Residencial Graca 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 ...

So with nothing to do in Beja, we all caught the bus to Evora, famous for a chapel that is made completely of human bones. The whole town only took a few hours to see and the chapel was CREE-PY, yes, made of the bones of 5,000 people! After seeing the chapel, Anna and I wandered around town and found a small cafe to sit, read, and sip port in. We were watching the time and checking the bus schedule to make sure ...

... trip. They may have been some of the most friendly and enthusiastic people we have met. And their advice was great. The next day, we headed for Obidos. Obidos is a 14th century medieval town inside a castle's walls. Despite its cutesy-touristy feel, it is a really enjoyable place (especially after the disillusionment of Porto). After strolling the streets of Obidos for a couple of hours, we decided to stay. We scrapped our Lisbon itinerary (we were only going ...

if portugal had a version of bath-spa, evora would probably be it. a tiny walled-town of roman origins, it's a fun place to walk around, grab some of the many local dishes, and get lost in the narrow alley-way streets that have discovery after discovery everywhere one turns. of note, the intercity buses here have stewardesses on ...

... to the Roman Temple. This Roman Temple - from the 1st Century BC - part of a Roman Forum was completely surrounded by water giving it a very interesting reflective feature. Amazing just how far those Romans traveled! We were then off to the Cathedral, where they honor Mary...."With Child". You will see a dedication to her in the chapel and then again in the cloisters. Three Archbishops are entombed here and one Archbishop currently resides in the town of ...

... but I really didn´t want to engage her directly on a debate and challenge how she was uninformed and had a one-sided viewpoint. I began to "softly" describe to her how polarized U.S. is currently and only certain Americans are uninformed about the rest of world. Before I knew it, she completely got worked up and really upset. Everyone else at the table was agreeing with what I was saying but this ...

... our planned picnic lunch. We enter the public gardens, awash in colour and enjoy a rest overlooking the carefully tended flowerbeds. Getting our breath back we continue back through the Praça Giraldo, under the Roman arch and back to the temple. Facing the temple is the lovely Jardim do Paço Restaurant, a pricey but attractive venue with a beautiful garden ambiance where summer concerts are held. Beside this is the impressive ...

... of its swimming pools captivated us for the remainder of the day. Early this morning we went into the city to explore before the heat of the day became too intense. Evora itself is an enchanting medieval walled city (and a UNESCO World Heritage site) with many of its ancient details still intact. The center of the city contains the remnants of a Roman temple from when it was the capital of the region 2000 years ago. There are plenty of churches, historic homes ...

... The next day I did a trip up to Sintra - there's a few sites there. I saw the National Palace and a castle built by the Moops (Bubble Boy is next to me yelling, "It's the Moors, you idiot!"). MOOPS! It was all foggy there so it was kinda cool, but at the same time meant I didn't get views of the surrounding area. I went back to Lisboa and checked out more sites there (statues, monasteries, plazas, etc...). While taking pics, I noticed a ...

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. Arriving ...