Our first Megalithic Sites!

 

Hola!

I was reminded this morning (thank you, Stew!) that I failed to mention that we had a lovely bottle of local red wine last night with dinner; I think Robert said it was about 20€.  Just to set the matter straight!

A cork tree!

Heading to the menhir

It's beautiful!

Interesting site description

These are beautiful standing stones!

 

HUGE pigs!

Looks like the pigs who eat the acorns in the fields!

Entrance to the Dolmen

Inside the burial chamber

Looking down into the dolmen from above

Aqueduct

Looked like a nice cow ... with horns!

Me with mill stone!

In Bistro Barao (note walls!)

Cod appetizer

Mushroom appetizer with melted cheese

Amazing steak with veggies

Pumpkin and Almond cakes

Up this morning about 7 am and I am thinking (knock wood!) that just possibly we are now back on schedule and jet-lag free!  Very quiet night, and our terrace was wet, so it looked like it rained in the night rather than holding off until Tuesday, which was the forecast.  However, as we headed down to breakfast, it looked like the band of rain was passing, with just the hint of blue sky to the east.  

The breakfast room is lovely, with white tablecloths everywhere, and lighted candles.  (In fact, the entire lobby and bar area was candlelit when we got back last night, and it looked really beautiful!)  The food choices for breakfast were plentiful and excellent.  We first filled up our plates with homemade pastries and wonderful tomatoes and cheeses, only to find once we sat down that many different styles of eggs, as well as bacon, sausage, and pancakes with syrup were available as well!  I ordered scrambled eggs with bacon, and R ordered just the bacon.  Everything was really delicious!  A very satisfying breakfast!

By 9 am we had collected all of our various bits and pieces – two Portugal guide books, umbrellas, the Spain/Portugal atlas, as well as various individual sheets of information about what we wanted to see this morning.  Evora claims to be the capital of the Iberian megalithic, and local sights to see included menhirs and dolmen.

Our first visit was to the solitary standing stone of Monte dos Almendres menhir, which we had entirely to ourselves.  This individual oval-shaped rock is characteristic of the menhirs in the Evora area and was about 10 feet tall.  To get to it from the small parking area, we literally had to walk between two fields – being careful of any barbed wire.  As Robert and I talked about, I definitely wanted to see some of these places when it WASN’T raining, as I’m not sure how easy it would be to navigate in the rain.  This particular menhir lines up with the cromlech – our next stop – at sunrise on the summer solstice.  A beautiful stone!

From there, we drove to the Cromeleque dos Almendres down a rutted dirt path stretching out through a cork forest.  Neither of us have ever seen a cork forest before, and this one was quite interesting.  Not sure how good harvesting the cork is for the trees, but apparently, they can regenerate the cork up to 100 years!  We have read that about 50% of the cork used on the planet comes from this part of Portugal. Beautiful trees!

The Cromlech of the Almendres contains between 92 and 95 huge stones, arranged in several circles.  I am now quoting from that ever-always-correct Wikipedia to talk about them:

“The excavation of the site unearthed a series of both megalithic and Neolithic construction phases; Almendres I 6000 BC (Early Neolithic), Almendres II 5000 BC (Middle Neolithic) and Almendres III 4000 BC (Late Neolithic).  The relative chronology of the cromlech and menhirs is extremely complex and covers a period from the Neolithic to Chalcolithic.  It is believed that the monument either had a religious/ceremonial purpose or functioned as a primitive astronomical observatory.”  There were several people there ahead of us, but the site was large enough to accommodate everybody.  Really something to see, and alleged to be 2000 years older than Stonehenge. Trying to imagine how an ancient civilization moved these huge rocks without the benefit of today’s technology is difficult!  Also consider that people worked on this monument over a span of over 2000 years.

From here, we headed to the large Zambujeiro Dolmen, just a couple of miles away.  Dolmens are collective funereal monuments that correspond generally to the second phase of regional megalithism; they were built for the most part at the end of the Neolithic, less than six thousand years ago.  In this particular case, the dolmen is the largest ever discovered in Portugal.  It is comprised of eight standing stones which lean inwards to form the 8m high funeral chamber, with a six-meter diameter.  When excavated in the 1960’s, weapons, ceramics, gold and ivory jewelry, as well as 30 male skeletons had all been buried there over several generations.  (Alas, the excavators of the 1960’s used dynamite to remove the cap stone.  How’s that for scientific technique?)

We had the dolmen all to ourselves, which was lovely – or not exactly to ourselves, as there was a herd of cattle grazing around us.  Fortunately, they seem to be more intimidated by us than we were of them!  Also, along the way, we encountered a field of pigs! Big, big pigs!  Makes me feel guilty for all the ham I have been eating (but not that guilty!).

By now it was well after 1 pm and we were thinking about a quick lunch.  Also thinking about where to find glue (for Robert to make a small repair on the camera) and a new Spain/Portugal atlas, as the one we’re using dates from 2002.  Found two out of three – food at McDonald’s and glue at Jumbo and decided it was time to head back to Evora for naps.  We hopefully have reservations at Bistro Barao tonight, and even though they actually OPEN at 6:30 pm, we still want to be rested up.

Back to our lovely hotel and dropped the car off.  We are told there is a book shop in town which may carry an atlas, which we will hit tomorrow.  We will also use tomorrow (which is forecast to be rainy) to see the Roman baths and the Roman temple in Evora, as well as the Cathedral and university.

So – will close until after dinner!

Much love,

m

xxx

Back from dinner, and seriously – it was sublime!  One of the bestmeals we have ever had ever! I am including my Tripadvisor review.  Seriously, we have travelled all over the world, and Bistro Barao is truly unique; one of the best eating experiences we have ever had anywhere! The Bistro is a very small place, but the food there is incredible. I cannot find adjectives to describe what a wonderful experience this was!  The walls are covered with the rave reviews of previous patrons and they do not exaggerate! 

Miquel presented us with their very thinly sliced cod (in olive oil with garlic) appetizer.  I am not a fish person, but my husband encouraged me to try it.  Well ... I was blown away!  This was one of the most tasti-full appetizers I have ever had!  Not a bit fishy, but just delicious.  We followed that with mushrooms stuffed with melted cheese. Again, amazing!  Then, we both ordered their beef tenderloins, cooked rare. Wow!  Perfectly cooked and beautifully presented on a slate plate with asparagus, grilled tomato, grilled (jalapeño?) pepper and what I think was some sort of squash. Suffice to say that every single thing on the plate quickly disappeared.  Dessert -- two cakes, one of pumpkin and the other of almond, also vanished quickly.  The local wine with dinner was amazing, and we relied on Miquel's recommendations throughout.  We have also booked our same table for tomorrow night!  This tiny bistro would make returning to Portugal just to experience Marguerite's cooking worthwhile!  Incredible meal!

Beautiful little restaurant; five tables, holding 12 people maximum!  As Robert says, he will definitely want to duplicate tonight’s menu again tomorrow, but I’m thinking I’d like to try some different things.  My feeling is that whatever comes out of Marguerite’s kitchen is amazing; we shall see!

Lots of love,

m

xxx