7:45: sitting in Momentos for an early dinner. No one else is here whoops, but I didn't really eat lunch and I was hungry. I think it'll be good I ate real cheap the last few days because this isn't a cheap town. Anyway....and here comes some food so I will finish this later!
10:00pm - back from an incredible dinner. Anyway, this morning I went to the bus station super early and asked everyone I could to be sure about my bus. They all said it would leave from one of the first three lines...even though it wasn't even listed on the departures screen! But it came and there were no problems. It even arrived on time! Took a cheap taxi to my little hotel/inn. She explained that it is in fact a holiday, Corpus Cristi, and it's the first time in a few years it is being celebrated because of the economic crisis. She told me about a procession happening in the evening.
Then I set out to wander. I had not really had lunch so I was starving. so obviously I found a recommnded ice cream shop, Zoka, and had a delicious chocolate and almond combo. I found the main market, which was technically open but only a couple stands were open because of the holiday. Hopefully everything is open tomorrow morning because it looks kind of awesome! Went into one of the two main churches, which also has a chapel made with thousands of monks' bones, well ok then, Wandered through the little city park and sort of followed Rick Steves's walking tour through the city. Debating on whether to do a guided walking tour tomorrow that is supposed to be good, but will take up 2 hours of my precious little time here. I am thinking I may pass. Had a multigrain croissant filled with tomato and cheese for a more substantial afternoon snack.
Wandered a bit more and found the start of the holiday procession at the cathedral. There were a few horses, a little band, some kids doing stuff, and a bunch of church people. I only watched the beginning and then went back for a little rest.
Read about some restaurants and decided upon Momentos. They have a sign outside about how life is too short to eat fries every day. The whole menu focuses on organic produce from the area. Everything is locally done from this region called Alentejo. Jorge the owner brings over the menu on a big board and explains it all. He personally came over about 5 times to make sure I loved everything. First they brought an Amuse bouche of hot soup made with herb that grows by the river. Ok then! Then I got a pear and watercress soup, which was hot and I was expecting it to be cold but it still tasted good. Portugal is basically obsessed with soup, by the way. And he gave me a local sweeter white wine, which for me, I really liked. I decided on the pork duo since I couldn't decide between two of the three pork dishes and they offered a duo. One was thin slices with pears and the other was a tenderloin with olive tapenade. it was served on a gogeous slate plate covered in various veggies and purees. I can't decide which one I liked more. And since I knew they would be delicious, I had a traditional dessert of an egg sponge cake type of thing drowning in cinnamon with a fantastic homemade chocolate ice cream. So good. At 38 euros including a tip I spent more than what I had probably spent on food in the past several days combined, but it was worth it. Jorge came to make sure I liked the meal and gave me a shot of the local sweet wine on the way out. It was significantly better than any other digestive alcohol I've ever tried. He was telling me about the passionfruit items he is adding to the menu tomorrow night and how he made the cakes this morning. If obly there weren't so many other good places to try in town!! What an experience!!
Today's totals, which are not bad considering I was on a bus for over three hours: 20,208 steps, 8.04 miles, 53 floors
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