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The Portuguese Cafe God

| Mairead

2018 5

(Yesterday morning I had to cross this scary bridge, it goes over two dual carriageways! I sang Christmas songs to myself to stop me closing my eyes and lying down. I went back today to take pictures for you.. you’re welcome)

I am having a ball at my workshop! Can’t find a way to write about it yet because there are so many things to write. So what I do when I have too much choices I set boundaries… I’m only going to talk about getting to my workshop for today. Well I got there, that’s the best bit. I did get lost… and while I was lost the data on my phone wasn’t working so I couldn’t find myself…

2018 6

(It’s very high, trucks go under it))

That’s when I invoked one of the gods – the god of Portuguese cafes (note: not a real god). He lives behind the most unattractive of exteriors, so be prepared. If you see a beautiful or pretty or plastic perfect cafe – that’s not the place. Choose a cafe you think is closed or old and wrinkled or dark and uninviting. That’s where he lives. I found him when I couldn’t find myself.

2018 2

(Potentially a perfect home for the god of Portuguese cafes, unfortunately it’s not a cafe)

I had a choice. On one corner there was a shiny new lovely looking cafe. On the opposite corner there was an old and shabby cafe. The lady behind the counter was busy but eventually she spotted little lost me and gave me that pained quizzical look we all give to someone we don’t understand. I used to be afraid of that look, now I am in awe that someone is curious enough to wonder what it is I’m saying. I was saying big coffee and pastry. She worked it out.

2018 3

(When I got here I found myself)

Then I sat with my coffee and pastry at a table with god (note: do not be afraid there’s nothing weird going on here… probably) and I opened my detailed paper map. It’s a great map, I could see exactly where the workshop venue was which made me hopeful but I could not see where I was. I opened my phone, google didn’t know where I was either. God said (note:see previous note…) drink your coffee and eat your nata, it’s all going to be fine-ish. I drank my very good coffee and ate my very good nata.

2018 1

( I got lost on the way home too, but if I hadn’t I would have missed this: a street that seems too narrow to drive up… that have no fear)

I paid the lady as I was leaving and had an idea to ask her if she might un-lost me. She looked at my map, she looked at me, then she said some old magic words (she might have been invoking god too… or it could have just been Portuguese) and she pointed down the road. You know I’m still not sure if she knew where I was going but she pointed me in the right direction. She did. I found my way.

Kind stranger ✔ Mairead.

P.S. Denis says I need a disclaimer… DISCLAIMER. DISCLAIMER: please be advised that we take no responsibility for the result you get when following the choosing a cafe suggestion above…

Opportunity

| Mairead

2018 2 1

(Welcome to Portugal)

So it’s the week before my workshop in Lisboa and I thought it might be sensible to create some blog posts so I am doing some overtime to cover myself for the duration of the workshop. I have been wondering what to write because I have already written everything that happens (or that comes into my head) each day and posted it in that day’s blog, so there’s nothing left. But then I remembered…

2018 1 1

(Lunch. Isn’t that an adorable box?)

I didn’t blog much last year and I missed it. So before we left this year I decided I would write regularly, definitely weekly. Then I got kinda excited about the idea of writing every day but I didn’t think that would be possible… turns out it was. And now this week I’ll be writing twice a day. I’m doubly excited and doubly worried… but I’ve written previously about my plan to notice my thoughts and that plan doesn’t allow much space for worrying. So here goes…

2018 2

(Make mosaics)

One of the lessons we are learning as we travel is that when you see an opportunity that you want, you really need to go for it. Right when you see it. Don’t wait. Although there’s every reason to believe it will come around again… after a little discomfort. When we see a public toilet as we have a coffee or as we visit a tourist attraction, we use it (ok not every single one).

2018 7 1

(Fill up your gas bottle when ever you get a chance)

If we arrive at an aire and there’s water we top up and we empty our old water. If it’s possible to empty the toilet cassette, we empty it… usually. Last week we didn’t, I might have been distracted. We were in the grand aire by the flooding river. They had all the services but as we were leaving it started to rain, heavily… sure we’re on our way to a campsite, all campsites have cassette empty services. Turns out not all campsites have cassette empty services. There was a little discomfort. I won’t go into it but we will not be making that mistake again….

2018 1

(Travel to warmer countries!)

Going for opportunities is how we came to be living this way, travelling for months each year. It seemed to be possible so we went for it. Going for it can be harder than it seems. It might seem crazy but I find it difficult to leave home and travel. I haven’t shared that truth with many people. It seems ungrateful and a little insane, when so many people wish they could do this and can’t and I can. Or is that normal?

