Évora – Wildflowers and Megaliths

Évora is the capital of Portugal’s Alentejo region.  I’d never heard of this region before, but having sampled a few Alentejo red wines, one can be sure that I will be seeing its name again.

Unfortunately, Ellen was pretty knocked down with a cold when we arrived at this university town of about 56,000 residents.  This took her out of action for a bit, but we were able to walk around to find dinner after nap time.

The city went through some tough times in the last centuries, which may have worked out for the best.  The medieval structures weren’t destroyed and replaced with modern crap.  It is now a lovely town, and is being discovered increasingly by tourists.  We checked out the Pousada up by the cathedral and the roman ruins of the temple of Diana.  Pousadas are old monasteries, convents, castles, or palaces that the Portuguese government has turned into flashy hotels.  They are lovely, and were it not for the price, we probably would go pousada-hopping.

We found a restaurant just up the street from our inn.  It has been a tavern/restaurant for in this location for over 500 years.  We had oxtail stew and migos – kind of like mashed potatoes but made with bread, a a bottle of the aforementioned Alentejo red.  We shared the meal, and had leftovers.  It was easily a top 3 meal in our trip.

Évora is the third largest locations of neolithic megaliths in Europe.  The next morning I went on a tour while Ellen slept in.  Our guide was a passionate archaeologist, Mario, who showed us the 2000 year history of megaliths in the area, that started about 5000 years ago.  The first settings were based on solar and lunar cycles, and seemed to be shared by all living around the area.  By the end, 2000 years later, they were creating burial chambers for the very elite.  This was about the same time as the pyramids were being built to the east.

We were treated to spring wildflowers everywhere.  This is part of the largest cork and home oak forests in the world.  The oak create acorns for the “black pigs” to eat.

After I returned, we went looking for lunch.  We ended up meeting a new travel-buddy, Lisa.  Lisa is from San Diego and is currently working and living in Cambridge, England.  We found a great local restaurant where we were able to sample the black pork.  Very good.

We met up for dinner as well where we found another fantastic restaurant where we received a course on Alentajan food and wine.  This is a town we will be returning to.

Dolmen – or burial structure

Roman Temple of Diana

Megaliths – early, that manage solar and lunar cycles

Cork forest

Dolmen – or burial structure

It’s going to be a bumper olive crop

Mario, our archaeologist/guide

Dolmen – or burial structure

Megaliths – early, that manage solar and lunar cycles

Megalith that was a distance away that marked the summer solstice

Temple of Diana

Megaliths – early, that manage solar and lunar cycles

Megaliths – early, that manage solar and lunar cycles

Lisa, Ellen, and Steve

Cork forest

Cathedral

Cathedral

Church in main square

Dolmen – or burial structure