From Evora to Tavira: A Week of Wildflowers
May 8th, 2016, 01:53 AM
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From Evora to Tavira: A Week of Wildflowers
<b>Friday, April 29th: Out of Lisbon and into…. </b>
After our stay in Lisbon it was time to head out and see more of the country. Phase B of the trip included a weeklong road trip making our way south from Evora to Tavira.
The start was not quite auspicious. We tried to hail a taxi close to our apartment so that we could go to the airport and get the rental car. They drove by but would not take us! Finally a taxi stops and we had a most pleasant chat along the way. As we approach the airport other taxi drivers start cussing at him. Suddenly I remembered a sign I had seen on a cab the week before. They were on strike! Uber is in the process of entering Portugal and all taxi drivers were having a demonstration.
The guy charged us 7E for the trip (as opposed to the first ride which scalped us for 37E!). He could have charged whatever he wanted because he was breaking the strike and there were no cabs to be had anywhere in Lisbon. We got really, really lucky because getting to the airport from where we were would have involved a bus ride and two metro changes carrying all of our luggage. Manageable but certainly not desirable.
So we go and get in line for the EuropCar rental car (actually they handed out numbers) with our voucher in hand but we still had to queue along with all the desperate people trying to get a last minute rental. The line for the Aerobus was beyond belief and people were trying to actually walk out of the airport. I don’t know if the metro was also on strike.
Finally our turn comes and it still takes forever to get the papers so that we can go to the parkhouse and get the car (this will become important in a few minutes). After the guy goes over every single item on the contract with DH, twice over, we get the papers and make a beeline to get the car. Tick toc, tick toc, tick toc.
In the parkhouse, we find the place and sure enough, another long queue of very unhappy and displeased people (ha!). We finally get our keys and are in the process of inspecting when we realize that the noise level outside the parking was increasing. Sirens and horn blowing everywhere. Yup. The actual ‘stopping’ part of the strike had started.
We made it as far as the exit ramp, with maybe 15 cars ahead of us before everything came to a screeching halt. Hundreds (very possibly thousands) of taxi drivers stopped their cabs in protest against Uber and paralyzed the airport. After a while people just turned the cars off, got out and looked on in total dismay and growing outrage.
It is funny (not really) to see cultural differences on how people react to this kind of situation. I’m Puertorican, we get angry but then we just accept these things; DH is Swiss but has lived enough in PR to just go with the flow (on most occasions). But the Nordic folks in front and behind us in the parking exit were just about to have an apoplexy.
About 45minutes into the stoppage, the EuropCar lady comes along and tells everyone that they can just lock the cars where they were (in the exit ramp!) and go for lunch as they were expecting the blockade to last for at least another 2 hours. Luckily no one in front of us took her word because ‘only’ an hour later the protest moved to downtown Lisbon and we were ready to go.
Our first destination for the day was <b>Sesimbra</b>. It felt wonderful to be out of Lisbon and into the open road! We just love driving trips. Well… I love planning them, I navigate (rather well most of the time) but I don’t drive stick shift so all the driving is done by DH. He does not mind driving a few hours through hairpin turns (most of the time) as long as the views are nice.
The delay in Lisbon meant that the town-visiting part of this day was cut out, so we just drove into the Sesimbra village by the water and then back up to visit the very nice castle on top. This is a very easy and fairly worthwhile daytrip from Lisbon for anyone with a car.
One of my favorite sources for the crazy drives I come up with is the Michelin Green Guide along with its companion map, and it so happened that the drive through <b>Serra da Arrábida</b> was highlighted. This turned out to be what we call a ‘good value’ drive: excellent views with fairly easy driving. The sights onto <b>Sétubal</b> and the Península de Tróia was remarkable. Overall, highly recommended. We opted to bypass the town of Sétubal as it was getting late and we wanted to start making our way to our destination for the night.
The drive to <b>Evora</b> took just over an hour and was surprisingly pretty considering that is all highway. Or maybe we were just happy to enjoy the open countryside and be out of the city. But the cable towers were all crowned with stork nests (with babies!) and the rolling hills were dotted with yellow wildflowers.
I had selected <b>Hotel Moov</b> for several reasons: location (within the old town but close the entry road), excellent price and great reviews in Booking.com and Trip Advisor. Very minimalistic and basic but is suited our needs perfectly. We are not really resort people, so our demands are not really high.
http://hotelmoov.com/es/hoteis/hotel-moov-evora-es/
I had neglected to make a parking reservation and their garage was full so we had to park outside the wall for the first two nights. On the third night we moved it back to the hotel for easier departure.
We checked in and took off to explore the city. The <b>Praça do Giraldo</b> was lively on this Friday afternoon and most of the outside tables were occupied so we continued our walk past the <b>Cathedral</b> and the <b>Templo de Diana</b> before we sat down in a small place to have a little bite to eat (ohhhh….those wonderful Portuguese savory pastries are going to be the end of me!!!!) and soft drinks. We were still taking it easy after our almost week-long bout of either food poisoning or just a viral stomach bug.
Having pre-treated our bellies we were now ready to head out to where we really wanted to be; back to the Giraldo where we plunked down on a table and spent the rest of the afternoon sipping wine and people watching (under a heater, it was still cold!).
We were just loving the quaint and cozy feel of Evora. Maybe we are just not big city people…
Eventually we set out to find a place for dinner, DH took a liking to a little place and since it started raining the decision was almost made for us. We sat inside <b>Docas Gourmet</b> and there were some locals there but in hindsight they might have just gathered there to watch the big soccer game, everyone else eating in the restaurant were tourists. Not a great sign. DH had a Secreto de Porço (this is a wonderful lengthwise cut of pork loin that is butterflied to make a steak) with homemade chips (he asked for a second helping) and I had the Porço a la Alentjana (Pork stewed with clams) served with roasted potatoes.
