With the help of another rental-car-for-a-day, I got to check out a slew of beautiful sights in the region around Évora. My first stop was the RIDICULOUSLY picturesque, mountain-top, walled town of Monsaraz.
I mean, seriously.
The view from town--out over Lake Alqueva to Spain, in the distance--was also glorious.
As were the skies and bucolic scenery as I headed north toward Redondo...
...and its cork forests. I had no idea until recently that more than half of the world's cork is produced in this region of Portugal. Though once you're in Portugal, you know something is going on, because you can't swing a stick without it hitting--and then bouncing, very gently, no damage done--off of something made of cork. (Even the seats on the subway in Lisbon are made partly of cork.) It was very cool to see so clearly where it comes from; also, the trees themselves are just beautiful.
I had a lovely lunch stop in the picturesque town of Vila Viçosa, its lovely main square lined with orange trees.
And then my final stop of the day was to see the monoliths of Almendres Cromlech, a neolithic-era monument sitting in yet another cork forest.
Loving, as always, the beautiful surprises of travel.
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