2018 2 1

(Walk in the leaves)

I suppose I’m saying opportunities come with down sides, like the rain falling as you empty your cassette or having to say goodbye to your sister when she’s only just got home. But opportunities also come with up sides and unless you go for it you’ll never know what those up sides are.

From virtual me, (while real me is having a great time at the workshop!) Mairead.

Only one more sleep

| Mairead

2018 1

(View over the rooftops, Ericeira)

We’re in Lisboa, at a different campsite. I’m almost set to participate in the workshop tomorrow and, the sun is shining! We did all the washing in Ericeira and now Ruby is as squeaky clean as the clothes. I’ve packed my bags with all the required supplies and set out what I will wear. I have my bus timetable, my travel card and my phone is charged. It’s like a first day at school. I’d ask Denis to take a picture of me on my way but it’ll be a bit too early. Might try a selfie…

2018 2

(More narrow roads)

This experience has reminded me that I can only prepare so much, I have to turn up and trust that I will be flexible enough to cope with whatever crops up. Stuff happens… maybe the bus will be late, maybe I’ll miss the stop to get off, maybe there’ll be a strike, maybe I’ll get lost. I was wondering, isn’t this a kind of creativity?

2018 3

(Lace made of marble)

I know when I make something, especially in mixed media, I have no idea what it’s going to be when it’s finished. I also don’t know how to finish it when I’m half way through it. I call it Not There Yet, it’s between the Hopeful Beginning and Triumphant Finished where I think, this isn’t going to work, no it’s not any good, oh no it’s actually terrible! When I let go and flow from Not Working Yet to Breathlessly Waiting and hang out there a little while… I’ll soon hear myself saying, oh hang on I see it now!

2018 20

(This is the library at Palace of Mafra. They have over 30,000 books!)

Not Working Yet is a scary place, I don’t like it much. I love Hopeful Beginning, Breathlessly Waiting and Triumphant Finished. Maybe Not Working Yet knows I don’t like it… What if I made friends with Not Working Yet? In the situation of preparing for tomorrow’s journey to Lisboa, I haven’t practiced a trial run of the public transport route from this campsite. Not Working Yet is: I don’t know what the bus stop will look like, I don’t know where to go when I get off the bus, I don’t know where to go when I get off the metro. I will be depending on the kindness of strangers and my google map app. Actually, when I think of it that way, I am a bit excited, because this country is full of kind strangers.

Only one more sleep, Mairead.

The view is blue…

| Mairead

2018 7

(The view from the bedroom, blue sea, blue sky, blue bunting)

Every stitch of clothing had been washed and the sun came out so we went for a walk down town. When we arrived yesterday it was too wet to venture very far, we just got the groceries and did a load of washing. Going over and back to the machines I passed our view looking out to sea but it was too misty to see anything.

2018 3

(See the sea in the gap?)

It was a great surprise this morning when the mist lifted and we could see our view. We are on the edge of the town of Ericeira. We had never heard of it… possibly because we’re not surfers… yet.

2018 4

(The fishing boats on the land and the little dots in the sea are surfers, the ones in the sky are seagulls)

Our walk took us downhill all the way to the sea and the fishing port. I’m glad we were walking because these streets are the narrowest yet. There were surfers in the water and fishing boats on the shore and people gathered in groups talking and laughing and drinking coffee and eating amazing looking pastries.

2018 5

(Close up of a flying surfer)

The rain held off and the waves entertained the watchers and the surfers. Heading home was, as you’d expect, uphill all the way but the photo opportunities gave us an excuse to stop and catch our breath which was fortunate.

2018 6

(I liked the name on this building – Ericeira Business Factory)

We’ll be heading to Lisboa tomorrow morning but first we’ll be washing the van and pumping the tyres and filling up with diesel and water (including the windscreen washer) and groceries. We’ll be sorting out the other waters too. It looks like the weather might be changing for the better here so that’d be nice.

I’m ready to tidy away the umbrella and rain coats, Mairead.

Happy St Patrick’s Day

| Mairead

2018 1

(Here’s the King’s balcony from the outside)

We finally left Mafra and set off for Sintra and although we did arrive just outside Sintra we didn’t arrive in Sintra. It was very busy and very narrow and it wasn’t clear that we were welcome in the car parks. So we pushed it to next week because there are loads of trains that deliver you comfortably to Sintra from Lisboa.

