Portugal

PORTUGAL Monday, April 9

Leaving Segovia we made a quick trip six miles south to La Granja Palace. It sounded like a must see, called the Little Versailles built by French born King Philip who was very homesick for his country. It is evidently restored to it's original splendor inside but as so often happens on Mondays it was closed. We did stroll the gardens but the area is up against the Sierra Guadarrama mountains so not much was happening, not even some pansies! It would be smashing in another month. However there were many statues in the gardens which is always interesting to us. And some good architectual details on the palace for David.

From this point we decided to hightail it to Portugal. We have less than a month to “do” Spain and Portugal. So we got on the autoways and traveled fast. I like to put small towns in the GPS so that we find some places of real interest. So after the Spanish/Portugal border we started along a rough narrow road. Oh my. This was so similar to the Transylvanian villages we know. Ladies wearing skirts and wooly sweaters, and scarves on their heads carrying buckets to or from the main water well in the center of town. The land around was so magic! Rolling hills of scrub brush, creamy colored Scotch broom, and some planted fields but it was all amongst stones...huge and gathered stone places that felt spiritual, like the native Indians would have gone to meditate...or spend days alone. And scattered stones everywhere. A glacier had to have come through here. A few scrub tree forests also. Fences are built of stones standing upright or walls stacked with stones. Most of the houses are sturdy because they are built with stone. Folks stared at us. “How on earth did they find us?”, they seemed to say. This was the highlight of the day for us. I get the good feeling that lives can be very rich when folks stay put. When they know their piece of countryside well. When their friends have been with them from birth...married and had children together. Buried parents together. Old old buildings, beaten trails to one anothers houses, traditional customs and history built on top of history. Churches built by hands of ancestors. Trees planted by a family member so far back that their names are long forgotten. When the presence of others who lived before you is evident all around you, there is an undeniable longing for the stories of their lives and personalities, unknown but dear. Sheep are on the road. A shepherd comes over the rise. A shepherd's staff in one hand. A jaunty hat, a cotton red scarf around his neck. The ruddy face of a shepherd who has always been. Shepherds that we think no longer exist. We bumped into the town that I had targeted on the map. Freixedas. Our GPS actually said, “Driving on an unpaved road”! We drove up to the old church. A man was walking toward us and decided to come and talk though again we had to use hand signals. He was eating an apple that had been carefully peeled and quartered and held in his big farm hands. Hmmm. Just where are these people from as he looked at our license plate. “Washington”, he said and nodded his head. He understood that we wanted to stay the night. We were pointed and escorted to a big grassy treed park and then our friend proceeded down the road to tell the neighbors that we were from the USA and we would be in the park all night. So I guess we are in good hands.

THOUGHTS and OBSERVATIONS:

> Spanish is such a beautiful language. I did not realize it because it is usually spoken so fast and with such gusto. Spoken slowly the words are lovely to say.

> Forget those docile creamy blond French cows I told you about...we are now into black and even the lady cows have horns.

Wednesday, April 11

This evening we are in a big bay in Foz do Arelho. We have been to several other “fishing villages” today, Nazare and Sao Martinho, but none of them have much of a fishing community anymore. Today they seem to be resort towns. Golden sand beaches with hills overlooking them. Lots of places to park and wander the promenades or the beaches. Many restaurants and hotels. But we were really looking for a fishing village. Earlier we stopped in Batalha to visit a monastery topped with more outrageous Gothic decoration but David noted that the designs were more refined that what we had been seeing. Now tucked in our van, we just finished two games of Skipbo and David won both of them. And I am such a poor sport! With dinner we tried two wines famous in the Douro river valley , Galacia, green wine from the grapes of the more north region (white wine) and a Port wine from the southern Porto region. The green wine is really good. A bit tarte, a bit flowery...different grapes and a region we are not used to. The red port is sweet to be sipped before or maybe after dinner. Just like another local famous wine from the Basque area, Txaklita (or something like that). It was another wonderful white wine. So we have had our share of drink tonight...with rain on our roof and a candle for atmosphere.

