Leisurely breakfast in the sunshine on the patio this morning- accompanied by the hotel cat meowing loudly- obviously they are used to tourists slipping them rashers of bacon.  Little did they know that hard as nails Hax was impenetrable. 

Set off towards Evora round 10 with a 350km drive ahead of us. First was back tracking to Lagos through the endless parade of roundabouts- after that it was divided highway pretty much the whole way- uninteresting but fast. Countryside mostly farmland- olive groves and some sort of fruit orchards which were in full pink blossom. There were vast green paddocks but no animals in sight so not sure what was being farmed.

Reached the outskirts of Evora round 1pm marvelling at what an easy drive it had been – then we arrived at the city gates…….

Evora is a UNESCO world heritage city in west Portugal not too far from the Spanish border.  It is considered the most in tact UNESCO site in the world. The city remains surrounded by the high city wall inside of which is a labyrinth of extremely narrow cobblestone streets,- and therein laid the rub! Our GPS sent us on a circuitous route (we later concluded this was probably due to poor signal between the stone buildings).  The narrow streets put David’s spatial skills to the absolute test. We literally crawled along holding our breath hoping it would make the car thinner. In a couple of streets if we’d stopped we wouldn’t have been able to open outlet doors. None the less we arrived at the hotel unscathed and very glad to park the car knowing we’d be on foot the next couple of days.

some snippets from our first walk…..

Our hotel, Albergaria do Calvara is just beautiful, built inside a 16th century olive oil mill.  It only has 20 rooms and lots of beautiful shared spaces. It’s the perfect  place to relax and slow down  our pace for a couple of days. 

We have a walking tour tomorrow and can’t wait to learn more about the history. 

Late night addendum: just got back from dinner followed by an evening walk. Streets surprisingly quiet but even more ambiance in the night lights.

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