Old buildings, in ruins, near the river in Almada, a city on the south bank of the Tagus. Lisbon can be seen on the other side.

Tagus river, Oct. 2004. This is a view to the 25 De Abril bridge, which, to a lot of tourists that visit us, somehow resembles ths Sao Francisco Golden Gate bridge. Its 2kms long, almost 40 years old and connects Lisbon to the south of the country.