Scenes of Sagres

You might have to click on this picture to see this tree better.  It is very interesting as it is yellow fluffly balls.  Kind of reminds you of Pom Poms.  I haven't had a chance to find out the name of it yet.  These trees are in bloom all over now.  
One of the cannon used many years ago as this fort was coveted by many nations as they tried to claim Portugal.  Sagres was also a place where there was a navigation school.

Just another picture of the beautiful water and waves.  This was interesting to us as we hadn't seen the water so fierce.  

Hard to believe we get to serve our mission in this area and then go see beautiful sites on Wednesday, our p-day.  The next picture is on the opposite side of the fort.  We love this place, it looks different every time we come here.   

More of my favorite things in Portugal

We took the Sister from Portimao to Sagres.  The wind was so strong,  and you an see that the waves in the background are coming with whitecaps.   
The flowers are starting to bloom there, there will be no sign of green when summer comes.  I want to go again in a week or two as it should be very beautiful.
Just trying to not get blown away.  

This beach is closer to home and Gene and I went there for an hour just to get out of the house on P-day.   We soon found out why the Elders aren't allowed on the beaches in the summer!!

The picture below is the chapel in Faro.  We have our district meetings here, have several students, and watch general conference here as well.  It is a nice chapel and well taken care of.

My favorite things

More Castle sites

The stairs are quite primitive and rough.  Never pass inspections with EPA.

Here's our group, Gene is using is new camera..

Entry to the castle..  I know I know, this should have been the first picture!!
This door was so old and interesting.  Gene snapped this picture as he said to stop there!!
This is my favorite picture.  This old tree and older remains behind it.

Villa Real Castle

Come on Gene, I am sure there was romance in the Castle!!
Interesting stone and rock work many hundreds of years ago.

A little church on the way, I loved the Nativity on the side of the church..

Not the best picture of the bridge to Spain, which is suppose to be the dividing line.

Building within the Castle, lots of restoring going on here.

Going to the Spain Boarder

This is the Castle near the Spanish boarder.  At war times the people would gather here with their families and livestock.  There rice fields and orchards in the distance.

Walking upto the Castle entrance, one has to look down so you don't catch your shoe on the cobble stone path.

A view of Spain in the distance.  Not the best picture, more to come!

There is Spain, with the fields and Elder Nelson trying to say warm.

Behind Gene is a huge fort where the military protected the land and enemies to Portugal

Before Christmas

One of our favorite Elders, Elder Welch.  We call him the Dried Cereal Guru!!  Taken at our Christmas Zone conference in Lisbon

Visiting the Gomes family.  She insisted on a Christmas message.  We had to scramble to find our favorite Scripture in the Book of Mormon in Portuguese.  We had only planned to spend a few minutes there delivering our Christmas bread.  

The students from Faro coming to wish us a Merry Christmas.  I had just finished a call from Karma and Frank in Ghana.  The phone ran again from a member that we had been trying to get in touch with.  They were patient to wait to sing to us.

Odilia, I was on the phone with her in the picture above.  She is the women that is taking lessons and she also is my olive oil source!!  She had just given us a fresh jar of honey from her father's farm.  

Our landmark to our house on the round about where we turn up to our apartment.  It must have a jillian lights on it..