all is well

The Lessons of Benet

| Mairead

(1. Watch out for the signs…)

We are still in the town of Benet but… today the part arrived! We are over the moon. Could it be that difficulties arise in order that we can have an opportunity to be over the moon? About a piece of engineered metal getting transported to a small town in France to a man with mechanical skills who is available to do something very specific with it?

(2. Notice the beauty…)

I am also over the moon about all the hours Denis spent with Duolingo in bed each morning practicing French (it’s a free language learning app…) because when we stood in front of the French receptionist there was communication and understanding.

(3. Grow where you land…)

I am also over the moon that we have a place to stay tonight while Ruby overnights in the garage. There will be a bed, a shower, a desk and WiFi and there’s a restaurant and it’s not expensive. There’s even a Lidl supermarket next door.

(4. You might have to go round and round…)

When everything goes well it’s natural to expect everything will continue to go well. When things stop going well, it’s natural to expect things will continue to stop going well. But at precisely this moment we had a choice…

(5. Don’t be dramatic!)

It was easy for us to become disillusioned and only see things going badly now. Today it seems we have an opportunity to be over the moon, notice and be grateful for ever little teeny tiny thing that goes right.

(6. You don’t have to be perfect to be useful…)

In that way we are neither expecting everything to go well or expecting everything to go badly. We have suspended our expectations in order to look at what comes to us in the moment and be grateful for it. If it is something we like we will be over the moon, if it is something that makes us uncomfortable we will deal with it.

(7. Take the next step… open the door)

After sitting for days with the discomfort of a not knowing what will happen next we know the next step… we are off to a hotel to spend the night while Ruby is in the garage.

Missing her already, Mairead.

Wet, Wet, Wet

| Mairead

(Way, way, way in the distance behind the clouds are the Pyrenees)

Orion is a constellation but it’s also a commune in France. A commune in France is like a district or a parish. (I’m getting all my information from Wikipedia.) We stayed in a commune near Orion called Orriule. On a clear day you can see the Pyrenees from Orriule. It was not a clear day.

(On top of the world)

We have been spoilt with the weather lately so the arrival of torrential rain has been a shock. Also, there are only 137 people in Orriule and none of them runs a cafe or Boulangerie, our step count is abysmal due to the weather and lack of motivational pastries and we are snapping at each other.

(Can you see the little cows?)

These are the sort of days I make my crafts. You may remember the cupboard filled with my craft supplies? So I got busy and made loads of beautiful things. I am so pleased with myself. Pictures? No, I forgot to take pictures… no couldn’t possibly take pictures now. No, of course I’m not lying about the crafts.

(Blue sky and fog in the valley as we leave Orriule)

I’m lying about the crafts. I didn’t do any. Someone might need to remember the storks… Maybe I’ll make a stork out of my supplies?

We’ve run out of toilet paper, Mairead.

The Old Town of Bragança

| Mairead

(The castle inside the walls of the old town)

We have arrived at the town of Bragança. We are tired. We have been pushing on to make time for later. We loved this town last year and we promised ourselves we would stay longer this year but this seems unlikely now. So I will enjoy each moment that I am here and perhaps a future visit will be longer.

(Wild flowers flourish nearby)

The weather is warm, the birds are singing and I am sitting on a perfectly placed bench under an olive branch. Fitting… possibly. Behind me is the old town, in front of me the hilly countryside. If I lean a little forward and look left I might see Spain.

(Winding walking path around the old and new town)

This feels like a perfect moment to be mindful. I might have passed all this by if I didn’t realise it was only here for one day, that it is passing. More like we are passing but this experience in this particular town on this particular day is passing. We are also passing and we are passing through. Maybe we are passing ourselves out.

(Farming views)

Every experience changes us or gives us the opportunity to change, the opportunity to do something different or differently. But we do not need to be travelling, seeking foreign lands to have experiences. Every moment is an experience.

(Shady spot inside the town walls)

There’s an opportunity waiting for me here. If I stay awake I will see it. Or hear it. Or feel it.

Don’t pass it by, Mairead.

Bird Song and Frog Croaks

| Mairead

(Park here… this one’s in Spanish but the picture is always the same)

Sunday is the day we travel the longest so from Évora we travelled three hours to a camper van parking spot called Penamacor in Benquerença which is in the middle of the countryside. We passed through small mountain villages, along narrow roads following parking signposts.

(Lovely lavender growing wild)

When we arrived it was full of camper vans and motor homes and there was a spot for us beside the river. The temperature was high but there was shade. With the solar panels we don’t normally park in shade but as we’d been travelling for hours our battery was full.

(Can you hear the frogs?)

We parked up and went for a walk. There was a little bar on the other side of the river over a foot bridge. I’ll remind you this was in the middle of the country, nearest tiny village probably 5km. In the height of summer the river gets diverted and you can swim here, there’s also a playground. There were plenty of people inside the bar and on the deck outside. The waitress had no English but we managed to be understood.

