Portugal

Sorry we’re late…

| Mairead

2018 4

(There’s Denis with the rusty canons at Sagres Fort)

It’s different on the way back. We’re on our way back. We have been passing places we stayed in on the way out to this edge of Europe and now it’s different. On the way out at every parking spot it seemed like anything was possible. Stay for the night? Stay for a month? Come back again? Put off that tour, sure won’t we be back this way? It seems like the only restrictions were electricity, water and permission to stay.

2018 3

(More flora from the fort)

On the way back there’s another restriction. Time. Time moves more slowly in Portugal and not just for us. If we had places to go and people to meet then we might be frustrated by the laid back approach here. We might be… but we are not because we had neither places to go nor people to meet. That is changing. Fortunately for us it is changing slowly.

2018 8

(That’s the sound art, from yesterday’s post, to the right of the fencing)

Now we have places to go and people to meet. We have a ferry to catch and on the way we are meeting good friends. They will put up with us if we are late or if we just want to sit and stare at the sea or if we have nothing to say. They will give us electricity and a parking space and hot showers and if things work out like last time they will even feed us beautiful French food.

2018 5

(The view towards the east from Sagres Fort)

Hopefully by the time we reach Ireland we will know again how to be at a specific place at a specific time. Hopefully, we will successfully bring the car for it’s NCT while remembering that it needs a new battery before we can even get it out of the driveway. Hopefully, we will increase our trips to the washing machine and to the shower to allow more sweet-smelling encounters. I think we’re nearly ready but forgive us if we’re not.

2018 11

(Sunset looking at the lighthouse from Sagres)

We buy flexi tickets for the ferry each year, they allow us to move our booking if we need to. For things like snow and ice on the way out in February to staying longer on the way back. We’ve never used them but it seems this will be the year of flexibility so we changed our tickets. We even got a refund… of €5! But we’re not staying longer, we’re coming back sooner.

2018 9

(A single wild poppy at the castle in Silves)

While we were away the date for the Repeal the 8th Amendment Referendum was set and it turned out to be the day before we were due back. So we would miss it. That played on my mind. I have never considered myself political. I voted because I had the vote and my vote was hard-won for me by women who were long dead. But I never thought my vote made a difference… until the Marriage Equality Referendum. That’s when I realised, it’s not just the vote that makes a difference, it’s how the question, of which way I will vote, makes me different. It makes me reflect, which I love to do anyway but usually I reflect on myself! Why I’m here, what something means, how will I do this or solve that… But the reflection related to voting makes me think about others. I think it teaches me compassion and that’s what being political means to me.

See you soon… but I’ll probably be late. Mairead.

To the end of the land and back…

| Mairead

2018 1

(View from the car park)

We’re on our way back… we went to the edge of Europe and turned around. The edge was very lovely. It was hot and yet a slight breeze kept us cool. The edge is at an old defence fort near the town of Sagres. No military there now just flora and fauna and some rusty cannons and… a wall, of course.

2018 1 1

(Can you see Sagres? The little toe below it is the fort. And to the west at the end of the N268 is Cabo de São Vicente and the lighthouse)

But really Sagres isn’t the edge edge there’s another little peninsula of land jutting out further west, called Cabo de São Vicente but they have no wall (they do have a little wall but it doesn’t following any of my guidelines for wall building…) and the car park has potholes (we are being very gentle with Ruby since the operation…) they do have a lighthouse though. Anyway, the fort at Sagres has loads of interesting things to see… for one, fearless fishermen. They stand on the edge of the cliff that runs around the inside of the fort, leaning over the edge to… well, I don’t know why they were leaning over. Why do fishermen lean over very dangerous cliffs?

2018 10

(A fearless fisherman)

There wasn’t just one fearless fisherman, but I stopped taking pictures of them because although I could see the steep drop, the pictures don’t show it. Plus I didn’t want to catch them off guard, one false step…

2018 6

(Another fearless fisherman)

There were also fearless tourists. They had to climb over a fence with a very descriptive warning poster to get into position.

