This is my first Trafalgar tour, and my first experience with rotated seating on the bus. What that means is that on each day, there is a seating chart. With each succeeding day, your assigned seat moves up two rows, and on the 5th day “Best of Portugal” tour it means that Jo Ann Condry and I made it to the front row of the bus! With rotated seating it means everyone will get to the best seats on the bus … eventually.

There are 37 people on the tour (plus our tour director), and unbelievably, there are four of us from Oahu, Hawaii, yet none of us knew each other before now. There is a couple from Ewa Beach, and a woman who lives in Waikiki. About of the third of the group is Canadian, and the bulk of the guests are from the US. I believe one couple is from Australia. There are 9 single ladies and we each get a row to ourselves!

We were surprised that traffic on the highway was next to nothing, but we were told that today is Sunday, when most people are home with their families. Also trucks are forbidden on the highways on Saturdays and Sundays!

Today Pedro told us about Portuguese bullfighting which differs from that in Spain because the Portuguese ride horses to attach the bandarilhas (small spears) in the bull’s back but also and most importantly, the bull is not killed in the arena in front of the people.

From Wikipedia: The forcados are a group of eight men who challenge the bull directly, without any protection or weapon of defense. The front man provokes the bull into a charge to perform a pega de cara or pega de caras (face catch). The front man secures the animal’s head and is quickly aided by his fellows who surround and secure the animal until he is subdued.  Forcados were usually people from lower classes who, to this day, practice their art through amateur associations.

We next stopped in the medieval town of Monsaraz, where they celebrate the running of the bulls through the main street. This village only houses 47 residents so it’s a far cry from Pamplona, Spain, which is famous for its running of the bulls. At the end of the village we climbed the hill to the Castle Keep, which petrified me because of the steep steps and cliff-like walkways with no handrails.

Outside the Castle Keep were several charming stores with samples of their wares displayed to entice you to come in. I also liked seeing so many archways throughout the village.

You can see that as the day progressed, the weather got better. We should be grateful that it’s not unbearably hot, as was expected. Typical temperatures at this time of year are 110° to 120° F., but it’s much cooler at 74° F. However, weather changes quickly and it may hit 90° F. by Thursday.

We briefly stopped at the Menir da Rocha dos Namorados, or “Lovers’ Rock” where young ladies would have to turn their backs and throw small stones to the top of a giant mushroom-like rock with their left hands. If they succeeded in having the stone land on top of the mushroom, it would mean that they would be married within one year. But if they missed, each stone represented one year of waiting. Several in our group tried throwing the stones, and a couple succeeded in landing their stones on the top! However, they are already married.

Our final stop of the day was at Évora, which is known for its Cathedral —the largest medieval Cathedral in Portugal. I was so happy to see a real pipe organ, which dates from the 16th century, and is supported only by two giant pillars. Remarkable also were two statues of the pregnant Virgin.

We next visited the Chapel of Bones, which gets its name because the interior walls are covered and decorated with human skulls and bones. It contains 5000 skulls and bones of poor people who had been buried in common graves.

From a website called “Visit Évora”:

The chapel was built in the 17th century on the initiative of three Franciscan friars. Their goal: to convey the message of temporariness and fragility of human life. This message clearly comes across to visitors of Bones Chapel right at its entrance through the sign “We bones that are here, for yours we wait”. 

Bones and human skulls carefully spread and connected with cement cover the walls in Bones Chapel and its eight pillars. Bricks plastered in white and painted with motives symbolising or referring to death build up the domes. Other than the bones themselves, religious statues and paintings in Renaissance and Baroque styles also decorate Bones Chapel.

Rows of skulls, cornices and white naves ornament the arcades. In total, there are around 5000 human skulls in Bones Chapel, among numerous bones. They all came from graves in the convent church and from other churches and cemeteries in Evora.