We spent a week anchored in variouys spots in the Rio Guadiana bordering Spain and Portugal. At our northern most stop we were anchored between the towns of Alcoutim on the Puortugal side and Sanlucar on the Spanish side.
After a couple of days we planned to leave and go back down river, but each day we found another reason to stay. While there a festival was going on in Sanlucar. On the final day of the festival they took the virgin across the river to visit Alcoutim and there was a big parade from the church to the waterfront where she was taken aboard a boat leading a boat parade over to Alcoutim.
Arriving in Alcoutim she was paraded to a church nearby where there was singing and praying before the parade returned to Sanlucar. We waited on the Alcoutim side for the virgin's arrival and then joined in the boat parade back before returning to our boat.
In the picture on the left you can just see Jusstin and Josie in the bottom left corner. In the one below you may be able to find Justin, Josie and Mike in the back of the crowd
Michael and I made a trip into Lisbon without Justin and Josie, this time into the center of town. Lisbon was having a Festival dos Oceanos while we were there. All of us saw the National Geographic photo exhibit while we were in Belem, which was one of the free exhibits. (We didn't make it to any of the concerts/performances.)
While we were in the town center, Michael and I had the opportunity to go into one of the free exhibits that was part of the festival. This one was the Luminarium. It was really cool to walk through. The pictures are only a dim reflection of the true experience, but you can get an idea of it and also the scale as I have included both interior and exterior shots. (Too bad Justin and Josie elected to go swimming instead of making the trip to town with us!)