Yesterday we drove down the Douro river. Grapes growing on high steep-sided hills coming out of the mountains. Terraces everywhere to make a place to grow grapes and a few orchards. Terraces from the top of the hills to almost the bottom where sheer cliffs began. The towns along the way, Lamego, Resende, Oliveria, Cinfaes all with red terracotta tile roofs sheltering white-walled homes. At Castelo de Palya we drove over the Douro to Porte. It was 4:00 pm (time zone change) and David had a toothache. The pain was bad enough that he asked for a dentist. Now Porto is huge. How do we get this taken care of? Well, we had the help of so many great people. There was absolutely no place to park in the city so David dropped me off at the Tourist office. Two women there got on it immediately until they had an appointment for David at 6:00 pm not too far away. We had maps and address but “DO NOT ENTER” signs kept getting in our way until we were totally confused. We found parking but we did not know where we were. An East Indian man came out of his shop and asked if we needed help. Did we! It was getting closer to six. He called us a cab, insisting that the building was not far but it would be so much easier to have someone take us who knew the city. Our van would be fine in front of his shop. So a nice young cab driver showed up and got us there and made sure we went into the right door. Well, it was the wrong clinic! A patient who was just leaving his own dental appointment volunteered to find David's dentist. And what a fine dentist. He had David's tooth removed in under one half hour. $50. David is doing really well. All along the way we have had help from so many good people.

As you can imagine we did not do much in Porto. We saw quite a bit of the important places and areas of interest from our van but finally settled on the wide Douro river at the bottom of the town hills with fishermen all around us. The city looked alive and well, an industrial working city with lots of amenities for its residence.

THOUGHTS AND OBSERVATIONS:

> Spring is much further along here. Red poppies, wisteria in bloom, ripe tangerines and lemons, potatoes (no flowers yet), California poppies, bridal veil spirea, lilacs, roses. It is lush here like our Pacific west coast (but more like California lush).

> Many women still wear aprons here. They wander outside and are too busy to think about it. Some aprons are so pretty and clean that I think they are part of their clothing.

> Grafiti is really good everywhere we have been. Some of it approaches art pieces. They are carefully thought out, executed and painted. I actually enjoy looking at them.

> A different combination...eucalyptus and pine trees growing equally in forested areas.

> The GPS finds us gas stations and grocery stores along the way.

> The receptionist in the dentist office is a big reader but she reads all her books on her “Notebook” as books are very expensive in Portugal. Most books have to be translated and that adds that expense. Also, Portugal publishers (or sellers of books there) do not believe that people should be reading, or would read, the shocking parts so authors have to agree to remove them for sales here. This is not a government decision but the publishers decision on what people want. The young receptionist thought it was a shame and not at all what most would choose.

> In Portugal, English is their second language and all learn it in school. Nice for us!

> Gary and Donna. I think you should paint your Manson home white and tile the roof with Spanish terracotta! And I think that you should start a trend there on the buildings amongst the vineyards. It would look so amazing in that beautiful wine country.

> We are just getting into seeing wonderful decorative tiles. Most of what we have seen so for are blue and white.

> The freeways here in Portugal have nice rest stops with toilets!

> Fields of cabbage grow tall and have gone to seed with yellow- green flowers.

APRIL 13

Oh dear. It is 10:30 pm and I have two days worth to tell...and lots happened. Obidos: Obidos is a medieval walled city that has gone through rebuilding several times. There are people living in it still. We do not have a guide book with us for Portugal so we don't know quite what to expect. This time it was tourists. Buses and buses. Kid's classes, lots of people from China, and everywhere else. I think the break of Holy Week continues this week as kids are everywhere on vacations. We went through the stone town gate and on to the narrow street which leads up to the castle. The streets were filled with shops. Some interesting, some not. When we reached the castle area there was a huge Disney-like pink castle in front of it...I think just for kids to play in. It was rather shocking. There was something different about this little town...it seemed in celebration. There were no rules about where you could and couldn't go. David and I even walked half-way round the rampart walls. Scary. One side was not protected and the drop was straight down. Some of the way was so skinny that I was hanging on to rock as I walked...you know that feeling that something is drawing you to the edge. We did find one serious gallery with some interesting work in it. Drawings of opera costumes and sets. Paintings of the old city incorporating people and daily life of medieval times. Quite stylized and fluid. So that done we were heading south to Sintra.

