May 4
Another beautiful day today. The temperature got into the low 80's. The humidity is low and it cools down a lot at night. Today we drove from Obidos to Tomar about an hour and a half ride. The main attraction in Tomar is the Convent of Christ and the castle. The castle is actually connected to the convent. The castle was home to some of the Knights Templar during medieval times. their wasn't much left of the castle but the convent was quite in tact and very interesting. Besides the ceramic tiles and pottery and of course port wine, we found out that they are also known for making things from cork. We saw one of the cork oak trees in one of the palaces. Today I bought a necklace that was strung onto cork It is very pretty and unusual. They also have cork pocketbooks, shoes, belts etc. I'm not sure how well they would hold up but they were pretty. Here are some pictures from today.

Castle in Tomar

Church at the convent of Christ

Terrace above the cloisters and courtyard

 Above the cloisters and courtyard at the Convent of Christ

Some of the ornate detail at the Convent of Christ

this was shot  in the convent looking up from the bottom center underneath  a concrete open spiral staircase. It reminded me of the inside of a sea shell

The plaza de Republic in Tomar

Tomar at the river