I cannot say that it was bad, it was good but it was tourist fare. No big flavors in here. However, given the still-sensitive state of our bellies, this might have actually been a good thing for us. Maybe if only DH had not had that second helping of chips…
<b>Next: The Highlight of our Stay in Evora</b>
Anyone interested to read in obnoxious details about our Lisbon Stay, this is the TR link:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ended-stay.cfm
After our stay in Lisbon it was time to head out and see more of the country. Phase B of the trip included a weeklong road trip making our way south from Evora to Tavira.
The start was not quite auspicious. We tried to hail a taxi close to our apartment so that we could go to the airport and get the rental car. They drove by but would not take us! Finally a taxi stops and we had a most pleasant chat along the way. As we approach the airport other taxi drivers start cussing at him. Suddenly I remembered a sign I had seen on a cab the week before. They were on strike! Uber is in the process of entering Portugal and all taxi drivers were having a demonstration.
The guy charged us 7E for the trip (as opposed to the first ride which scalped us for 37E!). He could have charged whatever he wanted because he was breaking the strike and there were no cabs to be had anywhere in Lisbon. We got really, really lucky because getting to the airport from where we were would have involved a bus ride and two metro changes carrying all of our luggage. Manageable but certainly not desirable.
So we go and get in line for the EuropCar rental car (actually they handed out numbers) with our voucher in hand but we still had to queue along with all the desperate people trying to get a last minute rental. The line for the Aerobus was beyond belief and people were trying to actually walk out of the airport. I don’t know if the metro was also on strike.
Finally our turn comes and it still takes forever to get the papers so that we can go to the parkhouse and get the car (this will become important in a few minutes). After the guy goes over every single item on the contract with DH, twice over, we get the papers and make a beeline to get the car. Tick toc, tick toc, tick toc.
In the parkhouse, we find the place and sure enough, another long queue of very unhappy and displeased people (ha!). We finally get our keys and are in the process of inspecting when we realize that the noise level outside the parking was increasing. Sirens and horn blowing everywhere. Yup. The actual ‘stopping’ part of the strike had started.
We made it as far as the exit ramp, with maybe 15 cars ahead of us before everything came to a screeching halt. Hundreds (very possibly thousands) of taxi drivers stopped their cabs in protest against Uber and paralyzed the airport. After a while people just turned the cars off, got out and looked on in total dismay and growing outrage.
It is funny (not really) to see cultural differences on how people react to this kind of situation. I’m Puertorican, we get angry but then we just accept these things; DH is Swiss but has lived enough in PR to just go with the flow (on most occasions). But the Nordic folks in front and behind us in the parking exit were just about to have an apoplexy.
About 45minutes into the stoppage, the EuropCar lady comes along and tells everyone that they can just lock the cars where they were (in the exit ramp!) and go for lunch as they were expecting the blockade to last for at least another 2 hours. Luckily no one in front of us took her word because ‘only’ an hour later the protest moved to downtown Lisbon and we were ready to go.
Our first destination for the day was <b>Sesimbra</b>. It felt wonderful to be out of Lisbon and into the open road! We just love driving trips. Well… I love planning them, I navigate (rather well most of the time) but I don’t drive stick shift so all the driving is done by DH. He does not mind driving a few hours through hairpin turns (most of the time) as long as the views are nice.
The delay in Lisbon meant that the town-visiting part of this day was cut out, so we just drove into the Sesimbra village by the water and then back up to visit the very nice castle on top. This is a very easy and fairly worthwhile daytrip from Lisbon for anyone with a car.
One of my favorite sources for the crazy drives I come up with is the Michelin Green Guide along with its companion map, and it so happened that the drive through <b>Serra da Arrábida</b> was highlighted. This turned out to be what we call a ‘good value’ drive: excellent views with fairly easy driving. The sights onto <b>Sétubal</b> and the Península de Tróia was remarkable. Overall, highly recommended. We opted to bypass the town of Sétubal as it was getting late and we wanted to start making our way to our destination for the night.
The drive to <b>Evora</b> took just over an hour and was surprisingly pretty considering that is all highway. Or maybe we were just happy to enjoy the open countryside and be out of the city. But the cable towers were all crowned with stork nests (with babies!) and the rolling hills were dotted with yellow wildflowers.
I had selected <b>Hotel Moov</b> for several reasons: location (within the old town but close the entry road), excellent price and great reviews in Booking.com and Trip Advisor. Very minimalistic and basic but is suited our needs perfectly. We are not really resort people, so our demands are not really high.
http://hotelmoov.com/es/hoteis/hotel-moov-evora-es/
I had neglected to make a parking reservation and their garage was full so we had to park outside the wall for the first two nights. On the third night we moved it back to the hotel for easier departure.
We checked in and took off to explore the city. The <b>Praça do Giraldo</b> was lively on this Friday afternoon and most of the outside tables were occupied so we continued our walk past the <b>Cathedral</b> and the <b>Templo de Diana</b> before we sat down in a small place to have a little bite to eat (ohhhh….those wonderful Portuguese savory pastries are going to be the end of me!!!!) and soft drinks. We were still taking it easy after our almost week-long bout of either food poisoning or just a viral stomach bug.
Having pre-treated our bellies we were now ready to head out to where we really wanted to be; back to the Giraldo where we plunked down on a table and spent the rest of the afternoon sipping wine and people watching (under a heater, it was still cold!).
We were just loving the quaint and cozy feel of Evora. Maybe we are just not big city people…
Eventually we set out to find a place for dinner, DH took a liking to a little place and since it started raining the decision was almost made for us. We sat inside <b>Docas Gourmet</b> and there were some locals there but in hindsight they might have just gathered there to watch the big soccer game, everyone else eating in the restaurant were tourists. Not a great sign. DH had a Secreto de Porço (this is a wonderful lengthwise cut of pork loin that is butterflied to make a steak) with homemade chips (he asked for a second helping) and I had the Porço a la Alentjana (Pork stewed with clams) served with roasted potatoes.