2018 4

(The King’s private window into the Basilica)

Now we are in a very well serviced supermarket car park… there are camper places, water dumping and loading facilities, toilets, a cafe and… laundry machines! Yes it’s that time again. I have been a little concerned that my wardrobe (or repeat wearing of it…) might be a problem in company. As in, I might not be as sweet-smelling as one would hope. But that’s all ok now, clothes are clean and have nice smells.

2018 5

(You might be able to make out three of the church organs in this picture)

Yesterday I went back to see the Basilica part of the Palace of Mafra. It’s not part of the paid visit, it’s free. I don’t think I mentioned that on the opposite side of the corridor to the King’s balcony, there are three windows that look into the Basilica. So the king and the other royals could look in on the ceremonies or listen to the music without having to officially attend. And there was a lot of music to listen to as King João VI had decided he wanted six church organs. He then commissioned collections of music to be played only on those organs, nowhere else. He probably really liked music.

2018 4

(No shamrock so instead here’s another look at the Portuguese cork tree with green lichen from the Parque Biologico de Gaia… Cork and Green that’s almost shamrock, right?)

We had stayed our 48 hours in Mafra and had to leave our parking spot. As it’s on a height we kept seeing the Palace as we drove on making us say every single time, in unison, ad nauseam, wasn’t Mafra lovely?  It made us laugh, we are easily amused. 

We’ll be back, Mairead.

We’re in Clover

| Mairead

2018 7

(The neighbours)

We stayed in Mafra again last night but this time at the aire beside the Palace. We didn’t notice it on the way in but here it is and here we are. As we hadn’t had electricity for two days and the drive from Mafra suburb to the Palace wasn’t enough to charge the battery we were running dangerously low on power.

2018 6

(Beautiful sky over Mafra)

When I got back from visiting the palace I uploaded photos with only 20% battery and by the time I sent the blog post to WordPress I had only 6%. There are some electrical connections at this aire but they were all in use. We talked to the couple next to us from Italy (getting away from the snow there…) who said they were leaving today so if we could just hobble through overnight then we could use theirs and we’d be in clover.

2018 2 1

(Window at the Palace)

Ten minutes later the battery alarm light went off… that never happened before. Unplug everything. There was only the wifi router so I unplugged it, soon we would have no wifi…. how would we know what the weather was like…? We made plans for the move in the morning but there were very few aires within 50km of Lisbon with electricity. Time for a walk.

2018 1 1

(I love the windows at the Palace)

And that’s when we noticed the empty space. All the camper van spaces had been taken except one which we took when we arrived and when I got back from the Palace they were still occupied. But now a few hours later there was one… and it was beside an electricity connection!

2018 15

(The view of Mafra from the King’s balcony at the Palace)

We looked at each other and then ran back to the van (who am I kidding, we walked back to the van) and even faster than the night of the flooding river we had moved to the spot with the electricity. We have electricity! The electricity is free! We plugged in the wifi and the laptops and went for our walk. The rain stopped.

We really are in clover, Mairead.

I like an apple…

| Mairead

2018 7

(The National Palace of Mafra. That’s the Basilica in the middle with the bell towers)

Contrary to expectations, there was sun this morning so there are lots of photos. We are in Mafra about 30km north of Lisbon. It’s situated on a high plateau and very windy at times. It’s home to the National Palace of Mafra which was commissioned in 1717 by King João V. He had promised to build a monastery if he and his wife could have children.

2018 8

(See the M’s for Mafra on the light pole? And the blue sky?)

It’s a huge building and comprises a Basilica, a Royal Palace, a convent (which might be the monastery) and hunting grounds which are a bit outside the town. The royal family only came here for holidays and the hunting.

2018 17

(There’s a balcony outside this window looking out onto the town for the king to address his people)

I went for a walk around it this morning. I’d say it’s lovely and cool in the summer but I was glad to be well wrapped up today because they have gale force winds coming through their very beautiful not double glazed windows. Actually the light coming through the beautiful windows was particularly lovely today. Nice contrast to recent dark skies.I might have taken a picture of every window on the first floor…

2018 18

(Can you see them too…? That’s the lady with the furry stole)

While I was walking around there were very few visitors but some of the museum curators were dressed in period costumes. I was drawn to one lady’s furry stole… looked very warm. The guys dressed up as monks might not have been dressed up, they may have been actual monks. They were chatting with the dressed up ladies so maybe they were just dressed up too.