WOW! Sintra was the place the Moors occupied from 711 to 1492 when the Christians in Europe finally sent them packing back to Northern Africa. There are many traces of the culture in this area. When you drive into the city you cannot believe what you are seeing. The Moorish ruins sit so high up on a mountain (well a very very high promentory) with forest from it's base to the top. There is a Christian-built castle at the same level on another hunk of the mountain within walking distance. It is all remarkable and provides a place to bring Robinhood and his merry men back. Or King Arthur. There was a pond with a medieval tower in the middle. Yes, King Arthur's sword could be in there. Even the trees are fantasy-like. Tall trunks with umbrella shaped tops. David and I drove to a parking place, we did not walk from the bottom, but from there we chose to go to the military Moorish stronghold as the history there is so important to this region. We took a footpath which gave us a glimpse of the long wall and lookouts showing through the trees. I imagined the people walking up and up and up to get there as some of the 500 soldiers had their families there also. And those who would be servants...and what about horses on this sometimes very steep trail. It was a very long way from the bottom. I imagined their clothing, what they would carry. There are still water gathering wells along the road. I am not one to remember much about history but when I am faced with it the excitement is certainly there. We walked past a church and surrounding graveyard that is being excavated. Past that and into the walled area. And then up high stone stairs until I thought I'd die and did not want to think about going down them again. The top was a lookout even to the sea. It would be hard to surprise this group but it finally did happen with a siege of the Christian army surrounding them. The best way to see this place is to catch a bus from the town center...when you are finished just wait for a bus to take you back down...though we did notice some little cars smaller than Smart Cars for rent. It is a long winding drive and sometimes hard to find parking.

I wanted to tell you about the square we slept in in Sintra. Quite large triangle-shaped, all cobble-stoned and with plenty of trees. Sycamore trees that have been pruned to death with little sticks coming out of the nubs...trying to grow a few leaves. No real branches allowed! The commercial sections were in an L-shape. On one side an Indiana Cozinha and then someone's house, a bank and then an Italian Cozinha. On the other side of the L was a coffee/pastry shop, a veterinarian, a snack shop, a hardware store and something called Adventura. We counted how many ate dinner at the Indian and the how many at the Italian restaurants ....worked out about equal, but pretty slow business. People eat very late. A man, his wife, a spotted dog and some other guy lived in the house. The man took his dog out and spent quite some time chatting with another man with a little dog. The dogs had a great time....and so did their masters. Finally, a shake of the hand and the men parted. Much to the dogs' dismay! In the middle of the night some drunks came by...I thought they were going to knock on the car door. They had quite a discussion which of course I did not understand. Early in the morning a garbage truck, then some delivery trucks. The coffee/cake shop is very busy in the morning. Everybody meeting their pals. Children being walked across the square to school. Clutches of old guys (our age) standing on the sidewalk leaning against a store swapping stories. Hats are like the one our friend Bert wears, called a Driver's Hat. The colors of all the establishments are cream, white, apricot, yellow, green, lemon and butter...all soft and worn. Ladies rush  by...some in skirts, short skirts with tights and boots, scarves and often smoking cigarettes. Others have tight jeans on...lookin' good. And one with a track suit. One was wrapped in a green blanket making her way to coffee with two friends. Construction guys in their matching uniforms are waiting around for something or someone to show up. It is fun belonging to this community for awhile. butter...all soft and worn. Ladies rush by...some in skirts, short skirts with tights and boots, scarves and often smoking cigarettes. Others have tight jeans on...lookin' good. And one with a track suit. One was wrapped in a green blanket making her way to coffee with two friends. Construction guys in their matching uniforms are waiting around for something or someone to show up. It is fun belonging to this community for awhile.

We went along from here to Calares. The GPS was not being helpful to get us to the city center and we were just too tired to fight it out so we made lunch and decided to head to our next destination.

We did not even know where or what we were looking for! Ah but we saw it on the top of a hill. A beautiful church of different style. I can only think it was Moorish and would have offered beautiful art decoration. We probably made a big mistake in not turning back but we kept going only to be rewarded and hour or so later with some amazing megaliths. There were two sites, about a mile from each other. One was a single stone which we hiked to through lovely green fields dotted with trees and goats (with bells on, sounded like the movie Mannon and the Spring). We drove on through Cork trees! Something I have never seen before but David recognized them. Their trunks were stripped smooth dark brown and the branching was bumpy and spongy and a light greenish color. As we drove we went through sections that were numbered...7...8...3 etc. A tracking system no doubt. And then we came upon a huge stone circle! The biggest in the Iberia area. It was not a simple pattern like I have seen before...usually a single circle with a flat stone somewhere inside (for sacrifices?) There was one large flat stone but maybe about 50 large stones and many smaller ones placed in what seemed random to me but I am sure had some meaning to it. The circle was oblong and it is thought that it had been altered by subsequent users of the area. It is very exciting to be among. David said he would like to stay a day and see what might happen. It is the energy one feels, along with the mystery. Who were these people and what were they up to? Tonight we sit outside another huge walled city that is still a full functioning city. Tomorrow we will explore it.