I cannot say that it was bad, it was good but it was tourist fare. No big flavors in here. However, given the still-sensitive state of our bellies, this might have actually been a good thing for us. Maybe if only DH had not had that second helping of chips…
<b>Next: The Highlight of our Stay in Evora</b>
Anyone interested to read in obnoxious details about our Lisbon Stay, this is the TR link:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ended-stay.cfm
May 8th, 2016, 09:17 AM
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Bilbo, that is so funny, I must be channeling a friend of mine. The first time he went to Spain he asked what those big birds were, when he was told they were storks he would just not believe them. He thought storks were mythical (as in bringing the babies), sort of like Santa Claus. And THAT, in a nutshell is the reason everyone should travel, lol!
Thursday, there was no big new crisis but he just did not feel well for at least 3 more days and did not enjoy his meals as much as he could have.
Thursday, there was no big new crisis but he just did not feel well for at least 3 more days and did not enjoy his meals as much as he could have.
May 8th, 2016, 12:51 PM
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<b>Saturday, April 30th: : Ancient Evora</b>
I had read in multiple TR’s that in order to enjoy (or even understand) the megalithic sites around Evora, having a guide was crucial. In those searches the same company kept coming up: <b>Ebora Megalithica</b>.
It wasn’t pouring rain, so I decided to give them a call. I lucked out big time as it turned out that they had only 2 spaces left in the morning tour (which we still had time to make it) and they would not have a tour in the afternoon for personal reasons. No tours on Sunday. So it was that or not doing it at all.
We had to hustle a little but had enough time to have a light breakfast in café St. Humberto before meeting Mario in front of the Tourist office. Had a spinach puff pastry that was absolutely to die for. Coffee wasn’t bad either.
Oh, that’s right, we have not talked about the ordering of coffee! There must be a chart somewhere depicting the 1,000 variations of coffee in Portugal, but we missed it and had to find our way through trial and error. For me a regular ‘café con leite’ or even a ‘cappuccino’ in the morning yielded good enough results though sometimes I had to have two to have enough to drink (we are NOT Starbucks ‘mega – extra large – lungo – whatever - double’ kind of people but we like a strong coffee in the morning and it should be mug sized not ‘café’ cup size).
DH struggled. He asked what people had ordered when he thought he might like it but he never quite got what he wanted. An Americano? No. A ‘café normal’? No. Well, to make a long story short(ish) we finally found out about the ‘Galão’. This is typically made with at least half a large cup (or tall glass) of milk and the rest filled with coffee. We also found that if we asked for it to be ‘dark’ it turned out just about perfect for us.
The post-dinner coffees were much easier. All waiters understood the Spanish term ‘cortadito’ where you have a demitasse size cup filled with not quite two good sips of coffee and ‘cut’ with a little squirt of milk. This is also known (as we found out) as a ‘Pingado’ in Portuguese.
But back to Evora and Mario….I will just go ahead and say it: Do this! We enjoyed this tour in so many ways. First, it is absolutely true: there is no signage whatsoever in any of the three main sites so you are on your own here with whatever guidebook you have (which of course, will only vaguely mention the existence of these sites). Then, Mario is just a gem of a kid. Him mom must be proud (gasp, I’m getting old, coming up with these thoughts!).
He is a trained archaeologist and scholar. His family was in Mozambique (former Portuguese colony) for a long time before returning to Portugal a generation ago and Mario is just in love with the Homeland. His passion for these sites just exudes from his skin. Glittery eyes and everything. When one is confronted with such enthusiasm one cannot help but to be caught up a little in the passion. But the bottomline is that he is a GREAT conversationalist. And that is a rare thing nowadays.
You can google all the technical descriptions and historical significance of the <b>Chromlech of Almendres</b> but I will tell you that Mario made it ‘come alive’ and I only place that between quotes because that is usually a big catch phrase. It wasn’t. He did.
http://eboramegalithica.com/
But even before arriving to the first site we were entranced. The wildflowers. OMG. The WILDFLOWERS! We drove through groves of cork trees and all the gently rolling hills were just carpeted in yellow flowers with occasional spots of bright red poppies, splurges of purple and little white daisies. Even with zero interest in Neolithic sites, anyone with an appreciation for natural beauty would have loved this drive. –Insert here a silly number of superlatives!!!
If this is what we had to endure that almost solid month of rain is Lisbon for? It was worth it (well… almost).
The tour then moved on to the <b>Menir de Almendres</b>, a single standing stone. It was a bit of a walk and some of the less fit members of the tour were huffing and puffing a little. But again, the walk to the Menir was a joy of wildflowers and olive trees in bloom. (Important note: remember to take your allergy medication when flower season is in full swing!!!)
The last site in the tour was the impressive <b>Dolmen of Zambujeiro</b>. One of those places in which well-intentioned archaeologists/discoverers basically contributed to its eventual destruction with their restoration efforts. Mario urged all the tour members to make a written complaint to the municipality of Evora and try to get protection for the site.
And the dolmen is located in yet another spectacular setting! Superlatives. Superlatives. Superlatives.
We came back to Evora at almost 2:00pm and we happily headed straight to the Giraldo restaurant for a few relaxing drinks. Once we had been adequately restored (we will not debate the hydrating properties of distilled alcohol here), we went over for a visit to the <b>Catedral de Evora</b> and the associated <b>Museu de Arte Sacra</b>, both very worthwhile stops. Highly recommended.
A short walk away was the roman ruin of the <b>Temple of Diana</b> which is best observed from the kiosk across the street on a nice afternoon with an iced coffee in hand.
We had learned that Mario had opened up a restaurant in town with some friends so we decided to further show our appreciation and looked out for it. <b>Pateo</b> is one of those places that you almost have to know that is there or you might miss it.