2018 9

(Can you see the fearless tourists? And the drop to the sea? Via pointy rocks?)

There was also a piece of art, sound art… I don’t mean it was sound (although it was) but it was a place to hear (and feel) the ocean in the middle of the land. Isn’t that creative? So, there are naturally occurring chambers (caves, I suppose) leading from the sea up to the middle of the peninsula and as the waves come in, sea water is blown up through the caves. They built a kind of maze but not the kind you get lost in, the kind you walk around in until you get to the center. Where there was a grid platform you can stand on… and wait. Then suddenly there’s a huge gust of wind up through the grid and you can hear the water roaring. It is so surprising. It was like being a child again seeing a funny magic trick… but I could see nothing. Very sound and all the feels.

2018 2

(Here’s some of the flora. Doesn’t it look like paper that’s been cut with a pinking shears?)

We parked in the fort’s car park that night and saw the sun set over by the unwalled lighthouse in the distance at the edge edge of Europe. So that’s it, we can’t go any further. It’s time to head north and home. There’s still lots of time until we board the ferry at Cherbourg and I have to be very careful not to miss this last bit. Missing something when it’s right in front of you is a bit of a pity. Oh and we’re actually coming back early too but I’ll tell you about that tomorrow.

From the middle of a thunder-storm in Portugal, Mairead.

Uncomprehensive Guide to Castle Walls

| Mairead

2018 5

(View of the town of Silves from inside the castle wall)

I realised I didn’t show you pictures of the castle walls or even the town walls around Silves. Probably because I was talking about the hidden things, like the well and mosaics. Castle walls are a little harder to hide and why would you want to hide them anyway? Castle and town walls are by definition supposed to be seen. You really want the marauding enemy to think, Oh look at the size of those stone walls, we’ll never get in there, let’s go to the next town!

2018 1

(The entrance to the castle with huge statue)

Or in modern times you want the tourists to think, Oh look at those amazing stone walls, let’s go have a look! Walls give the best value for money when they can be seen. The colour of your wall is key too. You don’t want to look like all the other town walls but as stone is very heavy it’s probably best to choose it from your local area, that cuts down on delivery costs. I just hope it’s a good colour. 

2018 9

(Inside the castle walls)

The positioning of your walls is very important. The absolute best place to site your wall is on top of a hill. If your chosen hill is a bit high and you don’t want excessive gusts of wind you could build your wall into the hill and use the hill as a natural defence. This would have the advantage of also looking very attractive to the tourists.

2018 13

(Deep foundations of the old town walls. Can you see the arch up top for a gateway?)

Of course you will also need to have deep foundations. These will not be seen (unless things go very badly for your wall… ) but everyone will know they are down there under the earth keeping everything in place. Let us not forget gates. Without them no one can get in. I know what you’re thinking – keep everyone out – well yes, but… you will starve.

2018 12

(Can you see these foundations? There were palatial houses within the castle walls)

Finally, if possible please add some toilets. Each monument I have visited in Portugal has excellent toilets, I am so grateful. You don’t know for sure what future visitors to your wall will need… except for toilets, they will definitely need toilets. Not too visible is best but err on the side of easy to find, if you are unsure.

Have I forgotten anything? Mairead.

The Hidden Well

| Mairead

2018 1

(The neighbours across the road from the motorhome park. Can you see the baby stork?)

We stayed in the town of Silves this week. It has a beautiful Moorish sandstone castle and the old town is surrounded by sandstone red walls. I went to visit the castle on Thursdays morning. It was uphill from the motorhome park.

2018 2

(Uphill over cobblestones)

Actually it’s worth noting the motorhome park in Silves has the best washing machines and dryer in all of Portugal… in my opinion. Probably the best washing machines and dryer in the world. (Miele made them not Carlsberg) I washed and dried everything. It’s the simple things.

2018 8

(View from the cafe)

Thursday was a beautiful day to amble around and consider this lovely life again… I walked on the walls and sat in the cafe and went underground into the cistern. The cistern was used to store water, enough to supply 1,200 men for a year. There was no water in it when I was there just an exhibition about the endangered species of wild cat called the Iberian Lynx. It was very interesting. They have introduced a breeding program and there were videos of the adult mother cats with their kittens. I don’t know if they are called kittens but they looked very like domesticated kittens.

