Evora

How can it be so hard to find the massive Ponte 25 de Abril bridge over the Tagus river??? We could see it, but it took us almost an hour of driving around Lisbon to find the entry to the bridge and A2 Sul. To add insult, it was a toll bridge.

It was May 30 and we were headed for Evora. The drive wasn’t anything to write home about–it was hot, silly sunny, and hazy. We enjoyed the fresh air, the breeze and seeing the cork oaks dotting the landscape. Strange to see truck beds full of large pieces of tree bark, which was the harvested cork.

Arriving into Evora was easy enough. Finding our hotel…not so easy. What’s with us today and this relentless hide-and-seek driving game?!? It took an hour driving around in Evora to find our hotel. We were in the right area the whole time…circling the place because it wasn’t labeled, nor were the streets. It was way too appropriate when U2’s “Where the Streets Have No Name” came on the radio.

But, it was simply a posh Hotel Solar de Monfalim Évora, little room #207…high stucco’d walls and a 3.5 x 7 ft “veranda”…and air conditioning! We spent the day wandering the narrow, cobblestoned lanes. Lots to see–rooster-themed pottery, friendly dogs, moorish influenced tiles, a church with mismatched bell towers/steeples. I especially liked the looks of one shop, where behind the counter there were hundreds of wrought iron key hole / door latch covers in Moorish, gothic styles and also all these arabic/syrian lamps with the beaded shades.

For two days, we walked lovely little Evora and ate the simple foods of Portugal–chicken pastries (we point, and ask “frango?”), strip steaks with onions/tomatoes and eggs, and wine. A favorite memory turned out to be this tiny little place we found when wandering by the aqueduct, called O’Portao. It only had four tables and an ice cream cooler in the front. We went back for dinner. One woman in a pink dress took our orders, cooked them and served them too. She brought wine in a rough hewn, brick red, terra-cotta pitcher. Our meals of strip steak and mushrooms and fries was plain and perfect. We sat and listened to the family behind us out for dinner. We watched the kids come and go, opening the ice cream cooler, leaning in, sorting around, and paying the lady for their selection before leaving again. We wandered the area afterwards, admiring the diamond shaped patterns on the Evora sidewalks.

Tomorrow, we were off to Sintra for two nights, a little place east of Lisbon.