There is a small sign in one of the touristic/pedestrian streets of town. You don’t really see anything, unless you walk a few meters through a gate and up a few steps. Suddenly you find yourself in a magical open patio, with tables set under fruit trees, well and everything. The original Buena Vista Social Club soundtrack (one of my all time faves!) was playing on the speakers. It was the perfect spot on a warm-enough and dry-enough evening under the stars.
About the food, I will say it was good. Not outstanding but good. Better than the night before but still short of excellent. The kitchen needs to get its act together and in time with the waiters. There was a lot of back and forth of plates between them. But do I recommend this place? YES. Decent food, good service and superb ambiance. We even went back the next night, though only for drinks.
We happily made our way back to the hotel, thinking about a nice long driving tour for the next day.
<b>The Lost Chapel and The Road Trip that Never Happened</b>
I had read in multiple TR’s that in order to enjoy (or even understand) the megalithic sites around Evora, having a guide was crucial. In those searches the same company kept coming up: <b>Ebora Megalithica</b>.
It wasn’t pouring rain, so I decided to give them a call. I lucked out big time as it turned out that they had only 2 spaces left in the morning tour (which we still had time to make it) and they would not have a tour in the afternoon for personal reasons. No tours on Sunday. So it was that or not doing it at all.
We had to hustle a little but had enough time to have a light breakfast in café St. Humberto before meeting Mario in front of the Tourist office. Had a spinach puff pastry that was absolutely to die for. Coffee wasn’t bad either.
Oh, that’s right, we have not talked about the ordering of coffee! There must be a chart somewhere depicting the 1,000 variations of coffee in Portugal, but we missed it and had to find our way through trial and error. For me a regular ‘café con leite’ or even a ‘cappuccino’ in the morning yielded good enough results though sometimes I had to have two to have enough to drink (we are NOT Starbucks ‘mega – extra large – lungo – whatever - double’ kind of people but we like a strong coffee in the morning and it should be mug sized not ‘café’ cup size).
DH struggled. He asked what people had ordered when he thought he might like it but he never quite got what he wanted. An Americano? No. A ‘café normal’? No. Well, to make a long story short(ish) we finally found out about the ‘Galão’. This is typically made with at least half a large cup (or tall glass) of milk and the rest filled with coffee. We also found that if we asked for it to be ‘dark’ it turned out just about perfect for us.
The post-dinner coffees were much easier. All waiters understood the Spanish term ‘cortadito’ where you have a demitasse size cup filled with not quite two good sips of coffee and ‘cut’ with a little squirt of milk. This is also known (as we found out) as a ‘Pingado’ in Portuguese.
But back to Evora and Mario….I will just go ahead and say it: Do this! We enjoyed this tour in so many ways. First, it is absolutely true: there is no signage whatsoever in any of the three main sites so you are on your own here with whatever guidebook you have (which of course, will only vaguely mention the existence of these sites). Then, Mario is just a gem of a kid. Him mom must be proud (gasp, I’m getting old, coming up with these thoughts!).
He is a trained archaeologist and scholar. His family was in Mozambique (former Portuguese colony) for a long time before returning to Portugal a generation ago and Mario is just in love with the Homeland. His passion for these sites just exudes from his skin. Glittery eyes and everything. When one is confronted with such enthusiasm one cannot help but to be caught up a little in the passion. But the bottomline is that he is a GREAT conversationalist. And that is a rare thing nowadays.
You can google all the technical descriptions and historical significance of the <b>Chromlech of Almendres</b> but I will tell you that Mario made it ‘come alive’ and I only place that between quotes because that is usually a big catch phrase. It wasn’t. He did.
http://eboramegalithica.com/
But even before arriving to the first site we were entranced. The wildflowers. OMG. The WILDFLOWERS! We drove through groves of cork trees and all the gently rolling hills were just carpeted in yellow flowers with occasional spots of bright red poppies, splurges of purple and little white daisies. Even with zero interest in Neolithic sites, anyone with an appreciation for natural beauty would have loved this drive. –Insert here a silly number of superlatives!!!
If this is what we had to endure that almost solid month of rain is Lisbon for? It was worth it (well… almost).
The tour then moved on to the <b>Menir de Almendres</b>, a single standing stone. It was a bit of a walk and some of the less fit members of the tour were huffing and puffing a little. But again, the walk to the Menir was a joy of wildflowers and olive trees in bloom. (Important note: remember to take your allergy medication when flower season is in full swing!!!)
The last site in the tour was the impressive <b>Dolmen of Zambujeiro</b>. One of those places in which well-intentioned archaeologists/discoverers basically contributed to its eventual destruction with their restoration efforts. Mario urged all the tour members to make a written complaint to the municipality of Evora and try to get protection for the site.
And the dolmen is located in yet another spectacular setting! Superlatives. Superlatives. Superlatives.
We came back to Evora at almost 2:00pm and we happily headed straight to the Giraldo restaurant for a few relaxing drinks. Once we had been adequately restored (we will not debate the hydrating properties of distilled alcohol here), we went over for a visit to the <b>Catedral de Evora</b> and the associated <b>Museu de Arte Sacra</b>, both very worthwhile stops. Highly recommended.
A short walk away was the roman ruin of the <b>Temple of Diana</b> which is best observed from the kiosk across the street on a nice afternoon with an iced coffee in hand.
We had learned that Mario had opened up a restaurant in town with some friends so we decided to further show our appreciation and looked out for it. <b>Pateo</b> is one of those places that you almost have to know that is there or you might miss it.
There is a small sign in one of the touristic/pedestrian streets of town. You don’t really see anything, unless you walk a few meters through a gate and up a few steps. Suddenly you find yourself in a magical open patio, with tables set under fruit trees, well and everything. The original Buena Vista Social Club soundtrack (one of my all time faves!) was playing on the speakers. It was the perfect spot on a warm-enough and dry-enough evening under the stars.
