It was 11am by the time we left Camping Markadia, crossed the dam at the end of the lake, and set off north along some very straight roads. The scenery didn’t change much, more olive trees, more cork trees with their numbers painted on them, hay already bailed up in white plastic and more storks with their enormous nests precariously balanced on various poles and old buildings. There was also still a severe lack of kookaburras and koalas in the gum trees.
When we arrived at Camping Orbitur Evora we parked Eileen under a mulberry tree. A mulberry tree covered in ripe fruit. Foolish perhaps, but it seemed to be the only pitch left with a bit of shade. We angled Eileen so that none of the fruit would (hopefully) splat on her roof and Rodney swept all the fallen fruit to the edges of our pitch to avoid treading too many underfoot; something that neither of us has managed to avoid, but at least our shoes have all had a good wash….. Finally we settled in to a restful afternoon of watching the washing dry. We continued waging war on the ants and close to 6pm we finally made a decision; “let’s cycle into Evora for dinner”. And so we did.
We parked our bikes in the Praça de Giraldo and set off on a random exploratory stroll on foot; cobblestones are hell to cycle on. Everything was closing up by then, but knowing we would be back on Friday, we picked a restaurant that was tucked away in a narrow alcove for our dinner. It had a traditional Portuguese name, ‘Mr Pickwick’!!! Apparently there is a Charles Dickens connection with Portugal, though we have no idea what that might be, and the food was very good. My chunks of pork cooked in honey and red wine fell apart at the touch of my garfo (fork) and Rodney’s meal was also quite yummy. Thankfully our bursting bellies had a cycle ride that was downhill, almost all the way home.
So Friday was a day spent crisscrossing the old town of Evora. It was our first rather cloudy day, but that made it a little easier for tramping the steep cobbled streets. We started our tour with a visit to the Capela dos Ossos, the Chapel of Bones. This really is a rather chilling and gruesome place and I couldn’t help screwing up my face as we entered. The walls and pillars of the room are almost totally lined with skulls and bones of 5,000 long dead people, apparently taken from graves in the town. It was built in the 16thC by a Franciscan monk to ‘induce meditation of his fellow men’, I think it would have petrified me rather than induced any form of meditation, especially when we read the inscription above the entry door: “We bones that are here, we are waiting for yours”; so we quickly left the building.
For a bit of quiet contemplation we wandered over to the 16thC Palacio de Dom Manuel and the gardens. Start breathing and smile again…… It was a peaceful spot and there are impressive ruins of another palace in the garden, plus an imposing statue of Admiral Vasco da Gama (the only famous Portuguese person we think we have ever heard of). It is believed that it was in the palace that he was given his orders to discover the sea route to India. Which he did in 1498.
Next stop on today’s tour was at the incorrectly named ‘Temple of Diana’, now renamed the ‘Roman Temple’, because apparently in the 2nd century it is unlikely that it would have been dedicated to Diana. But it survived because in the middle ages they walled it up and turned it in to a fort, which then became a prison and then finally an abattoir. It finally was re-discovered and restored only a century ago.
A gourmet treat became our next stop. We wandered back down to the bottom of town to the Samurai Japanese Restaurant. For €9.50 (about £8 or $14.50) we gorged ourselves on a never ending supply of really good Japanese food. There was sushi, sashimi, spring rolls and many more cold items. Then there was a big choice of hot food, or you could fill a plate with a huge selection of raw chicken, beef, and a huge variety of fish and seafood, plus lots of vegetables, even three types of mushrooms, which you then took to the chef who cooked it on a huge hotplate and a waitress delivered it to your table. To follow up there were all sorts of desserts; chocolate mousse, chocolate cake, tiramisu (none of which I believe are actually Japanese), plus a wide selection of fresh fruits and a big freezer containing at least ten choices of ice cream. The waiter apologised that the drinks were not included in the price; at that price they couldn’t have been!!! It was amazing and absolutely delicious! We were in there for ages and by the time we left I could not have squeezed in another mouthful of sushi. We were gluttons and we knew it. And we continued to know it for about another two hours afterwards. In fact I ate nothing else for the rest of the day. If you are ever in Evora do go to Samurai and even if they put their prices up, it would still be a bargain. Just make sure they haven’t changed the chef because the food was brilliant.
We didn’t think we could manage ‘uphill’ when we left the restaurant, so we walked around the base of the city walls to find the 16th C aqueduct. The main section crosses the main road and a rather tatty car park, so it’s impressive but not very photogenic. It then heads into the town and becomes an architectural curiosity with little white houses built between the arches. It must be weird living there, knowing there is a channel of water traveling above your roof.
Back up at the top of the hill, in the cathedral, we paid to visit the tower and found ourselves not in a tower, but standing on the sloping roof looking at the impressive lantern tower. There was a good view of the town and surrounding countryside from up there, so we lingered for a while, checking out all the bits that we had been to and what we might not have found yet.
The University was open, so we wandered around inside looking at all the beautiful azulejos (blue painted tiles) on the walls, and we ended up in the lovely tiled cloisters area, which curiously contained a plastic swimming pool and a temporary bar; it looked and smelled like there had been a very recent, good party, perhaps involving wet T shirts; good to see that student life is the same all over the world.
There were a lot more churches and a labyrinth of streets to stroll around, but we were pretty tired by then, so we found a seat at a café in the Praça de Giraldo for a drink, before cycling back to Eileen for the night.
