Wednesday 1st April
Please don’t anyone moan about the state of British roads, just come to Portugal and you will see much worse. I have to say that their main roads are good, but towns and villages are almost downright dangerous. It’s just one hole after the other, usually right where the near side wheels go. I bought some eggs yesterday, I just hope they don’t get broken!
We left the coast and headed inland to Evora, a three hour drive. I had promised Richard that I would work out a route that would not take us through Lisbon and other than one wrong turn, it went as planned. Afterwards, I thought that I should have asked Jem to plan me a route, duh!!
We did enough shopping to last over Easter and went to our park up for the night. It was a huge sandy car park that was practically empty other than half a dozen motorhomes. You must understand that the car parks we stay in are nothing like car parks in the UK!
We took a walk into the old town of Evora and were stopped by an American couple as they wondered if Rio was a Havanese as they had had one who had died 14 months ago. They showed us a photo of Princess Grace, and she was so like Rio. They had just moved to Lisbon from the US as they felt that America is being very damaged by a certain President. They are not alone as Portugal is very welcoming to Americans with tax and pension benefits. We must have chatted on for about half an hour. We said goodbye to Sam and Jeffrey and walked on into town.
It was getting a bit late to do any sightseeing, so we found a bar, had a beer before returning to Kiwi. We had our beer in a lovely square which is named after Giraldo Sem Pavor (Gerald the Fearless), a folk hero who reconquered Évora from the Moors in 1165. It appears to have a "dark" past! In the 16th century, it was the site of the autos-da-fé (public penance and executions) and in 1484, the Duke of Braganza was beheaded here for conspiring against King John II. In the middle of the square is the Henriquina Fountain (1570) which is a Baroque marble fountain. It has 8 spouts, each representing one of the 8 main streets that lead into the square. Originally it was the end of the aqueduct where townsfolk would go to collect their water.
I had factored in time for sightseeing on Thursday before heading to our Easter stop over.
Thursday 2nd April
We walked into Evora and to the Igreja e Mosteiro de São Francisco (Church and Monastery of Saint Francis). It was built between 1480 and 1510 during the reigns of King João II and King Manuel I, replacing an earlier 13th-century Gothic church that had been established by the Franciscan Order shortly after they arrived in Évora. It is beautiful inside as it once served as a Royal Chapel. The kings spared no expense, resulting in the massive granite structure and the largest single-vaulted nave in Portugal.
Next door is the Capela dos Ossos (Chapel of Bones) which was created in the 17th century by three Franciscan friars and was designed to provoke reflection on the transience of life. At the time, Évora had over 40 cemeteries taking up valuable land, and the monks decided to move the remains here to serve as a spiritual "memento mori." The walls and eight central pillars are completely lined with the skulls and bones of approximately 5,000 individuals! Fortunately, I looked up as the vaulted ceilings are painted with beautiful 19th century frescoes depicting religious symbols and allegories of death.
Next was to see one end of the Aqueduct Agua de Prata. The other end is 11 miles out of town. We always seem to think of aqueducts as being Roman, but this one was built in the 16th century to provide the town with water. In places houses have been built into the arches, or at least their front doors have.
It was quite a walk back to see the Cathedral and the Roman Temple. Sadly, there was a service going on in the Cathedral so I didn’t get to see it, but as far as I can gather the Igreja e Mosteiro de São Francisco is by far the most attractive building. The Cathedral is the largest medieval cathedral in Portugal and looks more like a castle than a church. Built between 1186 and 1250, it marks the transition from Romanesque to Gothic styles.
The Roman Temple stands proud at the top of the town and right beside the Cathedral.
Contrary to the local legend of it being dedicated to the goddess Diana, historical evidence suggests it was built in the 1st century AD to honour Emperor Augustus, who was worshipped as a god. The structure is famous for its 14 original Corinthian columns, which feature granite shafts and capitals carved from white marble from the nearby Estremoz region. Its remarkably preserved state is partly due to its varied history; over the centuries, the temple was incorporated into medieval castle walls and even repurposed as a slaughterhouse before being restored in the 19th century.
To street to get to and from the Largo do Conde de Vila Flor, the square where the Temple and Cathedral are situated, is a lovely street full of interesting shops, though many of them are gift shops. We were drawn into a restaurant which offered breadcrumbs with pork meat, though neither of us had that!
Back to a hot Kiwi and then an hour and forty minute drive to our stop, an olive and wine, farm until Sunday.
I’m not going to tell you about the farm today, I will leave
it until tomorrow 😆
Friday 3rd April
We are now as far south as we were going to go. In fact we are only about 100 miles from the Algarve coast. I asked Jem how far away the coast was and he said 1,338 miles! I had forgotten the VPN was on, so that was the distance from home!
The olive and wine farm is called Monte de Louzeiras and is in the middle of nowhere. Our pitch is in an olive grove, and our neighbours are peacocks and chickens. There is also a lovely Border Collie called Lunar, who popped round to make sure we were OK from time to time. Other animals are 2 horses, 2 ponies, a donkey, 20 cats, 7 peacocks, ducks and 4 ostriches!! There are also wild lynx and boar. There is also a swimming pool which I was looking forward to having a dip in, but it wasn’t ready after the winter.
We spent a very peaceful and restful day. I caught up with lots of things that needed doing - it was lovely to just chill as the last four weeks have been pretty full on.
The farm owners put on a barbecue in the evening for those who wanted to go, and I think most people did. Outside, what is called the family room, is a lovely patio with a bar. All drinks were included in the price of the meal. They make red and rose wine on the farm, but not white, so I drank the rose which was very palatable. We had typical Portuguese starters sitting at the bar then went inside for the main course which was Black Iberian pig done in two ways which was absolutely delicious, along with some super salads. There was so much food, and we were all encouraged to keep going back for more! It was a lovely evening.
When we first arrived for the barbecue, the sun was setting over the pool, it was lovely. Apparently once the sun has set the peacocks get up on the roof to roost. The leader makes the most peculiar noise, rather like a “hee haw” to call the others. Once he was happy that everyone was safe, all went quiet until sunrise!
Mark, the farm owner, showed us his wine cellar and told us
how they make the wine.
He uses amphorae which is one of the oldest traditions in winemaking, dating back over 8,000 years to ancient Georgia. While modern stainless steel and oak barrels dominate today's industry, amphorae are seeing a massive resurgence among natural winemakers. In September they pick the grapes early in the morning as it too hot after 11am. It’s then back to the farm for lunch then the ladies, literally, tread the grapes before the crushed grapes are put into the amphora. The liquid is distilled three times before left for a few months. Mark’s amphoras hold between 1000 and 2000 litres and are about 300 years old. There is no one making them anymore, so Mark has to rely on people giving up to get “new” ones.
I was trying to take a photo of one of the peacocks with his tail feathers open, but he got photobombed by an ostrich!!
No comments:
Post a Comment