About the food, I will say it was good. Not outstanding but good. Better than the night before but still short of excellent. The kitchen needs to get its act together and in time with the waiters. There was a lot of back and forth of plates between them. But do I recommend this place? YES. Decent food, good service and superb ambiance. We even went back the next night, though only for drinks.
We happily made our way back to the hotel, thinking about a nice long driving tour for the next day.
<b>The Lost Chapel and The Road Trip that Never Happened</b>
May 10th, 2016, 01:21 AM
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Sunday, 1st of May
We lazied a bit around this morning but finally we had to give it up and go for coffee before withdrawal symptoms started kicking in. Breakfast was in the semi-chaotic <b>Café Arcada</b> along with every other senior lady in Evora that had just attended mass. I just loved seeing the all dressed up and hanging out with the girlfriends.
This is a self-service coffee house and one must order at the bar and then wait around until your order is called. An industrial engineering 2nd year student (or basically anyone with common sense) would reorganize the flow of people with 95% efficiency increase in just under two minutes. As it is, you can entertain yourself by observing the original 1960’s décor (which is almost fashionable again by now) while avoiding being trampled by disgusted old ladies which obviously think you are an idiot for not knowing how the whole thing works.
DH had his coffee and toast and I had (coffee, obviously) a chicken pastry and the local specialty ‘Quijada’. These little sweet pastries are the result of the marriage between the Pastel de Nata and a NY Cheesecake, resulting in a spongier texture with more bite into it than the creamy pasteis. Honestly? I actually preferred the Queijada.
The plan for the day was to follow the Michelin ‘Green Roads’ into the countryside and visit the town of Estremoz but before that, I wanted to go to the Church of Sao Francisco to see the Bone Chapel that we had missed the day before…. And this is where I made a rookie mistake!
I had directions to go to this place, but I -<i>TOLD</i>- DH that I wanted to go to the Sao Francisco church where we had been the day before, ‘the one just by the University’. Anyone familiar with the area is now mentally screaming ‘Noooooo!!!!’. Of course he proposed a shorter route.
To make a long story short, there are TWO Sao Francisco churches in Evora, one by the University and the other one (which we had walked by before!) not more than 200m from our hotel. We had a bit of a Death March (the 5K version, not the Ultramarathon) around the walls of Evora (hey…additional sight seeing, right?) and a return to the hotel to regroup before I realized what had happened. So, boys and girls, the Travel Lesson here is: Never go ONLY by the name of the church (and this is not only applicable to the ones called any variation of ‘St. Mary’).
We did make it to visit the very nice <b>Igreja de São Francisco</b> and then –finally- went into the <b>Capela dos Ossos</b>. The ticket here is combined with a visit to their (humongous) collection of Nativity sets (including some very weird ones) and the chance to step out into the terrace over the churches portico for a nice view. .
‘We, the bones in here, for yours, await’ is written over the entrance to the bone chapel, it is meant as a reminder of the temporality of life The space is quite different from the one in Rome which is tiny and basically a line of prayer cells (this bone obsession seems to be a Capuccin/Franciscan thing). The one in Evora was the congregation’s Chapterhouse, it is very big and the wide vaulting arches make it look almost ‘airy’ (this is also helped by the renovation’s dramatic light effects). It makes for awesome pictures.
After the entire navigation –ahem- issues in the morning, by now it was almost 1:00pm. So we headed out of the church in need of a drink and spotted an empty table outside <b>Restaurante Repas</b>. Our very innocent intention at the time was to have a refreshing beverage of the non-alcoholic kind and hightail out of Evora so that we could resume our (well, mine) plan to go visit Estremoz in the afternoon.
It did not work that way. As we got our drinks (first failure: we ordered beers) we saw that all the tables were full by now and people, local people, were queueing for a chance to get one. Hummm….maybe we were onto something here. DH has this knack for randomly finding great, nondescript restaurants (not fail proof, but he does find a few great ones!). And then one fragrant dish after another started coming out of the kitchen.
Ok, a bottle of red wine and a plate to share of the roasted lamb (as per the waitress’ suggestion) naturally followed. By now the place was full to the rafters inside and every single chair available had been brought out to the outside so the older ladies could sit and wait. Turns out that it was Mother’s Day in Portugal so all the families were out.
The young woman waitressing is one of our top finalists for our 2016 Waiter of the Year award (we pay attention to silly things). She singlehandedly took care of 16 outside tables, kept track of the waiting list, fended off the people trying to grab a table out the queue, and brought out dish after dish without a single detectable failure. All this smiling calmly and exuding tranquility. The Zen of Waitering.
Not a single plate went back to the kitchen, so kudos to them too for putting them out correctly. The kids in Pateo need to come here and learn a thing or two about how a well-run kitchen works.
Obviously the Estremoz plan had been given up by now. We just enjoyed the absolutely delicious and tender pieces of lamb that were presented to us like a gift from Heaven. We lingered a bit but opted to be nice and surrender our highly coveted table to the next party.
We then moved over the kiosk across from the Templo de Diana to enjoy our coffees, under the beautiful blue sky, people watch, and relax the rest of the afternoon away. Who needs another road trip anyway?
In the evening we went to <b>Restaurante Alentejano</b>, this was a recommendation from Mario the Archaeologist and we had made a reservation for 8:30 when we had walked by it in the afternoon. This turned out to be a good thing as the place was packed when we arrived, just our reserved table remained open.
We were still somewhat full from lunch so we did not have any first courses and went straight to the entrées: I had ‘Arroz de Pato’ (rice with duck and topped with chouriço) and DH had the ‘Rabo con Batatas’ (Oxtail stew over potatoes). Both were delicious, but DH’s was better. He ate every last bite and suffered from overfull stomach the entire night.
