We had a positively relaxing day of touring today, leaving our campsite in Costa di Caprica almost at 11 am. Megs drove over a hundred kilometers east towards Évora. This small city is located in the plains of Southern Portugal, closer to the Spanish border than to the Atlantic Ocean. About a twenty minute drive outside town, along a dirt (more a muddy clay after all this rain) road, we saw the cromlechs (Portuguese rocks in a formation similar to Stonehenge). We haven't seen Stonehenge itself, but I’m pretty sure they’re a lot larger and awe-inspiring. Nonetheless, it was still very neat to wander around something that was over 4000 years old. It was so quiet out there, and with almost no one else around, you could almost imagine what it would have been like all those years ago. The rocks themselves, most around six to seven feet tall and a few feet wide, were arranged in an oval shape. The hundred or so granite rocks are believed to have been a celestial calendar dating from around 2000 BC. The drive to and from the site was also fascinating to us because we got to go through a cork tree plantation. We got to see harvested cork trees and were close enough to touch them – and yes, the bark feels just like cork! It was interesting to note the deep maroon color of the tree trunk underneath the harvested portion of the tree. We had seen quite a few cork tree plantations on our drive inland this morning and it was nice to finally get up close to the trees that accounted for about 60% of the world’s cork production. The remainder of the world’s supply comes from Spain.

We arrived at our campsite just in time for a quick lunch break and then made our way to the town of Évora, just a few kilometers away. We parked outside the medieval walls of the old town– designated a UNESCO site since 1986 – and began a self-guided walking tour of the town. Évora has a rich history, dating from Roman times and also included the Moors and Portuguese kings. Most of the roads lining the old town are narrow and made of tiny cobble stones. This along with the tightly packed two to three storey houses gives it a certain quaint feel. The main square, Praça do Giraldo, was quite a lively square with people milling about, lots of vehicle traffic (that definitely detracted from the medieval town feel) and two roasted chestnut vendors sending plumes of smoke into the air on one corner of the square. Many of the buildings have a yellow trim which is believed to repel evil spirits although we’re not sure if that’s why they’re painted so nowadays or just to preserve the heritage.

We wandered through the town spotting remnants from the Roman days such as old walls, parts of an aqueduct, an old Roman bath that is being excavated in the foundation of the town hall and Roman arches. Most of the excavations of these Roman ruins occurs accidentally today when some new construction or plumbing work has to be performed. The highlight of the tour was seeing the Roman temple with its fourteen Corinthian columns still standing erect, in the center of a square, surrounded by a public garden, a church and a building that was the site of a bloody inquisition. From the square, we wandered down the street and saw (only from the outside as it is not open to the public) where Vasco de Gama used to live after he discovered the trade route to India. I thought it was pretty neat to see this as this man was largely responsible for Portugal’s rise to power in the 1500’s. We had seen his tomb in Lisboa and now we had seen the house where he once lived.

Having completed our walking tour, we made our way back to the campsite and stopped by at a grocery store to stock up on food for the next few days. We got into camp around six in the evening and were pleasantly surprised to find that it was still light out. We’d had a very pleasant day of relaxed touring and were ready to head to the most south-western point in Europe tomorrow.