Alentejo region: Mertola

Located in the Alentejo region, or Southeastern Portugal, Mertola has heavy Moorish influences. Every 2 years the town of Mertola holds an Islamic Festival. The originally muslim castle still stands and overlooks the town, which is built around one big hill. The Alentejo is truely a beautiful part of the portuguese landscape.

My lovely mãe:)

Barcelona

Obras/Construction

The house has changed drastically over the past 2 months. This is before:

And some of the after so far:

Galicia: Part three: Santiago de Compostela

The city is dripping in religious memorabilia, specifically in honor of St. James, who was supposedly led there by stars and drank fresh water from shells, so everything is pretty much stars and shells around the city. Many pilgrims make the trek from many different starting points, to end finally in the capital of Galicia.

Galicia: Part two: La Coruna, Spain

Coruna was my favorite city I had the chance to see in Galicia, they have a walkway (and bike path) that follows the majority of the coast, and also a beach right in the heart of the downtown area. A beautiful city.

The famous "Torre de Hercules"- this is where Cesar landed back when Spain and Portugal were simply "Hispania". It was a key point for lookout, and the Torre was eventually named after Hercules to symbolize his defeat of a giant. Make of that what you will. 

The view from the top of Torre de Hercules.