2018 13

(I’m standing at one of the openings (there’s my shoes on the right) of the well, looking into the water)

Then I went to visit the archaeological museum. It’s down the road and around the corner from the castle but still inside the old walls. It’s full of artefacts from prehistoric times to the 18th century, found in Silves. But the center piece of the museum is a well. In fact the museum would never have existed if it wasn’t for the well. Back in the 80’s the municipality (the council, I think) was building a canteen until… the builders came across the well. Everything stopped and they had a new idea. They built the museum around the well. It’s actually a very impressive well with steps going down underground around the well and openings that look into the well. None of my pictures do it justice. I’m not sure my words are helping either…

2018 12

(Here’s the opening I was standing in and there’s another opposite)

This reminded me of the mosaics near Soure and all the mosaics that must be still buried under the old houses of Portugal. Again, here in Silves people have been living and dying and working and dreaming for thousands of years. Apart from the history we can see there’s so much hidden.

Waves from the Algarve, Mairead.

May Day! May Day!

| Mairead

2018 1

(Here’s me in happier times… at my favourite breakfast place in the town with the house of the oranges, having my favourite breakfast)

We’ve moved on! We are not at the house of the oranges, we are in Ruby! So, the clutch is fixed. We arrived at 5pm on Monday to pick her up, Denis went for a test drive and all was great. Then he went in to pay… This might be useful information for you some day… the garage doesn’t take credit cards. Nope. What were we thinking? We were thinking, how else would you pay such a huge amount? The answer is: In cash…

2018 6

(Most, maybe 98%, of the houses are painted white… here’s the rebel)

We went to the bank to get out the cash. The bank was closed. The bank closed at 3pm. Never mind, there’s an atm. You can’t take that much money out, there’s a daily limit on bank cards. Never mind, we’ll ring the bank, get that raised. Yes they can raise it but… only after midnight, come back in the morning… Nooooo! We looked at each other… now what? We rang the Swiss doctor. Remember him from the day we broke down? He said ring anytime we needed help. We needed help.

2018 1 1

(We have a translations app (above) and this is how we were going to explain to the mechanic that we didn’t have the money. Do you remember the Popeye cartoon in the 70’s where one of the characters says, I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today?)

He didn’t know what to do either. We went back to the garage. On the way we extended our stay at the house of the oranges… again. We didn’t really know how to explain to the mechanic that we didn’t have the money. We had both started to say, Problem! when a man came up to us and said, it’s ok I’m here. Do you remember the Dutch man who just happened to be in the garage the previous Monday and translated for us? Well, he happened to be at the garage this Monday to arrange a chat with the boss mechanic about selling his car! He translated that we didn’t have the money but we would be able to get it tomorrow. Then the mechanic said something… It didn’t look like, that’s great! It looked like, that’s terrible!

2018 2

(Helpful poster in one of our favourite restaurants in the town)

It was terrible, because the next day was the 1st of May – a holiday in Portugal. The garage would be closed. The banks would be closed. Most business in the town would be closed. We would have to wait two more days. Another extension at the house with the oranges… But no, it’s ok, our Dutch translating angel told us he was hoping to meet the boss mechanic for a quick chat the next day and maybe he could arrange for us to bring the money then. He took our number and said he would ring later when he knew. We went to sit in the square. He rang, yes we could meet the boss next day at 10am!

2018 3

(Saw these olives on an olive plant (remember plant not tree!) on the road near the school)

I did not sleep. At 9am we arrived at the atm. Everything was going to be fine…right? Not yet. Our limit had been raised, we started taking out the bundles of cash and then we reached the atm’s limit per card. There’s an atm limit per card… (I hope you’re taking notes.) We still didn’t have enough money. We found another cash machine… it was out-of-order. We did that look again, the one where hope ebbs away. We rang the bank again. Ok, if we buy something using a card at a shop it will reset it. We bought a box of After Eight (I found them very useful later) at the only shop open in the town. The After Eights didn’t reset the card.  We wandered around the town for another twenty minutes looking for another atm… Then we realised we could get cash out on our credit cards… We had two credit cards, we started withdrawing money. (FYI: There’s a card limit on those too.)