<b>Next: The Costa Vicentina is what Portugal is all About</b>
We lazied a bit around this morning but finally we had to give it up and go for coffee before withdrawal symptoms started kicking in. Breakfast was in the semi-chaotic <b>Café Arcada</b> along with every other senior lady in Evora that had just attended mass. I just loved seeing the all dressed up and hanging out with the girlfriends.
This is a self-service coffee house and one must order at the bar and then wait around until your order is called. An industrial engineering 2nd year student (or basically anyone with common sense) would reorganize the flow of people with 95% efficiency increase in just under two minutes. As it is, you can entertain yourself by observing the original 1960’s décor (which is almost fashionable again by now) while avoiding being trampled by disgusted old ladies which obviously think you are an idiot for not knowing how the whole thing works.
DH had his coffee and toast and I had (coffee, obviously) a chicken pastry and the local specialty ‘Quijada’. These little sweet pastries are the result of the marriage between the Pastel de Nata and a NY Cheesecake, resulting in a spongier texture with more bite into it than the creamy pasteis. Honestly? I actually preferred the Queijada.
The plan for the day was to follow the Michelin ‘Green Roads’ into the countryside and visit the town of Estremoz but before that, I wanted to go to the Church of Sao Francisco to see the Bone Chapel that we had missed the day before…. And this is where I made a rookie mistake!
I had directions to go to this place, but I -<i>TOLD</i>- DH that I wanted to go to the Sao Francisco church where we had been the day before, ‘the one just by the University’. Anyone familiar with the area is now mentally screaming ‘Noooooo!!!!’. Of course he proposed a shorter route.
To make a long story short, there are TWO Sao Francisco churches in Evora, one by the University and the other one (which we had walked by before!) not more than 200m from our hotel. We had a bit of a Death March (the 5K version, not the Ultramarathon) around the walls of Evora (hey…additional sight seeing, right?) and a return to the hotel to regroup before I realized what had happened. So, boys and girls, the Travel Lesson here is: Never go ONLY by the name of the church (and this is not only applicable to the ones called any variation of ‘St. Mary’).
We did make it to visit the very nice <b>Igreja de São Francisco</b> and then –finally- went into the <b>Capela dos Ossos</b>. The ticket here is combined with a visit to their (humongous) collection of Nativity sets (including some very weird ones) and the chance to step out into the terrace over the churches portico for a nice view. .
‘We, the bones in here, for yours, await’ is written over the entrance to the bone chapel, it is meant as a reminder of the temporality of life The space is quite different from the one in Rome which is tiny and basically a line of prayer cells (this bone obsession seems to be a Capuccin/Franciscan thing). The one in Evora was the congregation’s Chapterhouse, it is very big and the wide vaulting arches make it look almost ‘airy’ (this is also helped by the renovation’s dramatic light effects). It makes for awesome pictures.
After the entire navigation –ahem- issues in the morning, by now it was almost 1:00pm. So we headed out of the church in need of a drink and spotted an empty table outside <b>Restaurante Repas</b>. Our very innocent intention at the time was to have a refreshing beverage of the non-alcoholic kind and hightail out of Evora so that we could resume our (well, mine) plan to go visit Estremoz in the afternoon.
It did not work that way. As we got our drinks (first failure: we ordered beers) we saw that all the tables were full by now and people, local people, were queueing for a chance to get one. Hummm….maybe we were onto something here. DH has this knack for randomly finding great, nondescript restaurants (not fail proof, but he does find a few great ones!). And then one fragrant dish after another started coming out of the kitchen.
Ok, a bottle of red wine and a plate to share of the roasted lamb (as per the waitress’ suggestion) naturally followed. By now the place was full to the rafters inside and every single chair available had been brought out to the outside so the older ladies could sit and wait. Turns out that it was Mother’s Day in Portugal so all the families were out.
The young woman waitressing is one of our top finalists for our 2016 Waiter of the Year award (we pay attention to silly things). She singlehandedly took care of 16 outside tables, kept track of the waiting list, fended off the people trying to grab a table out the queue, and brought out dish after dish without a single detectable failure. All this smiling calmly and exuding tranquility. The Zen of Waitering.
Not a single plate went back to the kitchen, so kudos to them too for putting them out correctly. The kids in Pateo need to come here and learn a thing or two about how a well-run kitchen works.
Obviously the Estremoz plan had been given up by now. We just enjoyed the absolutely delicious and tender pieces of lamb that were presented to us like a gift from Heaven. We lingered a bit but opted to be nice and surrender our highly coveted table to the next party.
We then moved over the kiosk across from the Templo de Diana to enjoy our coffees, under the beautiful blue sky, people watch, and relax the rest of the afternoon away. Who needs another road trip anyway?
In the evening we went to <b>Restaurante Alentejano</b>, this was a recommendation from Mario the Archaeologist and we had made a reservation for 8:30 when we had walked by it in the afternoon. This turned out to be a good thing as the place was packed when we arrived, just our reserved table remained open.
We were still somewhat full from lunch so we did not have any first courses and went straight to the entrées: I had ‘Arroz de Pato’ (rice with duck and topped with chouriço) and DH had the ‘Rabo con Batatas’ (Oxtail stew over potatoes). Both were delicious, but DH’s was better. He ate every last bite and suffered from overfull stomach the entire night.
<b>Next: The Costa Vicentina is what Portugal is all About</b>
May 10th, 2016, 06:26 AM
#9
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Marigross I'm so enjoying your report. My husband and I were in Portugal for just one week in March. I envy you your extended stay. We spent 3 nights in Evora and loved it. We also did the tour of the megaliths with Mario and totally agree - great experience. Mario's knowledge and enthusiasm make those old stones seem fascinating.
