This morning we stopped at a cork tree grove and our tour group leader, Pedro, warned us that there were land mines in the field. I was a little worried that Trafalgar would put its guests in danger, but as we learned, the cattle grazed among the cork trees only a few minutes before our arrival.

“Beware of land mines!” Pedro told us over and over again.

Cork is a major industry here in Portugal, but it’s definitely a long-term investment. The tree is planted and the first harvest occurs 29 years afterwards but is discarded because it’s no good. Even the second harvest nine years later is discarded, and it’s not until the third harvest almost 40 years after planting can the bark of the tree be cut off and made into wine stoppers, coin purses, bookmarks, and many other products. Trees are only harvested every nine years, and can never be cut down because they are protected. The trees are then marked with a number showing what year the tree was harvested.

Only the bottom part of the tree bark is harvested.

We then drove to Castelo de Vide where we had a boleima, a pastry inspired by the Sephardic Jews and made of unleavened dough with an apple filling, cinnamon and sugar sprinkled on top. It was delicious!

We were given a few minutes to walk around the town, and found a nearby church. We are finding that nearly all of these churches either have very small pipe organs, or electronic instruments—very disappointing! This church in Castelo de Vidw, however, had a pump organ which was no longer used.

After driving nearly all day, we arrived at our hotel in Viseu, near the main square. We dropped off our luggage and went on a small walking tour of Cathedral Square. Unfortunately we did not go inside. The church started being built in the 12th century and is a mix of architectural styles.

Right across the street is the Misericordia Church which was built by protesters of the Catholic cathedral. How best to antagonize the Catholics by building a church directly opposite?!

In my excitement yesterday to display photos of the Chapel of the Bones, I neglected to post all the pictures I took from the cloisters of the Évora Cathedral. Cloisters are a covered walk in a convent, monastery, college, or cathedral, typically with a colonnade open to a quadrangle on one side.

The cloister was an important part of a medieval monastery – it was where the monks would have meditated, studied and exercised. In many monasteries, manuscripts were written in or around the cloister – one of their advantages was that they were roofed but provided ample light. (Durham World Heritage Site)

No matter the location, cloisters afford many beautiful photos, and it was especially pretty this afternoon when we saw blue skies again!