This is another set of photos of the roads inside Seven Hills National Forest (Mata Nacional dos Sete Montes) in the City of Tomar. This is a forest that used to belong to the Order of Christ, but there was a time, for about a century it belonged to a family called Costa Cabral who also owned the Convent of Christ. On this occasion I focused my attention to people, which in this case is my family. Along the way we stopped here and there and as usual I was always pressing the shutter button of my camera.
In our walk around the roads of Seven Hills Forest we stopped for a while and I shot this picture of my son and wife
This is a bifurcation road at Mata Nacional dos Sete Montes in Tomar.
In this case we decided to take a dirt road at the Seven Hills Forest in Tomar rather than an asphalted ones
In the last set of photos about the Chapel of Nossa Senhora da Piedade, I published pictures of Capelinha do Bom Jesus (Little Chapel of Good Jesus), which is possibly in the middle of the staircase of 286 steps, that leads to the other big chapel. So after stopping in the middle we continued our ascent and in this collection we can already see Senhora da Piedade Chapel on top of the hill. We were almost there.
After stopping for a while, we continued our ascent to the top of the hill where the Chapel of Nossa Senhora da Piedade in the City of Tomar was waiting for us
In this area some steps were damaged. In the distance we could already see a bit of the Chapel of Senhora da Piedade
We were slowly approaching our destination where the Chapel of Senhora da Piedade had been built in the 14th century (1512)
As a follow up of my last post about the Chapel of Senhora da Conceição in Tomar, I now include a set of photos of the road that leads to chapel and for that matter, to the Castle of Tomar and the Convent of Christ. Most people drive there but it’s not that hard to walk to the chapel as it’s not far from the centre of the city. It’s good exercise, it’s a lot of fun and if you have a camera with you, you can take wonderful shots along the way.
This is the road that leads to the Chapel of Nossa Senhora da Conceição in Tomar
Not everybody drives or walks. Some people use their bicycles to go to The Chapel of Nossa Senhora da Conceição or to the Castle of Tomar and the Convent of Christ
While walking on the road to the Chapel of Senhora da Conceição, you can enjoy the views
My holidays in Portugal, mainly in Tomar, lasted about 45 days and I went out almost everyday, and when I did I would always come back with a good collection of photos. However, there were a few days that I stayed indoors, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t take photos as I had a good view from my mother’s apartment. So these rooftops and the landscapes are the result of one of my small photo sessions at home.
Photo of rooftops in Tomar and the hills on the other side of the town, shot from my mother's apartment
More rooftops right across the window from where I took this picture. I was in an apartment at Rua da Cascalheira in Tomar
Buildings and rooftops in Tomar and in the distance there is a forest
When I shot thousands of photos of Tomar in 2010, I had in mind the possibility of building a site about the city, but I didn’t really plan on what kind of topics I would focus on. The idea of publishing photos of restaurants and eateries, was simply the result of seeing a good number of eating houses when I checked my photos. The problem with my lack of planning when I was in Portugal is that I didn’t always check the names of some restaurants and eateries. That’s why I don’t know the names of some of these eating places.
This is a beer-house and restaurant at Rua Alexandre Herculano near the headquarters of the Post Office of Tomar
This eatery at Rua dos Arcos in Tomar, sells wine and a variety of food tidbits. These places have really yummy food
This is La Bella Italian Restaurant at the corner of Travessa de São João and Rua Serpa Pinto in Tomar
It was a beautiful day in Tomar and of course the buildings around and specifically Praça da República, which is the centre of the city, was bathed in sun light. There are other photos of this place in the site, but this time I was trying to concentrate on the old buildings of this cobblestone paved square. The plaza itself was circumvented by guidons with the symbols of Tomar and the Knights of Christ.
Buildings and guidons surrounding Praça da República in Tomar. You can also see a partial view of the Castle of Tomar
It was a magnificent day. Praça da República in the City of Tomar was bathed in sun light
These buildings at Praça da República, belong to another era of the City of Tomar in Portugal
I took these three photos from the garden of Varzea Pequena in Tomar. At the time I had just come down from the staircase of the Chapel of Senhora da Piedade, and since I am trigger happy with my camera, I got some interesting photos of people walking around near this area, or just being somewhere, just like the teenagers on a platform at Nabão River on the Island of Mouchão Park.
I shot this picture from the garden of Varzea Pequena in Tomar. At the time I was leaning on a rail that protects people from falling into Nabão River. Those people in the distance are tourists who had just got out of a big bus
Still on the same spot at Varzea Pequena, I shot this photo of those teenagers sitting on a platform on Nabão River
Just three gentleman walking in the middle of the garden of Varzea Pequena in the City of Tomar
When I visited the Aqueduct of Pegões near the City of Tomar, I walked around taking lots of photos, not only at distance but also at close proximity of the arches. I didn’t take pictures of all the 180 arches, which were built in the 16th century, but the ones that I did, I noticed that in some places the arches stand quite high but in other places they are much closer to the ground.
Arches of the Aqueduct of Pegões near Tomar, shot at close proximity
In this area, the arches of Pegões Aqueduct (Aqueduto dos Pegões) in Tomar, stand higher than in the previous photo
These arches of Aqueduto dos Pegões in tomar connects to the Inspection Building of this monument
This section of the site has been dedicated to areas of Tomar where crumbling and dilapidated houses can be found. I’m not doing this as criticism. On the contrary, all villages, towns and cities of the world have spots that aren’t well taken care of, and as a matter of fact I often find these places very artistic. Anyway, today I decided to also include graffiti on the walls of houses in Tomar. Just like places in decay, graffiti exists everywhere in the world and the City of Tomar is no exception.
Graffiti on the walls of the building where the City Council of Tomar is located. This graffiti says "Amo-te Rodrigo" (I love you Rodrigo). Obviously someone is in love and expressed herself near Praça da República.
This graffiti at Rua de São João in Tomar says "Só D' Borla" (Only if it's free). Not sure what he or she meant! Notice that there's a partial view of the Castle of Tomar
I don't remember what street is this. Only that it's in a medieval street of Tomar. The graffiti on the wall says what seems to be "Tecno Spot". No idea what the message means, but once again you can view the Castle of Tomar in the distance
I always liked photos with water reflections. Don’t ask me why as there is no logical explanation. I just do. So since I was in Tomar where Nabão River is one of the main attractions of the town, I had plenty of opportunities to shoot pictures that fit this topic. In this occasion I was at small dam that separates Nabão River and links one side of Mouchão Park to the other.
Photo of a small dam diving Nabão River and linking one side of Parque do Mouchão to the other. Notice the reflections of the abundant vegetation on the water
This time I took the pictures of these water reflections from a staircase near the swimming pool Vasco Jacob
I took these water reflections from the side of Mouchão Park (Parque do Mouchão) close the swimming pool and football field