May 10th, 2016, 12:53 PM
#10
Marigross I'm also thoroughly enjoying your report. Glad to hear that you recovered from your stomach ailment and are enjoying Evora. We leave tomorrow for Lisbon and have made note of your recommendations. We also just booked the tour in Evora with Mario where we are headed after Lisbon.
Thanks for providing your cat sitting arrangement. We are trying to figure that out for next year.
Enjoy the rest of your trip!
Thanks for providing your cat sitting arrangement. We are trying to figure that out for next year.
Enjoy the rest of your trip!
Jun 5th, 2016, 10:34 AM
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Knowing Marigross, I am sure it will be quite a delight for her to fill us in and in great entertaining details about the rest of their long trip (lucky them). They must be taking in things as much as they can in this on-the-road portion of their sojourn.
They are roughly 2 and a half months into their 3 month stay, so I somehow do not think it will be much longer before she has a chance to chime in. I sure hope the weather has continued to improve for them.
They are roughly 2 and a half months into their 3 month stay, so I somehow do not think it will be much longer before she has a chance to chime in. I sure hope the weather has continued to improve for them.
Jun 7th, 2016, 04:19 AM
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<b>Monday, May 2nd: Winging-It Down the Coast</b>
We got a (relatively) early start and headed out to the coast. We did not have hotel reservations for the next two nights so that we could have all the freedom to advance or stay as we wished. But our general destination was to drive down the coast and stay somewhere in the vicinity of Zambujeira do Mar or Odeceixe.
From A6 we took A2, and then IC6/A26 direction Sines. I have to say that <b>Sines</b> is a surprisingly pleasing town for having such a big port. Once we were south of the city we caught the Michelin “Dotted” Green road (the map legend says it indicates National Reserves / Semi Scenic), and we went into the <b>Parque Nacional del Sudoeste Alentejano</b>. Well, the wildflowers along the way made it one of the most beautiful drives of the trip! I had never seen vast fields of bright red poppies before! (just in pictures).
A quick detour to Porto Covo (a.k.a. a wrong turn), revealed a sparkling white, spanking new, resort town which is way too sanitized for our taste, but the setting was still very nice. We continued on our way in the general direction of Odemira.
In my ‘Perfect Vacation Redo’ (which of course would include perfect weather and no stomach bugs) I would cut two weeks out of Lisbon and just done day hikes along this area.
We made it to <b> Zambujeira do Mar</b> just before lunchtime. We parked the car in an open lot and took a walk to see the waterfront. Wow. Wow! WOW!!!! The whitewashed town sits on top of a cliff overlooking an ample cove with a dreamy sandy beach at the bottom. The stuff that dreams and glossy travel magazines are made of. We gawked as we walked along the wall.
It seemed to us that the entire town is being made ‘new’ for the summer: lampposts, garbage containers, benches…. All new and still wrapped in plastic covers. Access stairs to the beach? The new ones are almost finished. Driving down to the beach? New asphalt and roundabouts are done. It looks like the major is going to throw a heck of Town Re-Inauguration Party. Still, Zambujeira keeps its small town charm and does not look artificial because the older houses are still there; even if immaculately kept and recently renovated.
They must have given out a humongous tax break so all residents got into the updating/renovating program.
We found an open table under the sun (have I mentioned that it was gloriously sunny and warm enough to want to change into shorts?) in restaurant <b>O Martinho</b>. We ordered a plate of Arroz con Feijoa y Gambas (Rice with beans and prawn/big shrimp with head on); it was delicious. (Though DH hates to deal with unpeeled shellfish.)
The decision point had been reached. Should we stay in town? I had read wonderful things about Odeceixe… should we continue on our way and spend the night there? But THIS was so…. Nice! And the sandy beach was calling our names… Well, in one of those Opraesque ‘Aha! Moments’, I realized that there was no reason to sacrifice the wonderfulness of the place we were in <i>NOW</i> to the eternal search for the next wonderful place. The true epiphany was the acceptance that we will<i> NEVER SEE EVERYTHING</i>. It was time to stop and smell the roses. We started looking for a place to sleep.
The town was not in quite full swing this early in the season and hotels are not plenty. This is a location targeting vacation rentals and homestays. So DH just walked up to a house with an ‘AL’ sign on in (Alojamiento Local) and knocked on the door. Old lady comes out, we asked if she had rooms, she gestured (no English whatsoever) for us to follow to see the rooms, we asked how much (35€), we picked one and less than an hour later we were in our bathing suits, sunning on the beach.
I cannot find words to accurately describe the joy of this moment. It was just perfect with the warm sand in our feet and our faces soaking in the much needed rays of sunlight. This was exactly the reason why one Travels.
After a while the wind picked up and we got cold so we decided to go up the hill and resettle in a restaurant to continue our afternoon from a less drafty spot. Since we were sandy (though not wet, the water was freezing!) we headed back to our room to clean up before dinner.
Monday night the dinning choices were limited so we wound up in the same place where we had had lunch. There was a queue at 8:00pm! Anyway, being the sensible and practical man DH is, he insisted that we seat inside, so we were able to score a table way before others ahead of us that were waiting for outside tables. I was a little disappointed but agreed to as he wished. The plus side was that we were securely seated in the tiny interior when the sun went down and the outside dinners wanted to move inside for warmth as the temperatures plummeted.
During the afternoon we had observed a ‘local character’ (seemingly an expat British chap) doing what we will call an ‘interpretative dance’ with the yellow ‘caution’ tape that was still cordoning off some of the newly paved sidewalks to the sound of his blasting boom box. He had later joined a few parties in the outside of the restaurant to chat inoffensively enough. Well, he was still there with yet another group when we sat for dinner.
I guess he had ordered something and he thought it was not delivered with the promptness other tables were being served. You could just see him working himself up to a tizzy. The husband/owner came out of the kitchen and started asking him to leave. Sadly it did come to full out screaming and eventually manhandling the guy out. The owner asked very calmly the guests to please not intervene as he was trying to get the man out of the restaurant. I got the impression that it might not have been the first time this thing had happened.
