Évora

We leave Fatima at 8AM and head south about two hours then east about 15 minutes to Évora. Évora is the capital of Portugal's south-central Alentejo region.

Évora has a well-preserved old town center, still partially enclosed by medieval walls, and many monuments dating from various historical periods, including a Roman Temple, and Roman aqueduct, it has been an UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1986.

We meet our guide and begin our walking tour of the city. It's another university town and hazing is underway.

We stop briefly outside the Cathedral of Évora (Portuguese: Catedral de Évora): Mainly built between 1280 and 1340, it is one of the most important gothic monuments of Portugal. The cathedral has a notable main portal with statues of the Apostles (around 1335) and a beautiful nave and cloister. One transept chapel is Manueline and the outstanding main chapel is Baroque. The pipe organ and choir stalls are renaissance (around 1566).
Mass is going on so we can't look inside.

The Portuguese Rooster

We see lots of roosters around Portugal. And learn the meaning from our EF Go Ahead guide, Richard. The Portuguese rooster symbol, known as the Galo de Barcelos, is a popular emblem of Portugal that symbolizes good luck, faith, justice, and honor.

It originates from a legend about a Spanish pilgrim wrongly accused of theft who was saved from execution when a roasted rooster crowed to prove his innocence. Today, this colorful rooster is displayed in homes for good fortune and is recognized internationally as an icon of Portuguese culture and craftsmanship.

Next we visit Capel do Ossos (Chapel of Bones).

The Chapel of Bones is part of the larger Royal Church of St. Francis, and was constructed by Franciscan monks in the late 16th century.

By the 16th century, there were as many as 43 cemeteries in and around Évora that were taking up valuable land. Not wanting to condemn the souls of the people buried there, the monks decided to build the Chapel and relocate the bones.

However, rather than interring the bones behind closed doors, the monks, who were concerned about society's values at the time, thought it best to put them on display. They thought this would provide Évora, a town noted for its wealth in the early 1600s, with a helpful place to meditate on the transience of material things in the undeniable presence of death.

There are some 5,000 corpses in this chapel. Including two desiccated corpses in glass display cases.

Note the thought-provoking message above the chapel door: "Nós ossos que aqui estamos, pelos vossos esperamos," or: "We bones, are here, waiting for yours."

After that solemn visit we scatter for lunch. Jay and I found a brewery off a side street and pop in to sample their Stout.

Not bad and nice motto!

We meet in the square and head back up the hill to the Roman Temple to meet the bus for our next adventure but...

Remember that hazing thing... well all the students are gathering to blow off some stream, which is cool except they've blocked our bus's escape route out of town.

Yup, our bus is going nowhere, fast.

The police arrive and Nuno expertly backs the bus down a narrow street so we can escape the students fun afternoon and head to a Cork Factory.

We're a bit late but the factory guide practices his stand up routine for us with a smile.

We learn where cork trees come from and how the bark is prepared.

It's a labor intensive industry.

And they don't just make corks for wine, anything that can be made of cloth can pretty much be made out of cork. They make furniture, flooring, jewelry...just about anything.