SOME THOUGHTS and OBSERVATIONS:

> In two months we have spent 1,565.33 euros on gas.

> David is the tallest of men here. Easy to spot.

> Purple and yellow ice plant shows up at this point.

> I have a confession. My niece, Heather is posting my blog. I seem unable to make it work so I write it and send it to Heather. And for those of you who are thinking that I spend far too much time writing, I write at night when David has gone to bed. My office is the passenger seat with glove box open and my pillow on it for a desk. It works really well and is quite comfy!

> If you come traveling for a long time bring dark indigo jeans. They never seem to get dirty and because they are dark you can dress them up a bit.

> I brought my knitting with me...lots of yarn. Stuffed the small cupboards with it. What a dream. And I brought tons of art stuff for both David and I....also a dream. I have sketched once. Ah but I am taking such pictures with enough inspiration to last the rest of my life!

April 15

Well, exploring Evora didn't happen though we saw much of it two or three times by car. It rained most of the night which was nice to hear on the roof when you are all covered up with a down comforter, but when it comes time to spending a day under an umbrella, we couldn't make ourselves do it. So we went round and round in the van trying to find the temple of Diana and did get a photo. (I was thinking of you Lou Converse.) We moved on to Mourao on a still rainy windy day. At the top of the hill was a walled military fort with church. Small. We climbed around inside the walled ruins until the rain hit hard and sent us to our car...but on the way I stopped to take a picture of the explanation on the wall and excused myself to a family having a picnic right there. “Hey, we are having a Portugese picnic!” Tables and stools were out...and on the table was rice, rabbit and red wine. They were all tucked in a little corner of the stone wall with the car next to them. Away from most of the wind and rain. We answered all their questions, I took a photo of them and then said our goodbyes. No kidding! All the wonderful people in this world. David and I went for a walk though the old part of town and checked out the library. Beautiful and comfy in an old building, 3 stories up. With a final wave to our picnic friends as they were going for some hot coffee, we made our way to a new destination. Small roads were the order so we drove through lovely quiet country through Moura (without the “o”at the end) and found some great art decoration some of the homes. Murals and art pieces all over the walls. A nice surprise. That is what I love about the old and quiet roads. The surprises that are not written in any guide books.

Next stop: Serpa. Another enclosed walled town. Very quiet. We walked around and snooped in the squares and found ourselves a place for dinner. David had a big hankering for some salt cod, a dish that a Portugese friend had made for him years ago...that he could still almost taste! A lovely restaurant a couple of floors up, on the main square and we were seated at about 9:00 pm. Fashionable, don't you think?! David's food was great, mine not so good. I ordered local lamb but found the presentation boring...and not as tasty as I would have liked, but still, I don't mind taking a chance on something that is a local favorite. We slept just inside the city wall.

April 15

Tavira. We drove down to Tavira on the south coast of Portugal, not too far from the Spanish border. Now here is a town. It was spread out all over but we did not experience that part of it. We were in the old town again walled, but much smaller. We did lots of walking here, along the river of fresh and salt water mixed with the flow of tides. Lots of working fishing boats. Many moored next to the peer and smaller ones tied up so that they could move with the tide on and off the beach. A local market was going on in a covered pavilion. Not the regular markets that we had experienced. This seemed far more home-spun. Booths of sweet baking, of breads, jewelry, some wines (maybe home grown also) embroidery and lace. On a different route back to our car we climbed into the old city and had such surprises at the gardens we found, worked into the spaces between the walls. Botanical gardens with trees and flowers all labeled. Over the walls we could see into the back areas of residences that were backed up against the high stone walls. Some large round ponds belonging to the medieval spaces. Vegetable gardens, chickens, chairs and tables set to visit and eat outside. We walked around the church. Lately they seem to all be locked. I'm not sure if it is because of theft or that the churches are no longer kept up. Next on our list...laundry. So that is how we closed our day. This is a lovely spot. And still a fishing port.