Who’s counting? Twenty-two days to go. This far south with still lots to see and do. We don’t want to aim for home yet. Quiver at the thought.
We usually listen to our evening playlists through Beastie’s speakers. A few stops ago I change all that. A couple of young campers with their tent quite close to one of his doors. When you’re outside some tracks can just sound like a ‘thump-thump-thump’. I decide to use our portable blue-tooth speaker instead. Save their angst. Position it on a box which resides on the cabin parcel shelf. The one that runs all the way around and above the windscreen and tucks in behind driver and passenger on both sides. Out of the way, but a good ‘sound’ position. Not sound enough though. Last night I forget to tidy it away. This morning neither of us notice it is still perched. An hour into our journey and I recklessly pull up sharply. Off to the side of the road. Want to take a snap. Holding true to the forces of nature it doesn’t stay put. It could have fallen anywhere. Couldn’t it? Course not. It clonks Mary-Ann right on the bridge of her nose. A Mike Tyson hammer blow completely out of the blue. Just like the air which flies in my direction. Can’t say I blame her on two counts. Ice packs keep the swelling down. No bruising – yet. But it will be a week or so before the broken skin heals. No photies till then, then.
Our one night stop becomes two. Gives us chance to see more than a fleeting glance. Evora, for a small town of about 60,000 has a lot of interest. We start with the ‘old’ Roman temple. Not much left standing, so we move on up to the church between the pillars. Seems they were expecting guests. Not quite ready for us though. Caught in the act. Smoke and mirrors have you believe the pointing is in really good nick
We move on round the back. The Chapel of Bones comes as a surprise. Its entrance motif “We bones that here are, for yours await”. A grim reminder. 5,000 monks’ skeletons cemented together. Create quite a moving scene.
Up and outside we catch sight of this angry guy. Can you blame him? With Portugal’s close connection you’d have thought the least he deserved was a Brazillian.
Inside the Museo do Artesanato e do Design (MADE) we find an interesting collection of almost modern day artefacts. Each display cabinet’s contents generously donated by an individual. Some items dated as early as 1910. Most are from the sixties, seventies and eighties. Typewriters, TVs, telephones, calculators, cameras. All seem so ‘babyish’ in comparison to our hi-tech know it all present day gizmos. All necessary first steps though. It occurs that many of the museum pieces are younger than us. Thoughts and feelings about that don’t leave much room for nostalgia!
