Today we decided to drive to Vila Vicosa, it was about an hour away from Evora. We wanted to see the castle and Paco Ducal. When we arrived, we got in the middle of a traffic jam. There were two buses and two vans blowing the road near a church. A driver from a car behind us got out and went and yelled at the drivers of the buses. The second bus driver got out of his bus and went and yelled at the first bus driver. He then got back in his bus and backed up enough, so that the row of cars could squeeze by. We weren’t able to go straight and had to make a u-turn. We found somewhere to park and decided to walk to the castle. When we walked back by the church the police had cleared out the traffic and blocked the roadway. They were having some kind of ceremony at the church. We walked on past to the castle and walked around inside it. There was also a church inside the castle with people milling around. We decided to walk back to our car and try and find the Paco Ducal. We thought if we took a different road to the road that runs by the castle we could bypass the celebration and make it to our destination. When we got on the road by the castle the traffic was stopped for the procession of people from the church that was was going to the other church and chanting as they walked. There must have been two hundred people. When the procession passed by and we were allowed to proceed, we could only turn left, so at this point we decided to give up.
Our next destination was Monsaraz. It was about an hour away. They have a castle that sits on top of a mountain. We found somewhere to park and went exploring the castle. We even climbed up and walked around the castle walls. After we climbed down from the walls, we went in the souvenir shop, but they only took cash, and I was running low on cash, so I was not able to buy anyone. Then we walked back down to our car and drove back to Evora.
We ate lunch at the hotel and then it was time for our tour and wine tasting at the Cartuxa vineyards. It is only about ten minutes from our hotel. They do not actually make the wine there, it is made at a newer facility. They also use modern equipment to make the wine. They hand pick the grapes during the day, but at night they have a harvester that picks the grapes. They also use modern machinery to release the juices from the grapes. In addition to wine, they make olive oil and cereal amount other items. After the tour we were treated to a wine and olive oil tasting. First we tasted three different kinds of olive oil and then we tasted three different wines, one white and two reds. I do not really like the taste of wine.
We returned back to our hotel where we rested and then went out to dinner. After dinner the weather had turned a little chilly, so we returned back to our hotel.
