Cork Forest & Évora

We have scheduled a private 4x4 tour through the cork forest and the city of Évora.  Our guide, Lídia, picks us up promptly at 8 am.  She talks with us about the tour as well as the areas of Lisbon we are driving through the city.  In about 20 minutes we reach Ponte Vasco de Gamma.  This extensive bridge over the Targus is 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) long with another 5 kilometers (3 miles) of dedicated roadway leading to/from the bridge.  It seems to go on forever.

We are driving south and then east, to the east plains of Portugal's Alentejo region.  We stop for a coffee and breakfast sweet at a cafe, then Lídia takes us off-roading through the cork forest.  We occasionally pass by small communities of just a few buildings, but otherwise it is just forest and us. We learn that cork is harvested every nine years once the tree reaches maturity and that the year of the last harvest is written on the tree after the cork is peeled off.  In addition to the cork oak trees we see umbrella pines and the oaks that produce sweet acorns so desired by pigs.

At the edge of one of the cork forests lies the megaliths of Évora.  Almedres is one of the oldest and largest stone circles in Europe.  It is believed to have been occupied over the past 20,000 years.  Due to it's latitude, some nights of the year it gets the moon at it's full height (similar to Stonehedge).

After walking through the area and contemplating the ancients who used the site, Lídia returns the vehicle to the main road leading to Èvora.  It's a little too early for lunch, so we start our walking tour of the city.   We walk through the walls of the old town and follow the aqueduct built in the 1500's, learning that in ancient times the city was ruled by the Romans and then much later by the Moors.  In the 14th through 16th Centuries it was a center of the arts and education.

Lídia takes us to the Church of St. Francis where we take some time to walk through both the church and then the upper galleries, which house hundreds of nativity scenes.

Next we go next door to the somewhat macabre Chapel of Bones.   It is the largest of it's type in Portugal.  I have to admit, we have seen other chapels of bones in other countries and all cause a bit of reflection.

A few block walk gives us time to clear our minds and takes us to Rua dos Mercadores and our lunch at Restaurante a Choupana. This is a very small restaurant- much, much better than the tourist cafe's we have passed by.  Everyone else in the restaurant is a local, some in suits, some in workman's shirts.  William and I enjoy appetizers, bread, olives, two entrees popular in the region, beer, sparkling water, and a shared dessert for 30€.  Awesome.

We could nap, but Lídia has more sight-seeing in mind for us.  We continue our walk and make a stop in the Cathedral, located on the highest point of the city.  It is built like a small fortress and one of it's distinguishing features is the blue Lantern tower.  We also enjoy walking through the cloister.

Our last stop in the city of Évora is the Temple of Diana.  It is a Roman Corinthian-style temple built in 1 B.C.  Continuing the Roman heritage, Lídia drives us 20 minutes to the site of some Roman Baths.  A dam in a small river has created a nearby lake and the landscape is very pretty.

Following the Roman Baths we take a winding single-lane road through the countryside, seeing storks and sheep.  Then Lídia rejoins major roads for our two hour trip back to Lisbon and our apartment.  We arrive home a little before 7 pm tired and a little hungry.

​It has been a very rewarding day.