Tuesday 31st May
This blog will be different as I [Ewout] will be writing it. Aren’t you all lucky???
I will set the scene!! I have just come back from a lovely swim in a beautiful pool at the campground, it is about 30C and there are a few clouds in the sky and just a gentle breeze. I’m sitting here just in my shorts having a beer. Jenny is sitting in the shade of the motorhome reading a book. Life is tough here in Europe. I just thought I would rub it in to all of you back in Australia in the cold and wet.
We are currently in Evora which is in the middle of Portugal about a third of the way from the bottom. On Sunday we left El Rocio and headed to the coastal town of Isla Cristina, to stay at a busy but nice campground close to the beach. We had a lazy day and went for a swim at the beach in the late afternoon. For tea Jenny cooked a meal in our new tagine pot that we had bought in Morocco, chicken and vegetables with Moroccan spices. It worked great and the food was excellent. We noticed an English couple at the campsite who had electric bikes and they offered us a try. Jenny was very sceptical about them but when she had a ride she was pleasantly surprised.
On Monday we set off early and headed to another sea side campsite on the coast but when we saw how bad the weather was, raining and windy we decided that we would go north and inland to Evora . It was a long drive [for us in the motorhome] of about 240km and we reached there mid afternoon. We gained an hour as Portugal is on English time 1 hour behind Spain. The campsite here is very quiet and peaceful with mainly Dutch, a few English, an Irish couple and even a few froggies [sorry French] motorhomers and caravans. It is out of season and the people here are mainly retired older types. I feel very young when I look around me.
Today we went to the town of Evora by bus. It was a pleasant town with many churches and museums etc. The highlight for me was the Chapel of Bones which had the bones of 5000 people in it. The place was small and by lunch time we had had enough. After eating a kebab we caught the bus back to the campsite.
Our plans are to work our way north through Portugal for the next week and a half spending some time lazing at a few beaches along the way then through France back to Holland in time to visit some friends there.