Evora & Casa Branca, Portugal
March 29, 2004 - March 30, 2004

Evora is an exceedingly cute little walled town between Lisbon and Spain. It's quite the ordeal to get here, which turned into an adventure in and of itself. First, you'll see 2 pictures of a down-trodden town I ended up in after missing one of my many transfer stops. The first is a public bath house (however abandoned it may be)! Well, after ferry, bus, and 2 trains, I arrived in Evora way past dark - close to midnight. I went to the youth hostel, but it was CLOSED for renovations! Haha! So, I'm in this little town at midnight, can't speak the language, and have nowhere to stay. I approached a police man, who luckily spoke enough French to communicate, and guide me to a hotel. I don't know if I found the one he recommended, but I found one. After that, I still wanted to explore the town at night (I always recommend exploring a place at night if you can. It's often much different). So that explains these pictures:



Portugal has nice trains considering its poorer economy


Public bath






Evora




I'm not sure about the history, but there was a lot of Roman influence in this part of Portugal, which may explain these ruins.








This was my room in the hotel.  Don't let the sink and bidet fool you.  There was no running water.






The common bathroom down the hal




Basilica Cathedral






Apparently the Brits have had a hand in this town...








Ooooooooo!!!! The chapel of BONES!!! These are real human bones that this chapel is made of! 
The smell was rough going.  I think they had to wash everything in some sort of formaldehyde paint... Yuck!










Roman aqueduct running right through town!


Bull fight poster!






So I'm in Casa Branca, the station I missed the day before on my way out. I get out of the train, and decide I'll wander, and take some pictures of this charming "town". Well, see that train in the picture below? That is my connecting train. I thought I had plenty of time to connect to Lisbon, so I took a picture of this "random" train on its approach. Then, just as easily, it pulled out of the station. A moment later I realized I just MISSED my train! So here is what I did for the next 3 hours in Casa Branca...




I played my Ukulele for these cows, which seemed to really draw their attention.



OK... first use... and notice the irksome lack of TP? This was my first practice for India!  
DOUBLE yuk!!






A guy had a flock of pigeons he started to fly at sunset






I had sort of grown attached to Casa Branca by now






Local trains aren't as nice as the national trains