There are times in a life when against received wisdom, we take ourselves away from responsibilities and entanglements and into a challenge of our own choosing because it simply feels like we must. We feel depleted. We’ve lost our internal compass. Our bodily tuning is off. What’s needed is a cosmic course correction out of our daily lives. If we are very lucky, the means and opportunity to embark on such a voyage align with a willingness of those in our lives to let us go.
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| decorative plaque, Cordoba |
Thus did the Northport Muse bring her sluggish body and tired heart to sunny Portugal and Spain for a 16-day odyssey that began with a 10-day bicycle trip from Lisbon to Grenada and ended with a family visit in Madrid and Barcelona. Travel to find oneself is a cliché, but using one’s body to propel a bicycle through countryside studded with Roman ruins, olive groves, sheep and cattle, castles, Celtic standing stones and medieval towns with stories from the ages does hone the muscles and oxygenate the spirit.
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| Arraiolos |
Day one, October 16, was the shakedown ride with introductions of the 10 cyclists and 3 guides, fitting of bikes and an easy 14 miles from Arraiolos to Evora. Arraiolos is a small town north of Lisbon that is known for its long history of artisanship in the making of needle pointed carpets. At 300 Euros/square meter, it's more expensive than most house construction. Pedro, Luis, and Jorge are our guides; young, knowledgeable, avid cyclists, and fine looking. They ride with us, tell us about the towns and regions, their history, culture and flora, and then deliver our luggage to our rooms, order our dinners, (banquets really) and otherwise see to it that we enjoy our adventure. I am introduced Andy (On-dee), my roommate; we are the two “singles” of the 10 riders. Andy is from Austin Tx, where she works as a corporate trainer and recruiter in the IT department at National Instruments, a global company that produces technical testing devices. She has just spent two weeks in Hungary doing training for her company.
Our ride is dry...ancient structures popping up in fields with sheep, cows and horses and burned out grass. Evora, a world heritage site has an architecturally hodgepodge cathedral dating back to pre-Roman times, and a Roman ruin that some believe honors the goddess Diana. It comes to me that I wish this to be true. Diana was a warrior goddess and it is the warrior inside that I’ve come to reclaim.
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| Roman Temple to Diana; Evora |
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| View from Cathedral Roof-Evora |
There’s a Moorish influence here as elsewhere all across the Iberian Peninsula. I will come to understand and appreciate the depth of that influence. Evora has more churches than one can count, including the chapel of bones; built entirely from human skeletal remains, a grisly reminder that our time on earth is limited and we are obliged to make it worthwhile. Tempus fugit, carpe diem etc.
A buffet lunch and wonderful dinner featured garbanzo and black-eyed pea salads, cod and swordfish-like fish and lamb dishes; all traditional and delicious.
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| Tasty lunch in Evora |
Evora is a center of cork growing and production. Cork is made into everything; hats, belts, bracelets, ties eve n. The flavor of Portugal is mellow, warm, tasty, low drama yet complex. The exploration of the new world is still its finest hour; 400 years ago. The tug of war between Moorish and Christian influence is embedded in the national character, with Christianity the poor victor. Jorge tells us that the Portuguese invited the Crusaders to stop by and get rid of the Moors on their way to Jerusalem: shocking but interesting.
Day 2- October 17. Evora - Estremoz - Alter do Chao
Estremoz, as promised, is a lovely little medieval town surrounded by vineyards and famous for its many white marble quarries that supplied the stone for Evora's Roman temple as well as its 13th-century Cathedral. Portugal is the world's second leading exporter of marble and it is this same crystalline rock that appears in many of the region's cobblestone-patterned squares, sculptures, monuments and fountains. Prominent in the town is an outsize marble statue of Santa Isabella; a queen of Portugal who devoted her life to the poor. King Dinis and his Queen Isabel lived in the early 14th century. The king disapproved of Isabela’s giving alms to the poor, so she hid the bread she was carrying for them in the folds of her skirt. When the suspicious king asked her to show him what she was carrying, the bread had miraculously turned into white roses. The marble statue of the queen now stands on the castle terrace. There is a simple timeless beauty to the obelisk shaped work of art and her face reminds me instantly of a young friend at home whose name is: Isobel! Uncanny.
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Santa Isabel- Estremoz
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