April 20, Évora
A morning flight from Funchal returned us to Lisbon, where we immediately boarded a bus that would be our transport for the next week. Driving across the 25 de Abril Bridge (25th of April Bridge - remember that date, it will be important later) spanning the Tagus river, we headed east toward Évora. Along the way, we stopped for a delightful outdoor lunch at a cafe in the town of Azeitão, which featured an odd fountain. We also stopped for pictures in the Arrábida mountains.
Arriving at our hotel in Évora, we settled in and then went on a short "orientation walk", followed by dinner. Once again, I had Portuguese Steak while Leslie had the other choice, fish.
April 21, Évora
In the morning, we first visited the public park, with its peacocks and fake ruins. While the latter look as if they are date from Roman times, they in fact are reconstructions from the 19th century.
Then it was on to one of the oddest experiences of the entire trip, the Capela dos Ossos (Chapel of Bones). Quoting Wikipedia, "An estimated 5,000 corpses were exhumed to decorate the walls of the chapel. The bones, which came from ordinary people who were buried in Évora's medieval cemeteries, were arranged by the Franciscans in a variety of patterns."
But wait! There's more! In the church adjoining the chapel was a large collection of nativity scenes, many of which were... odd, and sometimes scary.
We then traveled to Pepe Aromas, a cork and prickly pear farm. Michaela took us on a tour of the farm, explaining that a cork tree needs at least 25 years after planting before its first harvest, and that one isn't very good. Future harvests are done at nine year intervals - the trees are marked with whitewashed year numbers to help identify which are eligible for harvesting again.
An interesting item we learned was that Holm Oaks are planted among the Cork Oaks, as the feral pigs dig up the Holm Oak acorns and leave the Cork Oaks alone.
The prickly pears are a more recent thing, started by a younger generation of the family in an attempt to diversify. Almost all of the plant has some use.
We then went to a factory where they sort, grade, dry, and process the cork. We were told that cork stoppers are made from different grades of cork, depending on the price of the product they're for. Prices for individual corks can range from twenty cents to two Euros or more, with the cheapest stoppers made from ground cork pressed with adhesive. Cork could be cut super-thin and laminated to cloth as well.
Leslie and I often lament that meals at European restaurants tend to be light on vegetables, if there are any at all. When we saw this sign, earlier in the day, we knew we had to check it out.
In the early evening, we found it and walked in. "Do you have a reservation?" Oh, no, not again... But after some consultation, we were asked if the table near the entrance was OK, and we quickly agreed. There was one larger table in that entryway, and a larger dining room up some stairs. During the entire time we were there, that other table remained empty, though we did see customers go into the other room.
The menu was not fixed, and was written with chalk on roof slates. The chef came out to talk to us about our preferences, and we both selected for the main course, lamb shank, braised for hours, served on Portabello mushroom caps. The chef mentioned that the sous-chef was from India, and did we mind if the lamb was served with various mixed spices we could dip things in. Of course not!
When it came to selecting appetizers, the chef asked Leslie if she was hungry, and after she agreed, he recommended the mushroom and melted cheese dish. Looking at me, he said, "You're getting shrimp and passionfruit." For wine, we asked the chef to pick, and we were brought a wonderful Portuguese Syrah blend called Incendi.
We were delighted to see that the chef had slightly varied the accompanying vegetables so that our platters (on roof slates again) would not be identical; he came back out later to see how we liked everything. The dessert was a house-made ice cream, and the entire meal was magical - one of our favorites ever.
