On our first day, we got lost in Lisbon – isn’t that the best!

First we had to deal with very long line at passport check – but why? Once we finally made it to the front, the border officer did not look at vaccination records, Covid test or mandatory locator forms…go figure!

Lisbon for one day!

A city of 7 hills – one seems to always be going uphill!

We discovered though that it is always best to look down – mosaic tiles everywhere on the sidewalks but also on the walls instead of stucco or siding 🙂

We stumbled upon a beautiful big flea market, stunning views of the city and a nice terrace for dinner with a view of the sunset….until a bunch of tourists came to take pictures 🤦‍♀️.

One thing that I didn’t love – I had forgotten how european smoke right at their table…one bite – one puff….incredible!

EVORA

Next day we are on our way to Evora after picking up the car. A nice 90 minutes drive and we are in a quaint little town surrounded by roman and medieval walls – full of history.

We are picked up shortly after check in by Dario from the Coelheiros wine estate….it is much more than a win estate!

The new owners purchased the estate in 2015 as their retirement plan from Brasil and began the transition to fully organic and sustainable farming.

They have 2000 acres composed of 40 for grapes, 20 for walnut, 20 for olives and the rest if their beautiful cork forest. They have 1000 sheep that move from section of the land based on the season to eat the grass and contol the weeds, they have strategically located bat and certain bird houses to control the bug population, they have moved to a varied planting in between the rows of grapes to atract the bugs to those flowers rather than the grapes…everything is interconnected and intentionally done. Amazing!

We learned that Portugal is still the number 1 producer of cork and that all trees are inventoried and controled by the state. It takes 30 years for a cork tree to be matured enough for harvest and then cork (which is the bark removed from the trunk) can only be harvested every 9 years. Fully sustainable and regenarative, the entire harvest is used for a variety of products – nothing is wasted.

We also learned that their portuguese grape wines are grafted on the original cabernet sauvignon trunk from France and the trunk is attached to american root system to fight a worm that came from America with import decades ago. This is true of almost all wines in Portugal.

Dario invites us for a wine tasting and while the wine is good, the olive oil is out of this world! Of course they are sold out….

Back to town for a nice dinner at Pateo (outdoor patio although chilly) where we have a nice conversation with retired Portuguese who come to Evora by train regularly for a getaway from Lisbon and a young couple from….Oakville!

The following day, we have a walking tour with Joao for 3.5 hours….so interesting

We learn that the Franciscan were a well established group in the 1200 and lived in poverty with a small church surrounded by the cemetery of villagers.

Once the royal family decided to spend a lot of time in Evora, they established a castle across from the monastery and decided to build a bigger, richer than the one that was there. Because the Franciscan refused to stop practicing, they built that church around the small one. Consequently it is the church with the biggest arches to support the ceiling in the world!

In that process, they dug up a lot of tombs and bones which angered the Franciscan. They decided to stack as many bones and skulls inside the chapel as a reminder to the royals that everyone returns to that state at the end.

During our walk, we come upon the garden of love where the statue of Vasco de Gama, Chuck’s favorite explorer.

João takes us to the highest place in the town where the original Roman temple was built during the second century BC.

To reach it, we pass by the cathedral of Evora which he tells us is the oldest cathedral in the world where you can witness pre-gothic architecture.

We are able to climb the stairs up the tower to the roof with a stunning view of the city.

Back to a terrace as we scout the town looking for Sardines for Chuck for dinner 🙂🍺

Found it!! Excellent fresh grilled sea bass for me and sardines for Chuck!

Good day!

Tomorrow, we are off to Porto!