Day 26 - Évora

# Pasteis de Nata: 2, Distance Walked: 10.6km, # Floors Climbed: 33

This morning I had organised to take a 3 hour tour of various neolithic monuments in the local area.  I had booked this some months ago with a local company headed by an archeologist.  They run tours with a minimum of 3 people and a maximum of 8.  At the time I booked I was the only person interested so I agreed to pay the price of 3 people.  It was only 30 euro a head so it wasn't too expensive.  I didn't hear anything more from them as time went on, so I assumed I would be having a solo tour.

I was told to go to an area on the edge of the old town, which was easily accessible by cars, and to look for a grey van with the company logo on it.  I got to the spot early and waited.  Eventually a dark green van with no logos showed up and a young woman got out.  Various other people who had been waiting went over to her.  Obviously being picked up for a tour.  I continued to wait.  Eventually the woman came over to me and asked if I was Barbara.  It turns out she had got fully booked for the tour and her regular van was being repaired.  It would have been helpful if she'd let me know.

Anyway, we all piled into the van and off we went to visit 3 different sites.  I thought she was an excellent tour guide, if perhaps a little disorganised when it comes to administrivia.  I found it absolutely fascinating how you could draw all sorts of conclusions about how a society is structured just from a bunch of stones standing in a field.

There are over 600 dolmen (stone burial chambers) in the Alentejo region alone.  Almost all of them (95%+) face east-ish.  But a particular version of east-ish.  They face the point where the full moon rises for the first time after the spring equinox.  Determining this direction takes daily measurements over 40+ years.  Sira happily talked about what this teaches us about neolithic society for a good 30 minutes.  I was enthralled.  Perhaps some of my fellow tourist were not, but I might start reading more about archeology and how they come to the conclusions they do.  There is a lot of science behind it.

After visiting the 3 sites we had to make a detour to the company offices.  One person hadn't read their instructions and hadn't brought cash to pay for the tour and wanted to pay by card.  It turned out well for the company as many of us also brought souvenirs from their shop.  I got a t-shirt of course.

When we finally got back to Évora it was close to 2pm.  We had been supposed to get back by 1pm.  This would have been OK but a lot of restaurants shut from 2pm or 2:30pm and don't open again until dinner time.  For lunch I tried an Italian place near my hotel which stays open until 2:30pm.  However, even though I'd got there a bit before 2pm and the place was half empty they claimed they had no free tables.  

I ended up at a bakery which stays open all day (shutting at 6pm) and which also serves light meals.  I had a very Good mushroom omelette with a side salad.  I tried their molotof cake for dessert as I'd never heard of it.  It turns out to be a meringue that has been baked in a bain marie so it has the texture of a marshmallow.  It is then coated in a caramel sauce and sprinkled with nuts.  It was Interesting.

I had a bunch of other sites to visit but I decided to make my next visit to be to a pastry shop that had been recommended.  It was definitely a place for locals, not tourists.  Only one of the people there spoke a few words of English and everyone - staff and customers, besides me, was a local.  The pastry I picked at random (since we didn't have enough common language get explanations) was sadly Dull but their coffee was good.

As it was a very hot day (36C) and my pastry had been disappointing, my next stop was a gelateria.  I had pistachio and zabaglione.  It was very Good.

I then thought I really should do some sightseeing and headed to the cathedral.  On the way, I met an American man who had been on the tour that morning.  I feel no guilt about not remembering his name as I don't think I was ever told what it was.  We visited the tower (fabulous views), the cloister and the cathedral itself.  In the cathedral there was a very bored priest sitting in one of the side chapels, on the off chance someone wanted to make a confession.  He was passing the time by twisting side to side on his swivel chair.  

My American friend wanted to visit the cathedral museum but I gave it miss and we parted ways.  I decided to get a drink and sit in a park and read a book.  There was a kiosk in the park next to the Roman temple which seemed ideal.

When I got to the park I ran into an Irish-Australian woman, Liz, who had also been on the tour.  We had a drink together.  She was in her 70s I'd guess.  Before Covid she and her husband travelled a lot but his health isn't good enough to handle long-haul flights now.  She was easy to talk to.  Mainly because she did most of the talking.  I just needed to be an interested audience.  I think this is the first time she has travelled on her own and she seemed a bit lonely.

Eventually, we decided to both head to our hotels for a rest and a wash before dinner.  I hadn't enjoyed her company enough to invite her to join me for dinner, so I just heartlessly said goodbye.

For dinner I wasn't interested in trying the place that snubbed me at lunch time, so I picked another Italian place nearby - the Buona Forchetta.  This turned out to be a good choice.

It was a tiny place.  Only enough seating for 14 people inside and perhaps that many again outside.  A couple run the restaurant, Sofia and Sergio.  Both work front of house.  In spite of having 2 waiters for such a small restaurant, service was interesting.  Even though I was the first person to order, my table was the 4th to get served.  It took almost 45 minutes.  Sofia was deeply apologetic and kept saying it was coming soon but there had been a problem.  I suspect the problem was someone forgot my order.  I had the spaghetti alla carbonara which was Absolutely Delicious and the tiramisu which was the same so all is forgiven.  After all, it isn't as if I'm in a hurry.

While I was there an American family arrived.  Mother, father and 2 adult sons.  They treated the menu as a starting point.  One son tried to order one of the pasta dishes but with added chicken.  When he was told they had no chicken, he tried to get steak added to it.  When that was a no go, he tried to order a particular shape of pasta but with a different sauce to the one on the menu.  Mum and Dad ordered pizzas without one particular topping but we a different one added.  Dad also kept trying to order drinks that weren't on the menu.  It was a tiny place.  Couldn't they see what was on the menu was all the place had?

I'm pleased to say the chef refused to make the wrong pasta shape with the wrong sauce, but they did get their chosen pizzas.  I'd be curious to know how this family would fare at the restaurant I went to last night.  Would the chef enjoy trying to craft something just for them that would suit their tastes or would he be offended that they didn't want the dishes he had carefully designed?  It would be interesting to be a fly on the wall to that encounter.