Renovation Project - Evora and the chapel of bones!

Renovation Project - Evora and the chapel of bones!

The journey continues to Evora, we have only booked one night here and it is at an Ibis hotel, we find out there are 2 Ibis hotels and luckily we pick the right one on the sat nav.

We find this out by John pulling up and me asking at reception in what can only be described as a mixture of French, Spanish and English, visiting a few countries introduces you to a whole new language where at least one in every 4 words is almost correct!

The receptionist is fantastic and speaks excellent English, this is something we find in Portugal over and over again, most people have a really good grasp of English, it really does make us feel more than a little bit ignorant!

We have come to Evora to visit the chapel of bones and to see the well with all the steps to the bottom, we have no idea what else to expect and the receptionist at the hotel gives us a map with all of the main attractions, which are in a small area.

We expect the chapel of bones to be really eerie and creepy but it isn’t, it is so peaceful, it really is a strange experience though, as every wall is covered in bones and skulls, these are apparently from all of the townsfolk from a particular era.

We spend some time wandering around and reading the poems around the room, there is a magnificent altar and the whole experience leaves you feeling calm, it is the total opposite of what you would expect.

The town itself is surrounded by the old walls and it is almost like a living museum piece, we visit the old roman ruins (which date back to the first century).

We walk around the town seeing the old walls, the cobbled streets; the church’s and the cathedral, everywhere you look you see some sort of historical building or monument. The place is truly unspoilt and steeped in so much history from so many different centuries.

We go to the main square for some dinner and the food is amazing I have dry salt cod stew, there is enough for both me and John, the portions are certainly not on the dainty side!

The staff are extremely friendly and we get talking about the festival we are going to tomorrow in Lisbon and the waitress explains that there is a bar that will have live music on later tonight. We head over to the Roman ruins, to watch the sunset before going to find the bar.

When we arrive at the bar there is a doorman on duty and he gives us a credit card before we enter, we have no idea what this is for, we order our drinks and the bar man takes down the number of the card. I have a gin fizz, I have never had a gin fizz like this, I am given the option of ginger or coriander!!! I choose coriander and it is soooo nice, it is one of the most refreshing drinks I have ever had and if it hadn’t had a hell of a lot of gin in it, I may have drank it all night!

We do notice that a lot of people talk to the door man and then change their mind about coming in, a little bit of panic sets in and we begin to think maybe we should’ve asked what the cards were for (have we entered the twilight zone? is it a swingers bar?) we ask what time the band is going to start and we’re told not till midnight, it is only 10.30pm so we decide not to bother waiting as we have a long day tomorrow, we go to pay for the drinks and the bill is almost Euro’s 20 for 2 drinks!!!! Now we know what the card is for! You have the card to pay for the entertainment, we explain that we are not staying for the entertainment and after a short discussion we are just charged for our drinks. So big piece of advice you if don’t understand something ask about it!!!!!!!

It is now dark and we realise we have absolutely no idea which way our hotel is; we have the little map and still can’t find our way! We do however see a police officer who kindly points us in the right direction.

We never did find the well with all of the steps, but you can’t see everything in a day (we find out later in the week that we would’ve never found the well as it is in Sintra and not Evora!).