30 November ’05, Wednesday.
Our campground here in Evora is about a 20 walk from the walls surrounding the city, is run by some wonderfully helpful people, is clean, reasonable, and close to a major supermarket…what else could we ask for. It is off season, so there were only 3 of us here last night, and tonight 5 others have come in. I would guess that this campground would hold 150. There is a restaurant, bar, grocery store, large swimming pool, and larger play area here also, but right now they are all closed until next spring. We woke this morning to find that we were the only one out and about… We hadn’t noticed that we had come into a new time zone… That turned out to our advantage, we had first choice at the wash machine to wash our clothes. With the sun out and the day nice and warm (the first warm day we have had in a long time), it didn’t take long for the clothes to start to dry. About 1, we pulled out the camera, donned our dark glasses, and headed out on a walk to the medieval walled city of Évora. We tried to see as much as possible, as we will be on our way in the morning. A walk around Évora shows that it has grown throughout centuries, with the monumental churches, historic squares, whitewashed houses, and the medieval streets (very narrow and coming at all angles, up hill and down, and fortunately all “one-way”). It seems that Évora sits right in the middle of the “Historic” route, and the Sao Mamede and Guadiana wine areas. We are about a 2 hour drive to Lisbon, so we saw a number of tour groups in town today. Seeing as it is the “off season”, most of those groups are from the Asian countries. We even noticed that same thing last year in Greece. Our walk took us to see the “Aqueduto da Agua da Prata” (an aqueduct that was built in 1532 and carried water for over 18km (about 12 miles) and brought water into the cities 2 major fountains. Next was the Arca Romano da Ria D, Isabel (this was one of the temples of the Roman city that once stood here in 2 BC). Capela dos Ossos, one of the curiosities that come by once in awhile…the church naves are covered with human bones and skulls. As we walked through the entrance, the words above our heads translated out to be: “We bones that are here, wait for yours…”. Then of course we had to see the cathedral. The Catedral de Santa Maria was built in 1283. This is a beautiful cathedral, with tall columns, arched ceilings, 16 different chapels, and some wonderful sculptures and art. Of course it sets on the very top of the hill and right next to the Roman temple from the 2 century BC…what a contrast… We have already started to enjoy some of the local delicacies, but as of now, not any of the wines…maybe tomorrow.
Our campground here in Evora is about a 20 walk from the walls surrounding the city, is run by some wonderfully helpful people, is clean, reasonable, and close to a major supermarket…what else could we ask for. It is off season, so there were only 3 of us here last night, and tonight 5 others have come in. I would guess that this campground would hold 150. There is a restaurant, bar, grocery store, large swimming pool, and larger play area here also, but right now they are all closed until next spring. We woke this morning to find that we were the only one out and about… We hadn’t noticed that we had come into a new time zone… That turned out to our advantage, we had first choice at the wash machine to wash our clothes. With the sun out and the day nice and warm (the first warm day we have had in a long time), it didn’t take long for the clothes to start to dry. About 1, we pulled out the camera, donned our dark glasses, and headed out on a walk to the medieval walled city of Évora. We tried to see as much as possible, as we will be on our way in the morning. A walk around Évora shows that it has grown throughout centuries, with the monumental churches, historic squares, whitewashed houses, and the medieval streets (very narrow and coming at all angles, up hill and down, and fortunately all “one-way”). It seems that Évora sits right in the middle of the “Historic” route, and the Sao Mamede and Guadiana wine areas. We are about a 2 hour drive to Lisbon, so we saw a number of tour groups in town today. Seeing as it is the “off season”, most of those groups are from the Asian countries. We even noticed that same thing last year in Greece. Our walk took us to see the “Aqueduto da Agua da Prata” (an aqueduct that was built in 1532 and carried water for over 18km (about 12 miles) and brought water into the cities 2 major fountains. Next was the Arca Romano da Ria D, Isabel (this was one of the temples of the Roman city that once stood here in 2 BC). Capela dos Ossos, one of the curiosities that come by once in awhile…the church naves are covered with human bones and skulls. As we walked through the entrance, the words above our heads translated out to be: “We bones that are here, wait for yours…”. Then of course we had to see the cathedral. The Catedral de Santa Maria was built in 1283. This is a beautiful cathedral, with tall columns, arched ceilings, 16 different chapels, and some wonderful sculptures and art. Of course it sets on the very top of the hill and right next to the Roman temple from the 2 century BC…what a contrast… We have already started to enjoy some of the local delicacies, but as of now, not any of the wines…maybe tomorrow.