Evora Update

I woke this morning feeling ready to make up for lost time. We were going to grab some juice from the hotel and head out, but the breakfast spread convinced us to stay for a quick bite. The owners are big into the farm to table movement so the breakfast was full of all kinds of fresh, local, and organic stuff from fruits to granola and homemade breads and apple tarts. Every food is labled with the nearby town where it is grown or made.
After breakfast we set out on foot to hit a couple sites around Evora before jumping in the car and cruising out of town to Monsaraz and the Spanish border. I think Mike has a new appreciation for the VW.
We returned to Evora for some more exploration including the cathedral and tower. It is rainy this evening so we grabbed an umbrella from the hotel and hit another local dinner spot where there is no menu, and the only staff are the husband and wife owners and their son. After a warm greeting and explanation that you don't pick what you eat but you don't pay if you don't like, we were convinced. A few minutes after sitting down the doctor from last night's dinner arrived, this time with his wife, and they were seated at our same table. It was another enjoyable evening complete with live music from the Evora univeristy music students dining at one of the other tables. I think I've had enough to eat to make up for the loss of food the past couple days :)

Portuguese House Calls

Apparently in Portugal it is rather common for doctors to make house calls. How do I know this? After our first enjoyable day in Lisbon, I got food poisoning and spent the next afternoon and night in bed. A little paranoid due to the pregnancy Mike called the front desk in the evening about going to see a doctor. 45 minutes later the doctor was in our room advising us that I had food poisoning and should go to the hospital for iv fluids if I couldn't keep liquids down. Thankfully I was able to recover enough and we bypassed the ER :) The hotel was great about the whole thing as they got us a doctor and even offered to go out and fill our prescription as all of the pharmacies in the area were closed.
Feeling MUCH better this morning, we headed for the small walled city of Evora, about an hour east of Lisbon. The city is beautiful. We had dinner at an excellent little place run by a husband and wife. The place only sat 9, all at the bar. It felt like you were having dinner at the owner's home, the wife making everything in the back and the husband taking care of the guests in the front. We sat next to a very friendly doctor from Evora. It turns out most doctors in Portugal make house calls! By the end of the evening he was translating everything back and forth with us and the other guests and owner. Everyone there seemed like friends of the owners as they would go back to the kitchen to say hi to the wife before they sat down. By the end of the evening we (Mike) were sharing in the house's hare stew.
We decided to stay a second night here in Evora and will decide on Thursday whether to head up to Fatima or over to Marvao. If we get internet access again we'll post another update, otherwise Happy Thanksgiving and we'll post pictures when we're back.

Oct/Nov Birthdays

We got together to celebrate PaPere, Brooke, and GG's birthdays last weekend. PaPere had a big pile of leaves that offered tons of fun. Of course the cake was pretty good too but Lauren missed out as she was napping.

Little Helper

Lauren and her cousin Saylor are 22 months apart. Although they aren't sisters, it gives us an idea of the dynamics between Lauren and her baby sibling. Hopefully Lauren will be just as helpful!