Central Portugal, Portugal
The trip from Porto to Tomar was a journey of good news/bad news:
Bad news: van wouldn't start again.
Good news: someone in the caravan park had a large battery that helped us to jump start the van.
Good news: from Porto we drove to Coimbra - chilled out, attractive, lots of uni students.
Bad news: Coimbra was all hills and, as I was still sick, walking around town completely drained me.
Bad news: van wouldn't start again. We could not find a mechanic in town.
Good news: there was a tyre shop that sold car batteries and stocked one in our size (our battery is massive).
Bad news: it cost €155 (over A$200).
Good news: Danny knows more than me about engines, and he was able to replace the battery without difficulty.
Bad news: we installed the battery, turned the key, and... nothing. Just that familiar "click" that we dread.
Good news: Danny turned the key for a second time - it worked! The van started and was back to normal.
Good news: from Coimbra we drove to Tomar, stopping on the way at Conimbriga, one of the largest set of Roman ruins in Portugal.
Bad news: ruins were closed.
Good news: van started again first time.
Bad news: Tomar was unremarkable apart from a huge river and lake in the middle of the town. That's it.
Good news: we drove up a hill to the Convento de Cristo, home of the Knight's Templar in Portugal. It was basically an enormous, run-down castle with several gardens full of fruit trees, plus great views over Tomar. This was probably the highlight of our day.
It's nice to end on good news.