Monday, August 31st - Évora or Randy has a screw loose today!!

We got up around 10:00. No reason to rush today as we are exploring Évora. Down to the hotel breakfast (5Euros each) for some juice, toast, cereal, tea and pastries. Back in the room while I was cleaning my sunglasses one arm fell off and then the screw fell onto the floor. Eventually, we found the teeny tiny screw under the bed. As Lana said "... Randy has a screw loose, literally" We reviewed our guide book and my notes for Évora to make our plans for exploration day. Many recommended stops so we will have a busy afternoon.

Évora has been described as one of the prettiest cities in Portugal. Its inner city, ensconced within medieval walls, is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The map below gives you an idea that it is within walls and has a number of highlighted sites.

First stop is a sunglass/glasses shop where a technician puts my screw back in the arm at no charge. Good start to the day. Some clouds and then full sun. It is very hot when you can't find any shade. Cobblestone streets everywhere, narrow alleys and streets, wrought-iron balconies, white walls and red-tiled roofs. 

Alentejo pastry.

 Alentejo pastry with coconut.

 Alentejo flan cake.

Our first stop was Aqueduct da Agua de Prata. Built in the 1500s. This was a functioning aqueduct for the residents of Évora and is around 8 kms long.

 Note that houses, shops and cafes are built into the arches.

 Aqueduct crosses a main street outside the walls of the old inner central area of Évora.

 The one end of the Aqueduct which starts in the old town area.

Second stop was the Templo Romano built in the second or third century by the Romans of course. It is fairly complete after all these centuries.

 Templo Romano from the other side.

Our third stop was at Jarmin Diana Quiosque (cafe) as it was so hot we needed a break in the shade and get something to drink. I ordered a glass of Super Bock beer and Lana some carbonated water. Then it was time for her to order a Solera ice cream bar--passion fruit, mango creamsicle :-)

Our fourth stop was at Termas Romanas located within a municipal building. These are Roman baths discovered by chance in 1987 and is believed to be the largest public Roman building in Évora.

 This is the Termas Romanas, but the Laconicum (heated room for steam baths) in a huge circular pool. I love exploring Roman ruins.

Our fifth stop was Igreja de São João (Loios)/Palácio Cadaval. Built in 1485 and now privately-owned. Beautiful Gothic portal. This picture is of a grate in the floor and very far below is a Moorish cistern that predates the church. You can see the water in the cistern at the bottom.

 Emblem in the train of a wedding dress. Admittance to this 'church' was 8 Euro per person based on their couture wedding dress exhibition. I don't think they will get many visitors as that is expensive for tourist destinations in Portugal but the wedding dresses were very beautiful. Very sombre classical music playing in the background. No Flash Photography allowed!

 One of many dresses on display. Designers such as Givenchy, Dior, St. Laurent, Balenciaga. All these dresses were made for royalty.

 As you can see the inside of this church has the exhibition.

 I wanted to see the AZULEJOS (blue tiles). These are one of the distinguishing features of Portugal. The artistry and colours are amazing.

 More azulejos in the church. This one is a scene of Évora hundreds of years ago. 

Our sixth stop was São Bento of Castris (church) and it has a free exhibition of "Flowers; Homage to Mapplethorpe". Lana took a pic of the sculptures. Very haunting background music.

Our seventh stop was Igreja da Nossa Senhora da Graça. Very weird combo of architectural styles and difficult to find where you enter? Sorry, no pics.

Our eighth stop was one of the most well known sites in Évora: Igreja de São Francisco and the Capelo dos Ossos located inside this gigantic church. The church is under restoration so our timing wasn't good, but the Capelo dos Ossos was open for 2Euros each.

 The original architect built a model of Igreja de São Francisco to show the benefactor and I am standing in the model.

 OK, Capelo dos Ossos in english is "Chapel of Bones." Yes, these are actual human bones. They are a reminder to all visitors that we are mortal and will end up here eventually.

 Chapel of Bones.

 Chapel of Bones.

 Chapel of Bones.

 Chapel of Bones.

By this time, we are hot and peckish for some light food. We find a small place down one of many narrow small alleys. A Muralha Restaurante is the place and I had a Queijadas de Évora (regional famous pastry) and Lana a fruit salad. We stood at the counter and ate.

Located on the side of a building on a typical narrow Évora street.

Our ninth official stop was Jardim Público. We were looking to rest and take it easy in the shade. As we sat on the wooden bench there was a refreshing gentle cool breeze. Some tourists hanging around and enjoying the serenity of this very large park. We walked to our hotel as it is located pretty close to one corner of the park within the walled area of Évora.

When we arrived in our room the air conditioning was still on so that was fantastic! So cool after being in the very hot sun this afternoon. We are figuring out the restaurant for tonight and some other plans this week. Lana takes this opportunity to have a nap.