Mental illness causes so much suffering. Devastating to the patient and to all around.
Once the ‘episode’ was over, the owner/waitress just turned around and apologized to the customers and continued to serve in the exact same cordial and calm way, totally unfazed. Kudos to her, I don’t know if I could have pulled it off like that.
It was a lovely meal in an incredibly beautiful setting. I was glad to have decided to stay. The smell of the roses was glorious.
<b>Next: The Cliffs of the Algarve</b>
We got a (relatively) early start and headed out to the coast. We did not have hotel reservations for the next two nights so that we could have all the freedom to advance or stay as we wished. But our general destination was to drive down the coast and stay somewhere in the vicinity of Zambujeira do Mar or Odeceixe.
From A6 we took A2, and then IC6/A26 direction Sines. I have to say that <b>Sines</b> is a surprisingly pleasing town for having such a big port. Once we were south of the city we caught the Michelin “Dotted” Green road (the map legend says it indicates National Reserves / Semi Scenic), and we went into the <b>Parque Nacional del Sudoeste Alentejano</b>. Well, the wildflowers along the way made it one of the most beautiful drives of the trip! I had never seen vast fields of bright red poppies before! (just in pictures).
A quick detour to Porto Covo (a.k.a. a wrong turn), revealed a sparkling white, spanking new, resort town which is way too sanitized for our taste, but the setting was still very nice. We continued on our way in the general direction of Odemira.
In my ‘Perfect Vacation Redo’ (which of course would include perfect weather and no stomach bugs) I would cut two weeks out of Lisbon and just done day hikes along this area.
We made it to <b> Zambujeira do Mar</b> just before lunchtime. We parked the car in an open lot and took a walk to see the waterfront. Wow. Wow! WOW!!!! The whitewashed town sits on top of a cliff overlooking an ample cove with a dreamy sandy beach at the bottom. The stuff that dreams and glossy travel magazines are made of. We gawked as we walked along the wall.
It seemed to us that the entire town is being made ‘new’ for the summer: lampposts, garbage containers, benches…. All new and still wrapped in plastic covers. Access stairs to the beach? The new ones are almost finished. Driving down to the beach? New asphalt and roundabouts are done. It looks like the major is going to throw a heck of Town Re-Inauguration Party. Still, Zambujeira keeps its small town charm and does not look artificial because the older houses are still there; even if immaculately kept and recently renovated.
They must have given out a humongous tax break so all residents got into the updating/renovating program.
We found an open table under the sun (have I mentioned that it was gloriously sunny and warm enough to want to change into shorts?) in restaurant <b>O Martinho</b>. We ordered a plate of Arroz con Feijoa y Gambas (Rice with beans and prawn/big shrimp with head on); it was delicious. (Though DH hates to deal with unpeeled shellfish.)
The decision point had been reached. Should we stay in town? I had read wonderful things about Odeceixe… should we continue on our way and spend the night there? But THIS was so…. Nice! And the sandy beach was calling our names… Well, in one of those Opraesque ‘Aha! Moments’, I realized that there was no reason to sacrifice the wonderfulness of the place we were in <i>NOW</i> to the eternal search for the next wonderful place. The true epiphany was the acceptance that we will<i> NEVER SEE EVERYTHING</i>. It was time to stop and smell the roses. We started looking for a place to sleep.
The town was not in quite full swing this early in the season and hotels are not plenty. This is a location targeting vacation rentals and homestays. So DH just walked up to a house with an ‘AL’ sign on in (Alojamiento Local) and knocked on the door. Old lady comes out, we asked if she had rooms, she gestured (no English whatsoever) for us to follow to see the rooms, we asked how much (35€), we picked one and less than an hour later we were in our bathing suits, sunning on the beach.
I cannot find words to accurately describe the joy of this moment. It was just perfect with the warm sand in our feet and our faces soaking in the much needed rays of sunlight. This was exactly the reason why one Travels.
After a while the wind picked up and we got cold so we decided to go up the hill and resettle in a restaurant to continue our afternoon from a less drafty spot. Since we were sandy (though not wet, the water was freezing!) we headed back to our room to clean up before dinner.
Monday night the dinning choices were limited so we wound up in the same place where we had had lunch. There was a queue at 8:00pm! Anyway, being the sensible and practical man DH is, he insisted that we seat inside, so we were able to score a table way before others ahead of us that were waiting for outside tables. I was a little disappointed but agreed to as he wished. The plus side was that we were securely seated in the tiny interior when the sun went down and the outside dinners wanted to move inside for warmth as the temperatures plummeted.
During the afternoon we had observed a ‘local character’ (seemingly an expat British chap) doing what we will call an ‘interpretative dance’ with the yellow ‘caution’ tape that was still cordoning off some of the newly paved sidewalks to the sound of his blasting boom box. He had later joined a few parties in the outside of the restaurant to chat inoffensively enough. Well, he was still there with yet another group when we sat for dinner.
I guess he had ordered something and he thought it was not delivered with the promptness other tables were being served. You could just see him working himself up to a tizzy. The husband/owner came out of the kitchen and started asking him to leave. Sadly it did come to full out screaming and eventually manhandling the guy out. The owner asked very calmly the guests to please not intervene as he was trying to get the man out of the restaurant. I got the impression that it might not have been the first time this thing had happened.
Mental illness causes so much suffering. Devastating to the patient and to all around.
Once the ‘episode’ was over, the owner/waitress just turned around and apologized to the customers and continued to serve in the exact same cordial and calm way, totally unfazed. Kudos to her, I don’t know if I could have pulled it off like that.
It was a lovely meal in an incredibly beautiful setting. I was glad to have decided to stay. The smell of the roses was glorious.
<b>Next: The Cliffs of the Algarve</b>
