Evora

Evora

April 7

We took a cab from the ship to the airport to get our rental car.  Our driver was a charming man who told us that he went to college to be an engineer because his father told him there was no money in a degree in history.  He later decided to get his degree in history and tourism and also discovered that he loved to drive so he now works as a cab driver and also as a guide and is never without work.

We got stuck in traffic at a spot where there was construction going on and the road was one way.  One bus failed to obey the sign to stop for traffic in the other direction and so we got log jammed.  Finally our direction backed up and let the other traffic through and then we took off.

The car rental was as they always are, slow and not very cheerful.  The car is a brand new Audi, very nice and almost big enough.  Ron drove, Nor navigated and Lynn and I were tucked in the back with three of four of the overflow bags.

The drive was uneventful, after we learned the clutch—I don’t look forward to my turn to drive!  We arrived in Evora about three after driving past some amazing cork forests.  The trees are basically skinned every nine years and then marked to indicate the year they were harvested to that they will be left to renew – this process can go on for as much as 100 years.

The approach to Evora is much like arriving at Lucca, you see a high battlement and then drive through one of the portals.  The wall is a true battlement not a berm as in Lucca.  The wall also did serve to keep the invading Spanish out.  Our hostess Marta met us as the apartment, it is a very nice place just off a main plaza.  Our bedroom is small and Nor and I are in bunk beds—but the bed is very comfortable and the bathrooms work!

We walked around the town, it is mostly flat, nothing like Porto or Lisbon but not completely flat. The town dates from Roman times and there is one remaining Roman temple, likely a commerce center but called the temple of Diana, it sits on a high hill and overlooks the valleys beyond, pretty amazing place to watch a storm roll in (nertz!)  There is an inner Roman wall of which there are some remains, built into the walls of buildings and in some places in the town, there are digs going on to excavate recently discovered baths and home foundations.  The baths are actually in the city building!

We ate dinner at Cucchina Caterina.  It is clearly a local restaurant, in the back is bar frequented by the men of the neighborhood.  We sat near the entrance and were served some wonderful bean soup, meats and fish.  After dinner we strolled a bit more and found a place to buy some fruit for tomorrow’s breakfast, we had tried earlier to drive to a supermarket but were unsuccessful in finding it although we actually found street signs indicating the direction to go.

Back to the apartment and another serious game of Rummikub played with our Portuguese playing cards.



April 8


When we got up this morning Ron walked to the bakery to get us a loaf of Pao rustica--
Really really good!  We also had fruit, cheese and a bit of a cherry spread that was delicious!

Once cleaned up we took our Rick Steve’s guide book and set out on our walking tour of the city.
We chose not to go into the cathedral—we really have seen a lot of churches with amazing altars and we decided we had paid enough to see the churches.  We walked on to Vasco De Gama’s home, which is now just a mark on the wall of the current building.  The city is all cobbled streets and of course they are very narrow.  The walls are all painted white plastered walls most with bright yellow trim near the ground and near the roof line, the roofs are all red tiled. The doorways are primarily painted green but many have chosen red or black as a distinguisher.

We walked into a café on the praca Giraldo the main square of the city for a ‘light’ lunch!  We walked on did a bit of shopping and then went back to the room for a well deserved rest before dinner.  Oh and to get our umbrellas and rain gear as the promised storm has arrived.

Our dinner was at the Café Alentejo, we arrived at 7:15 only to be told that they did not open until 7:30 so we walked back up the street, found shelter under the arcade and waited for 7:30.

The restaurant was quite small and filled quickly, we each had something different, I had ribs—very tender and very rich, Ron had duck, Lynn had lamb and Nor had Oxtail Stew—it was so very good!  Tomorrow we eat only fruit and vegetables!

Back to the apartment where Nor won another game of Rummikub—breaking all his previous records by winning two games in a row! And Ron won the second game!  Come on girls get focused!

April 9.

When we got up we realized that the storm had settled in and we decided (Ron and I as the designated drivers) that the drive to Monsaraz was not a good idea.  So we opted for a more leisurely breakfast and a walk to the Bone Chapel.

What a fascinating place, the church in which the chapel is located is under major restoration, there is scaffolding both in and outside, inside there is a lot of work going on including restoration of the frescos, by artists on the scaffolding with tiny brushes and bright lights.

The chapel was built in the 1600’s by three monks who thought that the city was getting too worldly. They scavenged bones from around the city cemeteries and lined the walls with the bones and sculls. It is pretty creepy!

After the chapel we walked around the corner intending to go to the mercado and ran into a renaissance fair—complete with costumed vendors, street shows and falcons.  We wandered around the stalls for a while.  As Nor said “what a concept a renaissance fair in a place that actually had a renaissance!”

We then walked into the mercado and bought our vegetables and a bit of cheese and sausage for our dinner.  It started to rain again so we headed back to the apartment.  I am really enjoying this pace, I like being able to take as much or as little time as we want to snoop around a chapel or at a fair that we just happen upon.

The storm broke a bit so we walked around another part of town and ended up at the temple of Diana at an outdoor café for a coffee or beer (gender dependent choices it seems).

Dinner of sautéed vegetables and salad—boy did it taste good!
Then more Rummikub!

Tomorrow we head to Obidos!