Elvas and Evora

| 19-May-2008 |  Today we rolled out of Lisbon at about 7am on the road to Elvas about 180km to the east. As usual, some of the coolest stuff we saw was along the way rather than the actual destination. The road wound through pine forests, vineyards and rural countryside. We stopped at two great sites (Montemor and Evora-monte) in addition to our destinations Elvas and Évora.

The gate inside the walled city of Elvas – where the Crusaders (yes, there were Crusades within Europe) broke through the Muslim defenses and took the city.

Espresso! Finally!  (No comments that this was at the Sissi Bar, please.)

The castle ruins at Montemor.  We ran across this completely by accident and had the entire place to ourselves.

On the castle walls at Montemor.  One major difference between Europe and the US is that in Europe they let you climb all over this stuff, with no railings, fences, or other “protective” devices.  Basically you can do whatever you want, at your own risk… a novel concept!

A typical Portuguese side street. Seriously, EVERY street goes uphill. How does that work?

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