Evora, Portugal, October 23, 2018

I left the hostel at 10 and I have to say I was a little nervous.  Maps.me thought I should go towards the old part of the city and cross Ponte 25 do Abril and I thought I should head away from Lisbon and cross Vasco da Gama.  Upon checking google maps, it agreed with me so that's the way I went.  It was not stressful nor was there much traffic so I had a good trip here.  

My trip so far, starting from Burgos in the top right, down to Lisbon and across to Evora today-

Ponte Vasco da Gama is the second longest bridge in Europe after the Crimean Bridge.  It's 12.3 km long and was built to alleviate congestion on the 25 do Abril Bridge.  It was opened in 1998, just in time for Expo 98,  which celebrated the 500th anniversary of the discovery by Vasco da Gama of the sea route from Europe to India.  

Traffic was light so I was able to take a couple pictures-

The drive was very pleasant, passing through farmland with cattle grazing and many cork trees.  I found the Good Mood Hostel, which is in Evora's old town, without any problem, was checked in and exploring in no time at all.

Evora has a medieval wall-

and it's filled with cobblestoned narrow streets-

and white, white buildings

Of course there are many churches and I didn't visit one-

Shops sell anything imaginable made of cork-

After lunch, I visited the Ervideira wine shop for a tasting.  Their Conde d’Ervideira Branco won a gold medal in international competition in September of this year as one of the best white wines in the world.  It sells for about $15 a bottle.  I tried it and I guess it's all right if you like white wine.  They also sell an 'invisible' wine which is a clear drink but it's made from red grapes.  They remove the skin before the fermentation process begins-

I've spent the afternoon relaxing and tomorrow will explore Almendres Cromlech which is Portugal's Stonehenge and the village of Monsaraz.  I'm enjoying the sunshine!