Convento Do Espinheiro Heritage Hotel & Spa Évora

... the hilarity of Spainish and Portugese bathrooms. They are a source of amusement on this trip. In our hotel room in Evora our bathroom consisted of a sink, a basin on the floor and a shower head. That is correct, there was no toilet and to take a shower you shut the bathroom door and let the water spray everywhere while you stand in the tiny basin. The next most amusing bathroom was in Albufeira, Portugal. First, the shower had windows that you could open to ...

... working the counter tried to call us a taxi with no luck, kept saying nata, nata which was a bit frustrating. Finally after 30 min. of trying to communicate with them we walk into town and knock on one of the taxi driver´s doors, said he would drive us back to Beja! So crisis avoided, we made it back 4 hours after we intended and had a cook-up with Alex and Jason...who were smart enough to take the early bus!!!

... of life. Clothes lines hang out many windows old enough to be in museums in the US. A mix of Muslim and Christian influence lend the city a stunning architectural blend. After hitting a very authentic Portuguese market (think live chickens and octopus recently plucked from the Atlantic), we ended our day along the Ribeira with a Port wine tour and tasting. Dads, we picked up a bottle for each of you. We settled into our very cosy, welcoming hostel glad that ...

... and they show movies on the trips too. but tonight marks my last night here in portugal. i've been roped into doing the pubcrawl at the hostel tonight, so yet another interesting flight lies ahead. speaking of which, the air traffic controller's strike has apparently been called off! (i'm actually kinda disappointed about that).

... to do with it. In the distance we could see the whitewashed buildings and the old wall so we knew that we were getting close to Evora. We headed through the old wall of the city and made our way to the Praca do Giraldo, the main square and from there we oriented ourselves. First stop was to the Church of Saint Francis and to the special side chapel there - you will pick that out in the photos! After we checked that out we walked up to the Rua Vasco de Gama ...

... the old city walls. I go to the Capela dos Ossos. The bone church. Creapy but Kutna Hora in Czech Republic by Prague, now that's a bone church (Sedlec Kostnice). In order to see the Capela dos Ossos I have to buy a combo ticket for the tower, museum of the "regular" church and the bone chapel. Hmm. It was just 3 euros with my student discount. I wander around town trying to find the Roman remains.. no luck. I do find the ...

... Jeannie took one look at the small cooked pigs waiting for customers and a few chickens being cleavered apart and politely offered to go to a market to get something to drink. She's always so polite that way. I ordered what turned out to be the very best grilled chicken I've had in my life and thus began down what could be a terrible road of gorging myself on Portuguese chicken followed by bulimic episodes. Last evening, when ...

... y justo todos me escriben en sus emials que van a algun asado...que envidia! Jessica extrana las empanadas... Si no es por los emails, se nos hubiese pasado el 18 sin darnos cuenta, ya saben como son las vacaciones, uno nunca sabe que dia es! Hemos paseado por Lisboa, ya la conocemos bastante bien, se parece a Valparaiso, solo que mas "ordenada" aunque no mucho. Tambien fuimos a Porto, que tambien esta en una colina que da al mar, no se porque les gusta construir ...

... 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. Only 4 tables and an ice cream cooler in the front. 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 ...