While it was sunny at the guest house, up at the pinnacle, the Moors Castle was still shrouded in mist as we woke this morning. Again we packed before going down for breakfast. It was my last chance to have some of the homemade pumpkin jam that I liked so much yesterday. John had scouted out the best route for driving the car back to the house to pick up our luggage, He was keen to try to avoid the one way road that would have led to a 15 minute trip up and down the mountain. He drove through the property on the internal road the family used and got the car as close to the house as possible. 37 steps lugging 20 kilo bags is not something I recommend and lugging it all another 250 metres down the road to the car park was not something we wanted to do.
We were about to drive off what Armie and Leica came rushing round the corner. We had bonded with Armie and she was sad to see us go. it was cuddles all round for "Mumma Lily and Pappa John". We promised to send her photos on text message when we made the salmon spinach parcels and the leek and zucchini soup back home. As we were driving off, the owner also paused on his walk to wish us a good journey.
We opted for country roads rather than freeways on our way to Evora so we could see more of the country. We used the incredibly long 12 km bridge that crossed both water and marshland. The route we took was undulating but there were lots of flat sections and that was probably why we saw so many bicycle teams out training along the roads. There was a mixture of small farms and huge commercial agricultural plots. There didn't seem to be many people about. Shops and cafes were shut. Finally we worked out that it must be a public holiday. It was in fact Freedom Day when Portuguese democracy was born through a relatively peaceful revolution. Gratefully the shopping centre on the outskirts of Evora was still open. I had left my cap in an Uber on the last trip in Sintra, and try as I might, I could not contact the driver. I needed a new cap.
While we were in there we searched out some lunch, The massive supermarket had a few prepared foods and to our surprise, a sushi shop, We bought a large tray of sushi and orange juice. We demolished the lot before hitting the road again.
Fining the hotel Noble in Evora was hellish. Google maps was again confused and told us to go down streets that were blocked off. We did three circuits of the laneways of the old town and finally decided instead to find an underground car park and wheel the luggage to the hotel. This was easier said than done as google was only partially useful and the old town was a scribble of streets and narrow lanes. Add to this the cobbles and the hills and you can imagine our condition when we arrived 700 metres later having lugged 20kg and two back packs each. I think the staff took pity on us and manhandled out luggage up the stairs for us.
It was a great room but we weren't here to slouch about, so after a quick shower and a 15 min rest, we were out on the streets with our guide book in hand. We took a quick run down the street to scout out a place for dinner. Though there were many small restaurants, most had closed for the public holiday. One was open. from here we walked around the cathedral and down towards the roman ruins. smack in the middle of town were the remains of a colonnaded roman building with 14 columns largely intact. Apparently it had also been used as the place for punishment later during the inquisition.
Opposite this was a lovely little park with a cafe and a great view over the city. We were well and truly ready for a beer, before setting off to see the archaeological remains of the roman baths. These had only been rediscovered about 30 years ago. The building was shut for the public holiday but the large glass windows allowed us to see the structures inside.
The temperature was about 26, but the walking, the sun and the hills made it feel much hotter. My brilliant idea was to find a mini mercado, buy some cold beer and go back to the hotel terrace and chill out till dinner. It was only meant to be a 9 minute walk away, but google kept changing its mind and it led us a merry dance. One very good thing came of this though. We found the main street of Evora, with its fancy shops and pavement restaurants boiling with people. One street was totally closed to traffic and tables and chairs were everywhere. AND at the end of the street there was the mini market and they did have beer. By this time we were starting to understand the layout of the streets and we were soon back in the hotel. A short rest was called for before we set out for dinner.
Napping, blogging and resting, it was well after 7 before we went out. The little restaurant we found on our walk was brilliant. Without a booking, they quickly found a table for us and we set to work on the bread, olives and pickles. Then we both had the veal medallions with potato gratin. It was excellent. Over dinner we discussed a change of plan for tomorrow. Maybe we would go straight to Monserraz, as the medieval city sounded really interesting.
