Part of Portugal’s charm lies in the peeling and decaying buildings that are found throughout the country. It seems I captured more of them when I was there in 2013, but I also found some in my recent visit in 2018.

Silves 2013
“Decline is also a form of voluptuousness, just like growth. Autumn is just as sensual as springtime. There is as much greatness in dying as in procreation.”
―

Silves 2013

Evora 2013

Evora 2013
Take something irregular, rough-hewn, off-kilter, incomplete…
and it’s all the more desirable for its flaws.
– Oliver Burkeman

Evora 2013

Evora 2013

Evora 2013 – including a decrepit person!

Evora 2013
“Time erodes us all.”
― What I Was

Evora 2013

Evora 2013

Evora 2013

Evora 2013

Evora 2013

Evora 2013

me in Lisbon 2013

Lisbon 2013

Lisbon 2013

Porto 2018

Porto 2018

Porto 2018

Porto 2018

Porto 2018

Óbidos 2018

ruins near Our Lord Jesus of the Stone Sanctuary outside of Óbidos 2018

Lisbon 2018

Lisbon 2018
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“PHOTOGRAPHY” INVITATION: I invite you to create a photography intention and then create a blog post for a place you have visited. Alternately, you can post a thematic post about a place, photos of whatever you discovered that set your heart afire. You can also do a thematic post of something you have found throughout all your travels: churches, doors, people reading, people hiking, mountains, patterns, all black & white, whatever!
You probably have your own ideas about this, but in case you’d like some ideas, you can visit my page: photography inspiration.
I challenge you to post no more than 20-25 photos and to write less than 1,500 words about any travel-related photography intention you set for yourself. Include the link in the comments below by Wednesday, September 18 at 1:00 p.m. EST. When I write my post in response to this challenge on Thursday, September 19, I’ll include your links in that post.
This will be an ongoing invitation, every first and third (& 5th, if there is one) Thursday of each month. Feel free to jump in at any time. 🙂
I hope you’ll join in our community. I look forward to reading your posts!
the ~ wander.essence ~ community
I invite you all to settle in and read a few posts from our wandering community. I promise, you’ll be inspired!
- Jude, of life at the edge, shared photos of industrial ruins in a picturesque location: Wheal Coates.
- Ulli, of suburban tracks, wrote a post about some industrial ruins in the countryside outside of Berlin: The Modern Underworlds.
Thanks to all of you who shared posts on the “photography” invitation. 🙂
I am traveling from September 1 to October 4. If I cannot respond to or add your links due to wi-fi problems or time constraints, please feel free to add your links in both this post and my next scheduled post. If I can’t read them when you post them, I will get to them as soon as I can. Thanks for your understanding! 🙂
Some of these doors could do with some TLC.
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Maybe so, but that is part of their charm, at least in my eyes. The peeling paint works in Portugal, but it wouldn’t fly in the U.S.😊
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Decay really can have its very own charme. Thanks for those great pictures.
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I think so, Pit. Thank you. Did you hear that tornadoes did some big damage in Sioux Falls, just a couple of days after I left there?
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No, I didn’t hear that. 😦
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Beautiful photos! And there is NOTHING decrepit about you!!!!!!! 😀
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Thanks, friend! 😊
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I like a good bit of dilapidation – as long as I’m not living in it!
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Yes. That’s true. But it seems to work in Portugal and I might not mind it there. 😊
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You found some “beauties” here Cathy. One has to wonder what some of them are like on the inside. I imagine damp and mould…
My recent photo post is about a different type of ruin. https://wp.me/p79zFr-2gN
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Thanks, Jude. I’d like to imagine they’re okay inside but you could be right. Thanks for adding the link to Wheal Coates. I thought I added it successfully in the post. At least I attempted to! 😊
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I didn’t notice it at the time, but I see the link is there now. Oh, well. 😀
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A double dose never hurts! 😊
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Beautiful pictures. I hope you are enjoying your travels.
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Thank you, Albert. Yes, my travels are fun, except for some rain over the last days,and pouring rain yesterday. That makes things not quite so pleasant. 😱
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Yes, there is a charm in decrepitude (provided we don’t have to live in it) and you seem to have captured most of what Portugal has to offer. Your photography is, as always, inspiring.
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Thanks so much, Mari. It seems okay to live in it in Portugal, but not most other places. I don’t know why that is!
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I feel sad knowing how eye catching they would have looked if well maintained. The colours what I can see are warm and striking and so are you Cathy:)
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I find things too spiffied up not so interesting. I find the decay in Portugal quite charming, generally, but not always. Thanks for your kind words, Sheetal.
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I love, love, love this post. Beautifully photographed, Cathy. And the picture of you in Lisbon is so, so good!
Crumbling structures are my favorite subject. I find that perfection in old neighborhoods somehow makes me uncomfortable, like the history of a place is white-washed and scrubbed away. I appreciate the character that can only be earned with age.
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Thank you so much, Marsi. I do have to say the pictures of me were from 2013, so I’m now 6 years older!
I agree with you, I love the character that comes with age. There’s definitely a point where things fall into dereliction, but I often find that interesting too!
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[…] Wander essence : Photography Invitation […]
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You don’t look the least bit decrepit, Cathy! Quite chirpy, in fact 🙂 🙂 But there’s no doubt that ‘time erodes us all’! I’m not big on beauty in decay but some things definitely speak to you, and there are some beauties here. Familiar ones too. 🙂
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Thanks, Jo. The pics of me here are from 2013, so I’m sure I’m more decrepit now myself! I thought you’d recognize some. 😊
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[…] ~wander.essence~ photography […]
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Cathy, I thought I would join in with your link “photography”. It is an old one, so hopefully, it is still relevant to post here.
https://lifeatno22.com/2017/10/13/arty-lisbon-a-revisit/
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