2018 13

(And old pot in the pharmacy section of the palace)

That’s something I’m noticing each time I visit a museum, the curators go around in twos and chat all the time. They have seriously lots to say to each other. This adds to my assumption that the Portuguese are a very sociable people and the groups of people working at the Palace are a very good example. Each time I passed they smiled at me and then went back to their conversation. I’d love to know what they’re saying. In fact I’ve started learning Portuguese… I can say, Eu gosta uma maçã, it means I like an apple. Not as useful as, can you tell me what you’re talking about, please? but at least I’ve made a start.

2018 14

(Anyone need a high-sided bed?)

Part of the monastery was set aside as a small hospital with a pharmacy and curtained off beds. One of the explanatory signs pointed to a high sided bed as being for people with high fever or “mad monks”… well, we’ve all been there and I for one felt encouraged to think there might be a bed for me here if the rain keeps up.

From our Palace in Mafra, Mairead.

Beware – food pictures!

| Mairead

2018 3

(Denis can hardly wait to get inside the door of TimeOut Market, Mercado de Ribeira)

Forgot to tell you – yesterday was a beautiful day! A little bit of sunshine and no rain! We woke this morning, surprisingly surprised to hear rain on the roof. We had forgotten that we chose yesterday to go to Lisbon because the Weather app promised cloudy with sun! It promised rain today.

2018 1 1

(My favourite stall)

We have moved to a beautiful place but it’s way too windy and wet to have a look so we are parked in a free aire, five minutes drive from the town and two minutes from a nice supermarket. I really want to bring you pictures of the town tomorrow because it looked amazing through the windscreen. Maybe I should check the weather app. Ok I checked the weather app… might have to take pictures through the windscreen.

IMG 3116

(I choose steak in a cream sauce and spinach in a cream sauce… It was very good but I wish I’d chosen Denis’ meal)

Fortunately I do have some food pictures from yesterday in Lisboa. Denis knew almost immediately what he wanted to eat and he even had a suggestion for me. But I wanted to look for myself so I wandered round and round and got more and more confused. Eventually I saw a picture of the meal I thought looked good and choose that.. without noticing the price.

IMG 3117

(Denis choose pork crackling with special pickle sandwich – it was amazing, he shared. Those crisps were hot and tasted like potatoes…)

When we compared receipts mine was double the price of his… so top tip if you go here (and I recommend you do) check out the prices as well as the nice pictures.

My mouth is watering, Mairead.

Singing in the Metro

| Mairead

2018 1

(Can we eat now?)

Denis is very good when it comes to understanding metro maps and finding his way around so I usually leave him to it but as I would be on my own next week navigating Lisbon I decided to pay attention to where I would be going and to study the map last night. It wasn’t too difficult because I really like the names of the lines… well my version of the names… My own special name for the pink line is Vermillion, what a lovely word! For the blue line Azure, again, lovely word. For the yellow line, I think of the song Do you know the way to Amarillo… every night I’ve been hugging my pillow. Who would not be happy singing metro stations? And finally Verde and that’s the original name because I love green tea (Châ Verde). The actual names are Pink Line: Vermelha; Blue Line: Azul; Yellow Line: Amarela and Green Line: Verde

2018 2

(Here comes the train)

So off we went to Lisboa this morning. We were testing out my commute for next week. We walked 20 minutes to the station and got the train to the Metro at Oriente which is on the Vermillion Line. We travelled to Saldanha and then changed to the Do you know the way to Amarillo… every night I’ve been hugging my pillow Line and got off at Rato (which funnily enough is the word for mouse, including a computer mouse!) then we walked to the hotel. We had left Ruby at the campsite in Vila Franca de Xira at 9am and arrived at the hotel where the workshop would be taking place at 11am… That would be a two-hour commute… might have to try something else.

2018 4

(Can you see the stalls running along the wall on the right? And the communal tables in the middle)

After that Denis needed a treat. So we got back on the Do you know the way to Amarillo… every night I’ve been hugging my pillow Line, changed to the Azure Line and then onto the Verde Line and went to the Time Out Market. We had seen this good food market on a program called Somebody Feed Phil on Netflix and it looked like a good place to see and taste lots of different foods.

2018 6

(The tinned sardine stall… but they had no sardines for some reason, lots of other fish though)

It’s very busy and there’s lots of choice. The food stalls are all around the walls and you walk around and pick what you want. You pay for it and you get a plastic thingy that flashes when your food is ready. While you’re waiting you find a free space at huge tables in the center. It’s a unique experience.

With all the metro lines memorised we’re ready to move on tomorrow and return to Lisboa next week, Mairead.