Day 8 Evora & Algarvre

 A new day with rested and hydrated bodies and better attitudes! Here we go off on another amazing adventure. This day was just absolutely top notch! We boarded a bus to head to Algavre. Along the way we stopped at a rest stop to see a cork tree farm and get a close up of a real cork tree. Everything is made from cork in portugal. Shoes, hats, fans, jewelry, purses...it was incredible the things we saw. In this picture you can see what looks like a cork from a bottle. They split the tree down the side and peel back a large crust of the tree. Cork can be harvested every 9 years. A cork tree lives for 150 years. Meaning the tree can only be harvested 12-15 times! There is a craft to it and the cork has to be exactly the right thickness to harvest. 

They are very large and behind us was  huge grove of cork trees. 

The town of Evora has ancient ruins... some of this picture is real ruins and some was added on. 

The gardens surrounding the ruins were really pretty complete with a wishing well and peacocks roaming freely! I've seen peacocks but the BABY peacocks were so darn cute! 

Exploring the narrow roads of Evora.

Cute skirt Fernando!

This had to go in here....we really wanted Italian food for lunch. We looked and looked and found a place on google maps called Mr. Snob. We made several tight turns through the town and it kept telling us we arrived but we never saw it. Finally we got brave and went through a gate. And lo and behold, there was Mr. Snob. We could smell amazing smells coming from it but there was NOT ONE SOUL around. We even opened the door and said Oi! But there was nothing. Must have been siesta time.

Outlook over Evora. 

More ancient ruins from the 1300s

Cork souvenir shop.

Cork fans and the Tooele moms!

And Oh. My. Goodness.... the COOLEST and CREEPIEST PLACE I'VE EVER BEEN! The Chapel of BONES!!! Above the entry way it says in Portuguese "We, the bones that are here, await yours." OOOHHH! Creeeeepy!!! 

This chapel was built in the 16th or 17th century intended to reflect on how fragile life is and that death is inevitable. No one can escape it. An estimated 5,000 bodies were exhumed from cemeteries to decorate the chapel. I was in anatomy nerd heaven identifying all the bones! 

Every inch, except the ceiling and floor are covered with bones. Real bones. 

Notice the skull workmanship as a fancy border. 

Shoulder blades. 

Skulls and head of femur. Along with humerus. 

Coccyx 

A head in a bony basin....your hip bones. 

More coccyx

These were sort of disturbing...2 mummies on display...an adult and a baby. 

So many cool designs!

Now that I think of it, I never saw any feet... I wonder why....maybe too many fragile bones. 

Oh it was just so cool and disturbing. I really loved it! 

Outside was this cute little display of the town. 

Then we were off to our most gorgeous hotel! We spent 2 nights in Algavre and they did not disappoint! The grounds of the hotel were mind blowing. The sidewalks were all patterned different. The flowers and bushes and statues and landscape were breathtaking. It was so fun walking around, except when I chased Carter around trying to find the fitness room so he could run. I was hangry and not enjoying it and finally made him give up. But there were 5 or 6 large hotels on the grounds and I was tired of running around. 

Snow White statues. 

Just beautiful 

Most of the kids, after finding their rooms, headed straight to the beach. And I couldn't wait to put my toes in the sand. And it was so great. 

Carter really started to open up here with the other kids. He is most comfortable in the ocean and just opened right up. He was having so much fun! 

What a cutie! 

There was  cool cave right on the beach and I wandered and explored the shore line. They built sand castles and dug holes. It was just a very fun evening with perfect temps and a beautiful sunset. 

These were some of my favorite kids on the team. 

This trip has been incredible to spend with Carter. As much as I wanted him to go hang with other kids I was sort of happy he wanted to hang around with me more than them. I know time with him is growing short and I want to spend as much time with him as I can. So this was extra special and I soaked in every second and tried not to mom him too much. Oh I just love my boy! And I ended the night looking out at the ocean (in the dark) putting my feet up. All the rooms are set up to look like the back of a cruise ship with many balconies. It was so cool and it really was fun walking around this beautiful beautiful place! We were kind of jealous because some people got big nice rooms and some got itty bitty rooms like me and Stephanie. It really had room for 2 beds and you had to side shuffle to get around. But oh well, outside was so nice! And the buffet we got to eat at for all the meals was pretty yummy too. I liked it because we could try a little bit of the traditional food at each meal. 

Get ready for our last day in Portugal!