It is like someone has flipped a weather switch here in Portugal. We rode in short sleeves all day yesterday, we lazed by the pool in the afternoon enjoying a cold post ride recovery beverage and ate dinner outside. Today was a completely different day. Our first rain since the two days on the coast early in the trip. The first day I have had to put on more than a tee shirt first thing in the morning in almost two months.
This weather, cooler and with significant rain, has settled in until after we are back home. The high today was around 20°C but felt cooler to me with the rain and the wind. We optimistically left the hotel in light jackets, tee shirts and shorts. That was just fine for awhile, but then the rain started in earnest. We had just finished climbing the cathedral tower and were enjoying the rooftop views when it started, so we were lucky. We spent much more time than we usually would have admiring the cathedral and museum, waiting for the rain to let up. When it became a mere drizzle, we made a dash for the hotel and our Goretex jackets. By the time we got there I looked like a drowned rat, and our hotel is a mere 600 meters away. I took the hotel hair dryer to my wet hair and we went for a 2 PM lunch at a nearby restaurant.
Lunch was delicious, followed by a little rest in the hotel room. By 4 PM the rain had quit and by 6 PM the sun was briefly out. That is not to last though. The forecast for the next week is abysmal. Absolutely abysmal! Bad enough that over lunch I was suggesting to the CN that a train to Lisbon wouldn’t be a bad thing.
We headed out for a second walk about, and had a fantastic time. The ‘find the Roman aqueduct’ portion was both hilarious and enlightening. We chose to ignore the GPS and walk within the walls, rather than outside them. Inside the walls the aqueduct had housing, derelict and okay, built between the arches. The CN kept saying he couldn’t believe I had dragged him from a blissful nap for this. It really was funny. We definitely got an up close and personal look at the untouristy part of the old town. Then, when we found the part of the aqueduct pictured in the brochures outside the walls, we discovered they have put a giant parking lot all around it. We were in stitches. They obviously photoshop those cars out of the tourist brochures.
Next up on the agenda was the Chapel of Bones. We had seen one in the cathedral in Metz, and I wanted to see this one. It didn’t disappoint and the information given was thoughtful and interesting.
We stopped in Tourist Information to see if there was any useful knowledge about the traffic on the roads ahead. The CN has three possible routes and he isn’t sure which has the least traffic. The info guy had absolutely nothing to say about that, but was a philosopher at heart, had no other customers come in and we spent a good 20 minutes listening to him and learning a great deal about Portugal and it’s politics. At least his view of them. He also talked about the way the world is going with great concern. It was fascinating.
We did a wander through the cemetery. So interesting.
One thing we did decide over lunch was that we will stay in Évora for another night. Tomorrow’s forecast is grim - so is the next day, but we might as well put off the inevitable for as long as possible. We are comfortable and I can do a little window shopping tomorrow. I am saving the real shopping for Lisbon. We went out for a great dinner and it is once more bucketing out there. The bikes have been on our large terrace. Keith just brought them into the room. We are hoping to do a loop from here tomorrow on unloaded bikes. We will see how things look in the morning. The forecast is hopeless!!!!
Keith ClassenTo Rachael AndersonWe have nothing to complain about Rachael. We have had weeks of glorious sunshine and are glad we got to Evora just before the rain came in. We managed to squeeze a late afternoon ride today which was nice. Train to Sintra tomorrow. Reply to this comment 1 year ago