I get to figuring out our dinner destination for tonight. I check Trip Advisor for #1 Rated Restaurant in Évora: Botequim da Mouraria. In addition, this small place is in the book "1,001 Places to Eat Before You Die." Pretty impressive resume. Not sure if it opens at 19:00 or 18:30? We decide to walk over to be early and get in on the first seating. We arrive at 18:20 and are the second couple waiting so that is good. There are only 9-10 seats in this small place. We find out from the first couple that it opens at 19:00 so we will get in guaranteed. We had bought an english newspaper on our way "Sunday Telegraph" for 5.20Euro (ripoff!) so I have something to read while waiting. The owner admits the first 10 people at 18:55. Many people are turned away.

Another angle of this small restaurant in a very hard to find location in Évora. 

 Entrance door.

 Menu on the front window. Portugese and English.

 Yes, this is a small place. TV plays in the background. Air conditioner in the ceiling so keeps it nice and cool. High wooden stools/seats. Paper placemats so casual is the mood. We get our orders in second so that is good. The seating is arranged based on arrival. While they have a huge inventory of wine (from Alentejo region) they don't have .50 litres so we settle for a glass of red wine and a glass of white wine. 

 Picture of a salt cured pig's foot/leg that is thinly sliced by hand for our "Pata Negra" appetizer below.

 Our appetizer order of Presunto Pata Negro (ham thinly sliced and so divine!). Sweet, tasty with a little crispiness from the small salt crystals. Yahoo! 

 Special dish tonight of crab meat and _____? served in a crab shell. Toasted bread with olive oil included for eating the crab meat. Wow! We licked the spoons when finished.

 Picture taken by Italo (Brazilian fellow eating with his brother's wife). Our neighbours to the other side are from Norway. Domingo's wife is in the kitchen behind beaded drapes. Many people show up to try and gain entrance, but no luck. 

 In foodie heaven tonight in a very small restaurant with only 10 seats at eating bar.

 Entree order of Lombinho e Porco Preto Grelhado (regional specialty of Black Iberian pig that eat acorns only from Oak trees and wild herbs/roots as their diet). This was one of the best pork we have ever eaten. It is only seasoned with some salt and garlic. It is the meat itself that is so delicious as confirmed by the owner. He cuts it in half and serves with gravy spooned onto our plates. 

Pork comes with a salad and potato chips. The salad was fresh with a simple dressing. The potato chips were warm and tasty. Lana loves that potato chips are served as a side dish in this country!!  

 Lamb chops ordered by our Norwegian neighbours.

 Delicious local dessert of Queijadas de Évora (cheesecake)

 Owner/server/charmer Domingos

We had a fantastic meal and experience at Botequim da Mouraria. We spent almost two hours and the cost was not expensive by any standards. The wine pours were gigantic and the prices per glass pretty cheap. We met some nice fellow diners. A great way to end our day in Évora. We didn't have to drive our car even once! 

Total walking for the day is 10 kms. The walk back was in lower temperatures than on our arrival a few hours before. Very refreshing! We have another fun day planned tomorrow, but it will involve driving to another location in the Alentejo.

Supermarket Adventures in Évora

Lana here--so everyone likely already knows that whenever we travel, we like to go to a local supermarket and check out the food and grocery items. It's a chance to see how the people of the city really live and eat and it's like a museum in it's own right if you ask me. So while Randy waited with our clothes in the washing machine, I wandered around the Intermarché Market. Talk about fun :)

First up, you've read about the popular salted cod called Bacalhau. Well, here's what it looks like in the supermarket.  But you can't just look at this picture without understanding that you can "smell" this fish as soon as you get close to where it is in the store. I didn't know I was close to the fish section, but I knew there was something funky close by.  Imagine, the strong smell of dried fish and salt. This is a small section of all the bacalhau they had for for sale--and what an odour!!!

Next up giant langoustine--a species of prawn.  There were larger than my hand and the size of most lobsters.  

And the beloved sardine--shown here in real life.  

Here's a selection of Portuguese sausages. Most of these were dried.  

We've been seeing this melon and think it looks like a white cantaloupe.  But again the size of them is huge.  We've seen many vendors by the side of the road selling them.

Also, some very large green melons. 

Now onto the really interesting stuff, at least for me :) Being a potato chip fan, I believe you can always tell what's what for food by the potato chip flavours they sell in the country or area. Look at these--proscuitto flavour.  

... and I thought ketchup was only available here in Canada. Guess I was wrong. The funny thing is I've never seen a bottle of ketchup on a table anywhere being served when you get french fries. So seeing this flavour of potato chip is a bit of a mystery. 

Now here's a flavour you don't see often.  

And they have flavour mixes--proscuitto and cheese flavoured chips mixed together. This might be quite tasty. 

And here's another flavour combo. I think they might be onto something here. 

We were in awe at the size of the wine section in the grocery store. It would seriously put some BC Liquor stores to shame.  

We saw bottles of champagne from France for about 20Euros. We really liked this option though--it's wine in a Tetra pack the exact size of juice box for only 58 cent euros!! Maybe people buy these and slip them into their lunch bags!!! Who would know it was wine??!?!!!  

After all the walking around, we settled on some bottled water for our hotel room, some bananas for breakfast, bag of potato chips and a Banana and Dulce de Leche flavoured yogurt (for a snack).