Evora

14 April

We said a said goodbye to Lisbon and headed to Evora.  Our first stop was the beautiful Sesimbra Castle.  We walked into the church and were all admiring it when a man suddenly appeared and started yelling at us.  Maybe we had to pay?  We didn't wait around but headed off to see more of the surrounds.  Greg was making a joke about Quasimodo when he missed a step.  He fell quite elegantly - not a splat on your knees as I would have done - but unfortunately tore his quad muscle and was immediately in pain.  Luckily Suzy and Ian had pain meds close by to give him.

We went down the hill to the lovely little seaside village of Sesimbra.  Apparently in the summer you can't get a park anywhere in the city, it is crazy busy.  Some of our group wanted to feel how cold the Atlantic Ocean really was (answer: very cold!).  While Greg bought an ice pack Di and I wandered up to the fort, which we were able to go into, and took many photos of the lovely beach area.

Our next stop was Almendres Cromlech,  a prehistoric stone circle (cromlech ) with 95 stone monoliths. It is the most important megalithic monument of its kind in the Iberian Peninsula and one of the most important in Europe , not only because of its size, but also because of its state of conservation.  We stopped there for about 30 minutes and had to have a bush wee (no toilets anywhere!).  As with all standing stones, they have real presence, even though they are much smaller than the ones we'd seen in the Hebrides.  The cork trees are everywhere, as are the flowers (they might be weeds, but they look good!).  As we know now, Portugal is the major producer of cork!

As soon as we arrived in Evora we had to jump into taxis out to Fitapreta Winery for a wine tasting with a cheese and ham platter.  Fiona, Peter, Dean and Esther stayed in town.  We had had interesting selection of wines - the wine maker won Portugal's wine maker of the year in 2018 and producer of the year in 2020.  Anna, who took our tour, had lots of great information about the wine production and the amazing building (an old monastery turned family home that the company bought two years ago).  As they have worked on the buildings they have found 13th century windows and a piece of a fresco which was covered over in an update in the 19th century.

Back in Eora, we immediately knew we'd made a mistake (or rather, I'd made a mistake, as I made all the bookings) only booking one night in the old city of Evora.  What a gorgeous city it is!  The old part is enclosed by impressive walls.  We wandered into a secondary square (as recommended by hotel staff, who suggested we wouldn't be able to get a table in the main square).  We found this lovely little place with the most delightful waiter, who made everything on the menu sound delicious (and it was).  Most of us also enjoyed the Portuguese gin, served in a bucket, also delicious.  Greg managed to get into a drinking competition with some uni students at the next table.  He made a valiant effort, but youth was on their side and ultimately, they won! After dinner, it was time for bed - tomorrow is another big day!