Bones and Stones
We are moving slowly these days as the mercury climbs into the 40s. We headed out to Evora once again for a 2nd visit. Our first day there we explored the streets finding the Roman Temple believed to be dedicated to the goddess Diana. Erected in the 2nd or 3rd century AD it sits next to Evora’s cathedral 1186.
We popped in for lunch under the cathedral, Sean enjoyed the Monkfish and rice, Mariah had the chicken, fruit, veg, and pasta salad, mine had prawns and Philippa had bread, lots of bread. But she did go to the counter and order our coffee all in Portuguese and we even got the right amount. Unlike me who gets extra for my imaginary friends.
The 2nd visit was to explore the Chapel of the Bones, see the Fair and head out to the Megaliths. The Chapel of the Bones is a Prayer Chapel that is decorated with human remains. The Catholic church has come in to some Euros and the main church is under major reconstruction. The chapel is also under renovations so we were spared the mummified corpses that usually hang from the ceiling.
Mariah was a bit freaked out by the whole human remains thing. Pippa found it kinda cool.
Tibias, humeri, femurs and skulls all nicely cemented in place with a passage near the door that says they are waiting for ours. Hmm, I wonder how the nightmares will be tonight.
The Fair was on and we thought the girls might want to go on some rides {because everyone wants to spin around in circles when it is 40C}. But they opted out instead just to stroll through the market that was set up. Mariah is a Nutella fan and to her delight there was a stand dedicated to all things Nutella. So the evening was a success and we were not done yet.
Down the road from Evora and on to some private property is the Megaliths. I love going to these sort of spots, as the energy is really tangible. Unlike Stonehenge and Carnac, these ones are a bit out of the way.
It seemed like we were on private property as we made our way to the top of the hill through the cork oak plantation. We arrived to the site as the sun was setting and about 72 hours after the summer solstice, flowers were still at the base of the mother stone. We walked around the up-righted stones and tried to make sense of what it all mean.
We {the girls and I} lied down on one of the stone that had not been up-righted and closed our eyes. I must say it was pretty cool and I could have stayed for a while. But it was getting dark and we had one more stop.
When travelling you don’t always have WiFi, and you can feel like a letch when you find it in a nice café that does and you all site there with your head down in your electronic devices. So a guilt free way to figure out why everyone has a rainbow through their Facebook faces, is to sit and update your news sites and that is why you go to McDonalds. The password “bigmac” will do the job whilst you enjoy a salad and a coffee...
