Pensao Residencial Policarpo Évora

On Saturday my Gap adventure tour began. We headed to Evora, Portugal on the afternoon of May 8th. Evora is a sleepy little town in central Portugal. We walked through some of the medevil streets and admired the ruins of a roman forum which included a temple to Diana, we also explord a ghoulish church decorated with the bones of over 1000 bodies and enjoyed a sleep in a hotel room bed. Since I do not have much to dicuss about Evora I will take an opportunity 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!!!

... tolls, and...very strange...a pair of Ryan's travel pants... It was a very painful way to start a morning. Our first task: make our way to the tourism police office in the center of this very old and winding city without the GPS. It took us an hour. Then, we sat with a very nice, but somewhat uncaring police officer who took our report. As we sat with him, three other people lined up behind us, claiming that their cars had been broken into on the same street ...

... 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).

An early morning, at least for us, and we were on our way by train about 2 hours outside of Lisbon to the Alentejo region of Portugal and the town of Evora, another UNESCO World Heritage Site. On our way to Evora we passed through groves of Cork trees. You will see from the photos - albeit taken from a moving train - a little bit about the Cork tree. You can see where the trunks are red in color - this is where the cork has been harvested. I believe it needs ...

... that the bus is leaving from the terminal that I am in front of. Hmm.. No bus, I go back inside the station (the doors in are outside the bus terminal I'm at, so I feel safe doing so) and look at the departure/arrivals board. My bus isn't even listed. What the?? I find some other people looking at their ticket, at the terminal number sign, back at the ticket. I start to feel a little better. I end up talking to this woman from ...

... it is well known for local cuisine, and select Cervejaría ¼ Para as Nove (quarter to nine...your guess is as good as mine). Very popular with locals, I enjoy a dish of pork with almeijas (cockles) and Miryam a calamar (squid) salad, both excellent. We are realizing either we are getting better at choosing restaurants, or the food is just plain better in Portugal. The bill, with wine, is € 24.75.

... the next five or six miles. Neill is the Galhagar of our time. After getting Cutlip and Stevens to their flights, we headed back to the Marriott for some relaxing. Neill and I drank coffee on the veranda, while Kelly took a much deserved nap in a clean and comfortable bed. We bounced around the city some during the day. And that night we ended up catching a Fado show in a restraunt. Fado music is indiginous to Portugal, and it ...

... should try to speak Spanish to them or just English. My brain usually turns off before I open my mouth, so it tends to be English. Saturday I took the train up to Lisboa and thought I'd try a hostel this time (it's hard to meet other travelers when you're in your own room in a pensao). And remembered why I don't care for HI hostels - they're drab and devoid of character. The people all seem worn down and don't exude much life. Anyway, I went ...

... 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 2 days ...