Travel for Life: February 2023

Friday, February 10, 2023

Visiting the Mouth of the Gilão River: A Unique Experience

Cais das Quatro Águas (Ferry Port)

You can walk from Tavira city center to Cais das Quatro Águas ⭐⭐, which is the mouth of Gilão River. The walk will take about 25 minutes on a paved sidewalk. On the way you will pass a series of salt pans with lots of sea birds in sight. You can also be rewarded with a nice sunset or sunrise scenes at the ferry port location.

Photo Gallery

The below photos were taken on 01/10/2022 and 01/11/2022, both were sunny to cloudy days.

Lots of sea birds in the Salt Pan

Bridge near City Center

Hotel Vila Galé Albacora

Exploring Tavira's Roman Bridge and Its Picturesque Surroundings

The picturesque town of Tavira was founded in 400 BC and was an important trading post between Europe and North Africa. Gilão river flows through the City Center.

Roman Bridge (or Ponte Romana ⭐) built on the Gilão river was on the route of the Roman road which linked Faro and Castro Marim.^[1]

In medieval times the old Roman Bridge formed part of an important transport route offering one of the few crossing points of the Gilão river. As such it was fortified with towers at each end and it is even said to have had a wooden floor which could be removed as a defensive measure.

The bridge we see here today was erected in 1667. From the bridge there are good views of the palm-fringed riverbanks and many of the city’s finest buildings.

Photo Gallery

The below photos were taken on 01/10/2022 and 01/11/2022, both were sunny days.

Roman Bridge in the background

Night view of Roman Bridge

View of palm tress along the river from a hotel

Republic square (Portugese: Praça da República)


View of Gilão river from Castelo de Tavira

References

Ponte Romana de Tavira

Wednesday, February 8, 2023

Exploring the Enchanting City of Oxford: A Journey to the University Church of St Mary the Virgin

View from University Church of St Mary the Virgin

Tourists visit Oxford for its architecture, which is simply amazing, with historic college buildings, churches and old shops giving so much character. People also are attracted to its oldest university in the English-speaking world—University of Oxford.

University of Oxford grew rapidly from 1167 when Henry II banned English students from attending the University of Paris. After disputes between students and Oxford townsfolk in 1209, some academics fled north-east to Cambridge where they established what became the University of Cambridge. The two English ancient universities share many common features and are jointly referred to as Oxbridge. Both are ranked among the most prestigious universities in the world.