Portugal Part 2

    When we arrived in the old walls of Èvora, we were excited to see that this town was really small and quaint. Our hotel was really old and had the sweetest lady running it. We walked in to the center of town where there was a bonfire in the middle of a plaza with people warming themselves around it (how random to find in the center of town!) and then models of Christmas trees made out of different materials. It was definitely a little different that what I would have expected. Èvora is famous for its cork so I bought a bracelet from one of the shops made of cork. We had some drinks at a local bar and then went to a restaurant that was recommended by the lady in the hotel and had tapas style food. The next day (Christmas Eve), we got up early to go to a very exciting place... the Capela dos Ossos (Chapel of Bones!). This was extremely cool. It was built by some monks out of over 100 bodies. It was creepy being surrounded by so many skulls and bones in what was supposed to be a holy place. After the Chapel of Bones we walked around town seeing an outdoor market and some Roman Temple Ruins, and then headed out to Sevilla.

      When my family and I arrived in my city of Sevilla, we dropped off all our bags (which by this point included Craig's bag too) and went through hell finding parking, but then went to go eat at 100 Mondatidos. This is basically the only “fast food” restaurant in town where they make you mini-sandwiches for cheap. We went to the grocery store to get food for the next few days and then returned to my apartment to eat some of our Èvoran cheese and bread we had bought at the market and then went out for a walk at night around the city center and along the river. On Christmas Day, we walked around the neighborhood of Santa Cruz and then had some typical Spanish tapas. We went to visit Plaza de España which my family loved and then back to my apartment to start our Christmas dinner or pork tenderloin and mashed potatoes. After dinner, we went to this place called La Carboneria where they preform free flamenco dancing as you drink and watch. It was impressive how many people were out on Christmas night, but I guess here in Spain, Christmas Eve is more important to them. The next day we went to the Alameda neighborhood for lunch at my favorite restaurant and then to the cathedral of Sevilla which is the biggest gothic cathedral in the world. It had some pretty impressive views at the top.

Christmas Trees in Evora

Mom reading us history about Evora

Yummmm

Chapel of Bones

Chapel of Bones

Roman Ruins in Evora

Dad at La Carbonera on Christmas (Sevilla)

Christmas

View from our hotel in Lagoa, Portugal

Sunset in Algar Seco

Algar Seco

Craig exploring Algar Seco

Salema

Cape Sagres

Cape Sagres

      After our stay in Sevilla, we left Spain to drive along the south of Portugal in the area called the Algarve region. We stopped first in Tavira where we ate lunch. The lunch consisted of a Portuguese specialty of scrambled eggs, onions, potatoes, and cod. I liked it, but I don't think the rest of the family enjoyed it that much. We then went to Salema where we walked along the beach of the Mediterranean Sea and there were big rocks to climb on and it was beautiful. It was a very quiet town. We enjoyed the drive through the Algarve and then arrived at our RESORT in Lagoa. It was a 5 minute walk from the cliffs of the sea with an amazing view. This was actually our cheapest hotel and we were in a big apartment resort. It wasn't even that cold outside considering it was the end of December! After seeing the lookout by our resort, we went on a wild goose chase trying to find this pretty place I saw on a brochure at the resort. We ended up finding it. It was called the Algar Seco and it was soooo beautiful. We watched the sunset over the Mediterranean and hiked a little bit down in the coves made by the water. We grabbed some pizza and headed back to our room for the evening. The next day we went to Cape Sagres, which is the most southwestern tip of Europe. It was also very beautiful, and we also saw octopus pots there which my Mom really wanted to see. They are pots that octopus go into to hide, but then fisherman reel them in. We had lunch at a really good restaurant and then went back to Lisbon where we went out to eat and said our goodbyes, because the next morning my family left very early and then I took a bus back to Sevilla. It was a great trip and it was fun to experience a new country!