Elvas to Portalegre (42 miles; 152 total)

Finally getting over my cold. Much improved day of riding.  Our original destination was marvel, a historic hilltop town on the border with Spain. But it was farther, finished with a brutal climb, and I was unsure when I would recover from my cold. Thus Portalegre, a much larger city and still historic and interesting.

Elvas is a hilltop walled city, so the start is rough cobbled streets, finding the gated exit, a coast downhill, then often a steep climb out of the valley. Ture to form today. The finish in Portalegre was the typical 15%+ 1-kilometer uphill to our hotel. Fortunately, before the climb, we stopped for lunch supplies at the Intermarche at the bottom of the hill. 

The hotel lobby is one flight up, large room, courteous reception, several lounges available for guests, and an inner patio exposed to the sun. John found a 4-pack of IPAs at the store, which we cooled in the freezer in the hotel kitchen.

StayInn City, Évora. our hotel.

Daily Street Sweeping. American cities would probably purchase a costly sweeping machine, use it for the entire city, so streets might be swept weekly. Here, they give jobs on people, and they sweep all the streets daily.




John Enters the Convent.

John is slightly ahead of me, stops at the top of a hill, and remarks at the impressively elaborate residence on the rise above us, deciding it is worth a detour. Shortly after he disappears up the road, a van turns onto the highway with 2 small women dressed head-to-toe in black. Now I have to ride up to bail John out of the convent.

Convent

Convent Ground Structure. No idea it's use.



Ranch/Hacienda Sign

Grape Juice Gone Bad.

Across from our hotel

Salmon cooked Portuguese Style. Excellent, quality. John had the tuna, served identically, and both appeared to be sushi-grade. Small boiled potatoes and lightly sautéed ribbons of carrots, zucchini, and onion.

Dog of the Day. Out for evening walks.

Portalegre Tapestry Museum

Thinking the tapestry museum, a recommended "must see" in our guides, would probably close at 5 pm, we arrived a 4:30 and found they were open until 6 pm. We asked for for a "senior-rate" and they laughed. One euro for seniors. Here is a link to their web site. I'll just insert a number of the most impressive examples. Every time we thought we had seen everything, they pointed us to another gallery. Definitely a highlight of our day.













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