Corval was run down, but had a handful of pottery shops with their workspace attached. We picked up a bird and chicken magnet piece of pottery. They did not speak English and one of the sellers said, "mas pequeno" while holding the 20 euro bill I gave her. From my very limited spanish experience, I was able to decipher her words. 5 years of Spanish was made worth it!
Just a few minutes out of Corval and we were able to see the big hill/small mountain containing Monsraz, inside its castle walls.
We parked the car to find a horse grazing right outside the walls, below the parking lot. We walked up the sides and approached the castle, to find a film crew and what appeared to be a cooking competition.
Inside the town, we went straight toward the castle. We were able to climb right up to the top of the walls. It was an amazing view. Then, we just sat there for a while. Miles didn't want to leave. I couldn't blame him. In the view from the castle top, below, midway through the river is Spain.
We walked along the outer walls and enjoyed the view and then found a small place to eat in town. The man who ran the place was not particularly nice. Shrug.
On our way back from Monsaraz, I started pondering my upcoming and past trips, and their goals. I think that having a goal is wise when considering going away. Up until now, I guess I have had some general ideas, but not a specific purpose. I went to Italy without a goal. I just wanted to see cool, new things. Cinque Terre, with its scenic hikes looked amazing. The other 3 were just typical hotspots in Italy. I enjoyed half of the locations. This trip was designed with a few things in mind. 1. I wanted a place that had a shortish flight to Europe, as it would be Miles' first trip abroad and wanted to make it as easy to handle as possible. 2. I wanted the south of Europe, for the warmer temperature relative to the rest of Europe. Living in Florida has made me much more susceptible to being bothered by the cold than it was when I lived in New Jersey or Albany. 3. I wanted to pick some activities and places that would appeal to Miles. Castles and a chocolate festival fit this goal, with another mini surprise activity coming. I don't want it to be spoiled for him in case he reads this right now.
As I mentioned previously, I was disappointed by life in Evora, based on my expectations. Of course, google can only give so much information, and if you aren't very specific in your searches, you may not get the answers you seek. My upcoming France and Belgium trip have slightly different goals, with some of the same. Miles will be coming again, and this was actually planned to be his first European trip. So, again, I picked relatively shorter plane flights, and south, at first, for warmer weather. We are again going to some small towns, with some small cities as well. However, outside of Carcassonne, and Ghent's castle, there are no more medieval feeling towns with walls, etc. A little more hiking, a little more wilderness are involved, with Paris, the biggest city we'd be visiting thus far. I might have mentioned it before, but I try to stay away from huge cities. Being near a huge city(NYC) growing up, they just don't appeal to me that much. More Roman ruins, which is always cool, and finishing the trip in the relaxing and supposedly serene location of Bruges. Canals, boat rides, and the ability to rent a bike to cycle to a nearby town.
My final trip to the summer, Japan, has me exploring more into culture, as well as the simple life, than my other trips. Monk retreats, mountains with rope bridges, hikes from town to town, and just observing what I hope to be a much more rural lifestyle. Japan, being Japan itself, is always a bit weird compared to anything in the west to begin with.
So, that leaves Germany(I hope to do another 10 or so day trip around Thanksgiving, but that depends on my partner's schedule. If she is free, I'd like to do Peru and Macchu Picchu. So, what is Germany about? It isn't booked in any piece yet, while the others are. I had originally planned a ton of medieval towns and a bunch of hikes and a handful of castles. I am considering scaling back the medieval towns and exploring more of the Black Forest hiking, and expanding further south to Neuschwanstein Castle, which is one of the most famous in the world. It was the castle that Disney's Sleeping Beauty was modeled after. We could get the hospitality and small town atmosphere in the smaller hiking towns in the Black Forest, see some of the best castles, like Lichtenstein Castle, Hohenzollern Castle, and the previously mentioned castle. Hiking in a famous foorest and seeing some of the most exquisite castles in the world seems like a decent goal. By the end of the year, I expect to have a completely different viewpoint of what makes a vacation enjoyable to me.
After arriving back at our hotel, and writing the blog right up until then, we headed back out into Evora. This time, things were different. There were more people and more shops open. Then it dawned one me. Yesterday was Sunday, and maybe everyone was home. Perhaps only a handful of people actually live inside the walls. Maybe I will ask the front desk.
Our objective was to see the last major site of Evora, the cathedral. We were able to go up into the tower, which led to the roof. The view was spectacular.
We walked around the cloisters and inside and then quickly stopped by the roman baths in town. It was actually one roman bath uncovered, and displayed in the middle of...a wifi cafe. Truly sad. Anyhow, we are back in the room. We will be going out to dinner and then returning to the hotel, to play some boardgames in the lobby. Tomorrow morning, before we leave, we are getting a guided tour of the local megaliths before leaving for Sintra.
Miles' camera battery died again today, which means that either his battery is weak, he is taking too many photos, or a combination of both. Getting him out of the room is hard, but getting him to walk away from seeing anything and taking a million pictures, is just as hard.
For more pics- https://www.flickr.com/gp/13109399@N07/UX5U8R
No comments:
Post a Comment