(Sun-bleached table)

Afterwards we walked along the deserted country road and a dried mud lane to another bridge. This is olive farm land with small holdings and what looks like hand-ploughed fields. The only sounds the birds singing and the frogs croaking.

(Wild flowers by the side of the road)

Denis barbecued chicken outside and we were asleep before ten. Next morning we left early.

Note to self: Spend longer here next time. Mairead.

(Free parking, free motorhome facilities, free rustic toilets and shower, near bar.)

Balancing in Beja

| Mairead

(From inside Ruby inside the garage)

We got to the garage in Beja and Denis talked to the very nice man on the desk. Big and all as the garage was they couldn’t fit us in (maybe to their diary) but he did have a solution. He sent us to another garage to get our wheels balanced.

(The balancing man)

It worked. Ruby is no long shaking, she has found balance. While we waited I was transported back to my childhood. My Dad had a petrol station with a tyre repair garage and I remember watching him or Dick (who worked there) balance wheels. It was labour intensive work. They have fancy machines now in the garage in Beja but it’s still work.

(Bunting over the streets in Beja)

Afterwards we booked into the municipal campsite. I had a fun time bleaching our tea towels before we went on a mission to find dinner. We’d had a lovely meal in a tapas restaurant last year so we went off to relive that. It was closed. We rambled around Beja in the fading light looking for a replacement.

(There’s a tap up there!)

Denis loves Chinese food, especially if it’s an all-you-can-eat buffet. I do not. Not because it’s not yummy. No, it’s because of the temptation of the sweet section and the pancake section. Desert is my favourite meal. Also, I’m too embarrassed to keep going back to the buffet and I never put enough on the plate to begin with. I might be the only person who leaves an all-you-can-eat buffet hungry. We found a Chinese restaurant, it was open, it was not all-you-can-eat. We ate moderately.

Balance in all things, Mairead.

(Beja: Parking, toilets, showers, water €12)

Leaving Paradise…

| Mairead

(The fort from the castle walls at Castro Marim)

And then we had to leave… leave the beach, the 6am walks, the sea glass, the heat – no we didn’t have to leave the heat, it is hot everywhere at the moment. We travelled to the border town of Castro Marim. We were here before. It has a big fort and old town walls. And a grand big supermarket.

(The castle walls. I feel very safe up here. Can’t see anything though…)

We parked in the huge car park at the grand big supermarket and settled down for the day. I went to buy provisions for lunch. It was really, really hot but the breeze was strong. By nightfall we were reconsidering the whole “strong breezes are good” thinking. The wind shook us and the bicycles in the back all through the night. By morning we were in need of a good night’s sleep.

(Some lovely lichen)

Truth is we are leaving more than the beach, we are leaving The Algarve and taking our first steps home. From now on we will park for a night and move along in the morning. I think the wind is upset for us. It will take three more weeks but this is the beginning of our journey home.

(Flowering tree)

Ruby (the motorhome) was upset too but we didn’t know that until we were driving along the motorway out of Castro Marim. Even though the wind had died down she was still shaking. This was not good. We would have to find a garage. Memories of last year, in the small village of Moncarapacho, very close to here where we had to wait for two weeks to get the clutch fixed, came rushing back. The atmosphere was tense.

(Poppy!)

There was nowhere to stop on the road and have a look. Also, what were we looking for? So we kept going. But I wondered if staying in the Algarve with all the tourist facilities might be our best option. At the time we were heading for a parking spot in the middle of nowhere. We kept going. When we arrived there was no one there. We knew it cost €5 and last time we were there it was almost full. Where was everyone?

(The salt fields at Castro Marim)

Denis took a quick look around the van, no puncture, nothing hanging underneath, no clue. Decision time. My choice was the Algarve, Denis’ Beja. He was driving… Three years ago we found the town of Beja and fell in love with it. We stayed for ten days in their Municipal Campsite. It was old and in need of repairs but the toilets were clean, the people were friendly and the location was perfect. But what made him think we would find a mechanic who could understand the problem and us?

(Cobblestone road inside the castle walls. Do you see the stones placed especially for cart wheels?)

Ninety minutes later we knew. Somewhere in the back of his mind Denis had a memory of a huge garage in Beja between the supermarket and McDonalds. (Three year’s ago McDonald’s WiFi was one of the best ways for him to work.) He didn’t know he remembered the garage until he saw it.

(True that)

Our mind are amazing. We have more stored in there than we know. I was choosing the Algarve because I was afraid we wouldn’t find someone to understand us anywhere else. Denis was looking for the best solution and instinctively knew it. Very useful.

Be like Denis, follow your gut, Mairead.

(Castro Marim, in the Algarve and on the border with Spain. Free parking and water. Nice town, restaurants, cafes, castle walls, fort and grand supermarket.)

Praia da Falésia

| Mairead

(The sandy path to the beach…)

I thought when we were in that sea view spot at the Municipal campsite of Setúbal that there was only one paradise in Portugal. We found another one. In the Algarve and it’s called Praia da Falésia. I want to stay here for ever… or three days. One or the other.

