Évora

  Évora, Portugal
Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Quarto día
Terça 10

After a fair breakfast, we set out once more to visit the rest of this lovely town.

1. Praça Giraldo

We need an adaptor for our battery charger, so we drop by a hardware store. They don't have what we need, so one of the salespersons takes the one we have to pieces and adapts it manually it for European plugs. Adapting an adaptor! When we ask how much, he just shrugs and says he is happy we have come to visit Portugal. All the Portuguese we have met up to now have been extremely friendly, helpful and likable.

Our next stop is the remarkable "Capela dos Ossos" Chapel of Bones. 

2. Capela dos Ossos

In many other bone chapels, or catacombs, the bones are strewn around with little purpose. At the Capela dos Ossos, the purpose of the bones is carved into the entryway, "Nós ossos que aqui estamos pelos vossos esperamos" or "Our bones that are here await yours!" The 16th-century monks who built the Chapel of Bones wanted you to contemplate the rather transient nature of life, and they used a macabre sense of humor in bringing the point home.

After reflecting on mortality, we cross from the chapel over to the modern market, where the fish stands outnumber the meat stands two to one. It's always a pleasure to see how colourful and attractive the vendors can make the fruit and vegetables. How can you not buy? We stock up for our planned picnic lunch.

We enter the public gardens, awash in colour and enjoy a rest overlooking the carefully tended flowerbeds.

3. Public Gardens

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.

4. Jardim do Paço Restaurant

Beside this is the impressive Pousada dos Loios, a 15th, century monastery, part of the Pousada do Portugal luxury hotel chain. We walk in like guests, but compared to them, we look a trifle scruffy, and the staff isn't quite sure whether to let us wander, or politely usher us out.

All in all, Évora is a great town, and we would stay on at the drop of a hat, but we have to continue on our tight itinerary.

5. Time for a picnic

We find a riverside park along the route to enjoy our picnic lunch.