The Cosmic View Retreat, guided by astrophysicist and Zen teacher Mark Westmoquette, is designed to take you on a journey of yoga, mindfulness and stargazing to discover the cosmic you!
In Limbo is a new photographic art exhibition being hosted at the Estremoz Municipal Museum during the summer months. Running through August until 10th September, and sponsored by Amnesty International, it showcases a series of photographs by Carmen Serejo, depicting humanitarian displacement and the refugee crisis across the world today, including in Syria, Ukraine, Afganistan and Mexico.
In 2027, Evora will become the European Capital of Culture and as you wander around its old town you can see just how much the city is preparing for this honour with lots of restoration work going on, and a tangible feeling of excitement in the air. One venue that has already been rehabilitated is the compact Museu da Misericórdia and church in Rua da Misericórdia.
Since arriving in the Alentejo town of Estremoz, work has been taking place on renovating a building to house the new public library. Located close to the Gadanha fountain, it was finished and opened to the public in July of last year – so we thought we would take a look…
Estremoz despite being in the Alentejo region of Portugal is really well connected with the rest of the country, as well as being just an hour to Badajoz, the nearest large city in Spain. So if you feel like taking a cheeky trip to Lisbon for a taste of big city culture, the Estremoz to Lisbon express bus run daily by Rede Expressos is just a two-hour trip away.
The Alentejo region of Portugal is the largest by area in the country, and it stretches all the way north to the River Tagus (Tejo), that flows into the sea at Lisbon. Having heard there were some great river beaches and passadiços (wooden walkways) to explore, we decided to take a trip to Alentejo Alto to see for ourselves. Only an hour and a half’s drive from Estremoz, we trundled off in the ‘bus’ to the municipal campsite at Ortiga, which is a small village that falls under the municipal district of Gavião.
It’s hard to believe that the Terras d’Ossa organisation is only two years old when it has accomplished so much in such a short space of time!
Before taking this cyanotype workshop with Terras d’ossa we had no idea what it was – just that it was an old way to print photos that was used before the invention of the camera. So we were intrigued…and signed up.
One of the reasons we came to visit Portugal in the first place was to check out its numerous castles, so you can imagine our excitement when we found out that the nearby town of Elvas was holding a re-enactment of the attack on the town’s Forte da Graça by French troops.
This week, a friend suggested we go to see the winner of Portugal’s Tree of the Year, as it is just down the road from Estremoz in Vale do Pereira, near Arraiolos.