(…and the steps down to the beach)

It’s way down on the coast just a short sandy walk to the beach. It is very hot, top temperatures 43 degrees but I am not roasting to death because they have great breeze here too. Also, I have a new routine, I chase the shade around the van. It does mean I sometimes have to sit with the neighbours (or very, very close to them) but we are making it work. By we I mean the neighbours and I. Denis on the other hand has acclimatized and he’s happy to work away inside drinking cold coffee.

(There might be danger)

I’ve had no problem getting out of bed at 6am while we are here to trot down to the beach and wait for the sun to come over the cliff. There’s very few people on the beach at this time and I’m already recognising the regulars. The walkers and joggers who prefer their exercise with some shade. My pattern is to just sit on the sand and listen to the waves. They come in and go out as I watch. I take pictures and little videos to remind me later when I’m not here.

(It’s a sign)

This waves in and waves out makes me think of a theater. Not an actual theatre but the virtual one I’m sitting in behind my eyes. Every day there’s a new show or maybe the same show has a long run. Eventually every show ends and another one starts. The show in front of my eyes now is the water moving in and moving out. The music is the roar of the sea.

(See the little sun umbrellas?)

Some shows are great fun, some are hard work and others are just confusing. Some shows I should just get up and leave. Can I leave a show that’s really bad? Would that be rude? Some shows end too soon, others at just the right time.

(Remember when making sun castles was something you did?)

Every day a show comes to my theatre… I can either enjoy it or hate it. It doesn’t matter there’ll be another show along later. People walk into my show and walk out of my show and there’ll be more walking later. Nothing lasts, everything changes and it’s all for me. Just me. My show is just for me.

Yours is just for you, Mairead.

Off to the Beach

| Mairead

(Nice flowers in the dunes)

One of the great things about Portugal is that no matter how hot it gets there’s always (almost always) a breeze near the coast. So when it got really hot by the river we moved to a beach.

(Not a lot of shade)

The beach was Santo André and it’s just north of the city of Sines. There are board walks, a cafe and a restaurant and lots of sand. We went for a couple of walks on the sand and along the boardwalk but the main attraction for us is the breeze and they have great breeze here.

(Can you feel the breeze?)

My band of comfortable temperatures does surprise me every time I hit up against it. It’s very narrow. For instance, at 10 degrees I think I’m freezing to death and at 25 degrees I think I’m roasting to death. Outside that band I stop making rational decisions. When the temperature hit 30 degrees in Alcacér do Sal the only thing I could think of to help was to go to bed.. inside the van… where the temperature was higher. Funny enough that’s also my answer when the temperature falls below 2 degrees.

(The boardwalk)

Meanwhile there are people out jogging, riding bikes, playing boules, lying in the sun. How do they do that? One of my favourite fairy tales when I was little was The Princess and the Pea. In case you don’t know the story… the Princess went to visit another kingdom and to make sure she was really the princess they did a bit of a test. They put a pea under her matress. Next morning they asked how she slept, she replied she was a little uncomfortable. Next night they gave her a second matress but the pea was still underneath. When they asked her next morning how she slept she said she was grand but the matress was still a little uncomfortable. They kept adding mattresses until she almost touched the ceiling and they were convinced she must definitely be a Princess if she could still feel the pea under so many mattresses.

I don’t want to blow my own trumpet but I’m obviously a Princess, Mairead.

(There’s Santo André. Free parking, toilets open when cafe open, free water, loads of breeze)

The heartbroken Princess

| Mairead

(Setting sun)

Once upon a time there was as a little princess who was magic. She was able to get anything she wanted with her magic.

(Cozy quilt by the sea)

You might think a princess like this was happy or contented. She wasn’t. The first thing she said as soon as she got something was “but I want…” or ” but I need…” followed by what she wanted next. And because she was magic she got the next thing. So again you might think she was happy or contented because she got the next thing. She wasn’t.

(Wide door)

The sad thing was she was heartbroken. Of course she was. You see all she could think about was what she didn’t have. Her mind was full of loss and not enough and not as good as and less than and they have more than… You would be heartbroken too.

(Narrow passageway)

The most sad thing about this little Princess was she had the power to be happy. She could have been happy every single day of her life. She just didn’t know it. And no matter how many times the people around her told her she could not listen because her mind was so full of what she didn’t have.

(Funny statue in Setúbal)

You might ask why didn’t she get happy with her magic? Her magic could only bring her things, bring her places, bring her people. It was her power that could bring her happy. She never used it. There was a way she could have been happy for one day, just one day (or maybe half a day, just half a day) with her magic. By placing one of the things she got by magic in her mind for a full day (or just half a day if a full day was too long.) If she had been able to think of nothing but the joy of receiving the most recent thing she got and think only of that for a full day (or half a day) she would have been happy for that day.

(Lovely view in Alćacer do Sal)

She was never taught this by her parents so she didn’t know. She didn’t know about her power either and that was sad because it was even more powerful (that’s not a surprise is it?) than her magic. Her power was the story she told herself and her story was lack. Her story could so easily have been, plenty. Mine definitely could.

Could yours? Mairead.