Back (in at least one sense)

That is, back from our really lovely vacation in Portugal, followed by a few very busy days in London. We really loved Portugal. Friendly people (most English-speaking, at least in popular areas), great weather (having dinner outside almost every night really made an impression on me—if you haven't been to San Francisco, you might think we can do that all the time, but alas no, at least not without a very warm jacket), and some spectacular sights. Want a little sampling?

Our first day, we were off on a strenuous, wet, and foggy tour to Sintra's eccentric castles and the so-called "Initiation Well" which has become an Instagram favorite in recent years (not ever a functional well, but rather a talking point for guests of a wealthy estate owner with, as D. E. Stevenson might have put it, "more dollars than sense").

Sintra

The "initiation well"

Our second day, we did a completely disastrous, very badly managed tour (don't get me started), but it did enable us to glimpse the magnificent Batalha Monastery, so I can't complain too much (oh, I could, but I won't).

Batalha Monastery

And we ended the day in the really wonderful medieval hill town of Obidos.

Obidos

Another tour led us inland to Evora, with its Roman temple and, along the way, a neolithic stone formation, Almendres Cromlech

Almendres Cromlech

Roman Temple of Diana in Evora

But easily the best of our tours (we did four day tours, and saved the best for last) was a Knights Templar tour. I don't have a lot of time to obsess over the current location of the Holy Grail, but this tour led us to the most impressive and interesting spots on our trip, starting with the Templars' Almourol Castle.

Almourol Castle

Almourol Castle

Then on to the breathtaking Convent of Christ in Tomar, built by the Templars, a sprawling complex of gorgeous buildings and spaces and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I could have got lost there for days.

Convent of Christ

Convent of Christ

Convent of Christ

We kind of reversed the normal logic a bit in scheduling our tours for the first few days we were in Lisbon, so only on our last three days did we get to really explore the city itself, including some of its best-known postcard shots, like Lisbon Cathedral, Belem Tower, and the waterfront Monument to the Discoveries.

Lisbon Cathedral

Belem Tower

Monument to the Discoveries

I was completely blown away by the Church of Santa Maria at the Jeronimos Monastery (happily we had been told by a tour guide that the church was spectacular but the monastery itself was pretty ordinary compared with the Convent of Chris, so we skipped the ENORMOUS line for the monastery itself).

Church of Santa Maria in Jeronimos Monastery

Tomb of Vasco da Gama

I think it may be a legal requirement now for every tourist to take Tram 28 through some of the most historic areas of Lisbon, and we are law-abiding folks...

Tram 28

Looking a wee bit frazzled after waiting to
board the very popular tram

A final outdoor dinner and glass of sangria

After our delightful 10 days in Lisbon, we had a busy flying visit to London, and a triumphant return to the British Library...

There's no place like home...

The British Library isn't open at night, so we had to find alternative entertainment a couple of nights...

Both shows were a blast, and we were in agreement that London would be a lovely place to live for a while, should we win a major lottery any time soon. I'll keep you posted.

So, back from vacation and back in the U.S. But am I also getting back to blogging? Well, from the stack of books I requested at the British Library, you might well think so:

I might have got a bit carried away? But oh what fun! And I may just have to report on some of these soon. 

I know that for some of you my ongoing focus on titles that no one has heard of and that are impossible to track down (outside of the BL) will lose much of its interest now that I won't have any power to bring even my best finds back into print (aside from perhaps drawing other publishers' attention to them?), but I hope some of you will still take an interest. When I started the blog back in 2013 (!!!), I said to myself that if there were 10 or 20 readers out there interested in the research I was doing, then it would be worthwhile to share it. I hope there's still that many of you, and for you, I'm planning to be back with more soon!