CHAPTER 7. PORTUGAL CONT.

It is then on thru cork oak forests, and some open ploughed fields with a few cork oak trees, to Evora. En route we see trucks loaded with the cork oak bark on their way to processing plants.

Even without reservations we are able to get a very nice, but small, room in the Evora Pousada, a remodeled 15th century convent adjacent to the cathedral. The dining room has excellent food and a pretty view of the interior court.

The nearby 2nd century Roman Temple of Diane is said to be in the best condition of any in Portugal. Evora was a Roman town, and also shows evidence in its architecture of its long occupation by the Moors.

After a drive over twisting mountain roads in dark and heavy rains we stay the next night in the Pousada at São Braz del Portel. From there it is a short trip to Monte Gordo on the Algarve beach.

Betty had read of the Albergaria Monte Gordo in the International Travel News, and we are able to get a room for five nights, although they would only promise two nights at a time. The room is on the second floor with a balcony overlooking the beach and the Bay of Cadiz.

The hotel is full, and caters to tours from Britain. The restaurant has excellent fresh fish meals. On Friday there is a fun dance and sing-along in the bar. The Brits are very friendly and easy to talk to. The beach in front of the hotel has a colorful fleet of fishing dories that are almost as picturesque as they were once at Nazaré. Here the boats are pulled from the water by a tractor. There is rain all one day and still the boats are out working.

The beach, other than where the boats are, has lines of poles with canvases to provide wind breaks. It is fairly cool in October, but with the least bit of sunshine the Brits are out in bathing suits on the beach.

At Monte Gordo we rest a lot and make short trips to supermarkets for snack materials and to pick up the Herald Tribune which we read throughout Europe. We normally eat breakfast in our hotels, our main meal in a restaurant, and a snack in our room or on the road for the secondary meal, finding that one menu a day is all we want.

We like Monte Gordo and its wide flat beach at the eastern end of the Algarve. Leaving it to drive west the beaches are mostly close to the base of a cliff. At the extreme western end there are no beaches and high cliffs arise from the blue water.

We take three days going to Lisbon, staying at Praia Da Rocha the first night after seeing harbors and much new building along the way. The second day we continue west and see cliffs and rocks carved by the ocean at Ponta de Piedade and then 300 foot sheer cliffs above the ocean at Cabo de São Vicente. At Sagras we have a very good lunch at the Hotel Baleeira where the dining room overlooks a beautiful fishing harbor. we drive north thru rain to Santiago where we first try the Pousada, but go on to the Gabriel Hotel for a larger room at a much lower price.

The trip ends in Lisbon with two days at the Eduardo VII Hotel, with its 10th floor restaurant giving good views over the city. We are able to return the Avis rental car at the Sheraton Hotel four blocks away. The TWA office is nearby where we reconfirm our flight and get boarding passes. The remainder of the two days is spent resting, Betty having her hair washed and blow dried, and generally getting ready for the long hard day of the flight home.















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