Three days of Riding back to Evora

 While it feels like just yesterday we left Castelo de Vide for three more days of riding.  Monday was a wonderful ride mostly downhill, out of the mountains, to a small town of about 3500 called Alter do Chao.  It's claim to fame is to be home to the Royal stud farm.  They were in the middle of an annual fair/event based around the horses of the region.  I believe the type of horse is the Alter, named after the region in which they have been bred.  The riding was delightful through a couple of small towns, on very quiet roads surrounded by ranches and cork trees.  We wound back and forth over the Grande river - a few small climbs, but overall a steady descent.  The weather warmed as we rode reaching the mid 20s making the final few kilometers very warm.  Along the way we stopped to view a castle that had been renovated into a upscale hotel.  From the front and side, and even upon entering the castle, one could not notice the hotel.  It seemed somewhat incongruous to walk around the side of the castle to see this modern building attached in such a way that the elevations made it all but invisible to the renovated medieval building.  At lunch another side trip took us to see a neolithic burial chamber.  The structure, at the top of a rise, in the middle of a cattle pasture, showed about 10 feet of rock poking out of the ground.  Upon a closer look about 2/3rds of the structure is beneath the ground.  It was possible to enter the structure through an entry cut into the side of the rise - although overgrown with plants a couple did go inside to explore further.  How the rocks were moved and set in the way that they are continues to be a mystery.

In Alter do Choa another castle to explore amid the sounds of the fair happening in the community.  We were staying in one of the nicest hotels that I've experienced in Portugal.  A converted monastery the rooms were large, included a significant balcony, and were very comfortable.  The hotel itself was a bit of a maze but a short walk from the center of town and the castle.

Our penultimate day took us again through the cork and olive forests of the Alentejo.  We rode from Alter do Chao to a rural turismo hotel that was literally in the middle of a working Olive farm.  We had to ride in on gravel driveway about 2 kilometers.  The accommodations were basic (that means we didn't have wifi - or reliable wifi) but the setting was idyllic.  As a working farm there were animals - donkeys, chicken, dogs.  The turismo specializes in hosting weddings during the summer months and we were the very first booking of the season.  Rooms were spread between a number of buildings with a couple being in cottages about a ten minute walk from the main complex.  We were welcomed with drinks and charcuterie on the patio at 5 pm - Sangria that just kept coming, and a delicious selection of meats and cheeses.  We were in bed at nine pm which meant an early rise.  We'd opened the windows during the night and as I sat on the toilet in the early morning was greeting by a sprinkler shooting in the window as the irrigation system came on...I quickly closed the window.

Our final ride seemed to fly by.  It was a relatively flat ride back to the beginning of our trip in Evora.  The temperatures were rising into the mid 30's - unseasonably hot for Portugal in spring time.  But the roads were ideal - quite country roads with little other traffic.  Rolling through fields filled with purple and yellow flowers - the purple was blossoming clover.  We arrived at lunch well ahead of schedule - I suspect we were all ready to being the travels to home or our next destination.  We got to Evora where we settled into the hotel for the night then went for celebratory drinks in the city square.  It's been a great journey.  We've seen and gotten to know a corner of Portugal that we had yet to explore.  We continue to love this country, it's people, history and culture - and are incredibly grateful for the opportunities we have had to explore.