2018 5

(One of our favourite tapas dishes last week)

We sat on the footpath outside the bank counting the bundles of notes. (It was a lot of notes – the atm’s in Portugal only handle €20 and €10 notes…no €50 notes.) We finally had enough cash. We set off for the garage. The boss mechanic was there, we handed him the notes and he handed us the keys. We said goodbye to out translating angel and we drove back to the house of the oranges one last time to load up our stuff.

I might have cried on the phone to the lovely lady called Leanne from the Revenue help line later that day but that’s another story. Mairead.

One stitch after another…

| Mairead

2018 1

(This is an old Roman road at the entrance to the olive farm)

Still here at the house with the oranges, in the town with the olive farm, waiting for Ruby to recover. The mechanic has started holding his head in his hands when he sees us… no translation necessary. It seems there’s still a problem. My mother reminded me that this is when I do craft stuff. I left the crafting stuff in the van.

2018 2

(Yummy yarn)

Then I remembered I had two balls of yarn and there was probably a crochet needle in my pencil-case. When I searched I found the laundry bag. Oh yes, the washing… thinking there would be a washing machine I carried our laundry the twenty-minute walk to the house with the oranges. There was no washing machine. First I hand washed the clothes, then I started crocheting.

2018 3

(It says Camel Wool…)

On the first day we arrived in this town we saw a shop with a sign offering accommodation. The lady explained the rooms were a bit far outside the town unless you had transport and we didn’t. As we chatted my eyes wandered to a colourful display – yarn. I realised she sold yarn. She had wool and cotton and a camel wool mix! Camel wool? Really? Anyway. Beautiful colours. Irresistible. I wanted one ball of every colour – just to look at. I bought two balls.

2018 4

(Granny square)

Crochet is very forgiving. Well at least it is the way I do it. My sister-in-law, Kate, taught me that you can join odd unmatched pieces of crochet work together like a patchwork quilt. So that’s what I have been doing ever since. Before that I was stockpiling squares, hiding them in cupboards, finding them when I was looking for something else. Taking them out to marvel at their colour, their texture, their comfort. Wondering how I could have forgotten them. The first one I pieced together made me laugh and cry, it was so surprisingly lovely.

2018 5

(Looks way bigger close up)

I kept crocheting over the weekend. I have no crochet books with me but I know one pattern off by heart, so that’s the one I’m doing. It’s called granny square and it starts with six stitches which are joined together to make a circle. By the third row it starts to look like a square and the square gets bigger as you continue. You can keep going until you run out of wool… or you decide this piece is done. I decide a piece is done when the work in my hand feels big enough, which is different each time. When it’s done you have to close it off so the yarn doesn’t unravel. The piece is actually finished when the yarn is cut. There is a moment when I realise something has been accomplished. Sometimes I notice this moment and sometimes I don’t but when I do it brings a feeling of contentment. Imagine if contentment was so simply attainable.

What if it is? Mairead.

The Olive Farm

| Mairead

2018 9

(One of the olive groves)

There’s an Olive Farm in our adopted town and you can go on a tour. I went along on Friday. It’s just across the road from our garage so we had spotted it last Sunday but it was closed. I booked the tour online and then arrived at the farm at 10am. Two mini busses were arriving at the same time. It turned out they were both full of Sweden visitors on a holiday in Portugal. They had their own Swedish guide who lives in Portugal and speaks Portuguese and French and Spanish and… I can’t remember the other languages. She was so friendly and generously said she loves listening to the Irish accent (what accent?)

2018 2

(Tiago and the olive plant)

The tour was conducted by Tiago (Portuguese for James… like Saint James of Santiago de Compostela and you might remember S.Tiago in the church in Soure?) who spoke perfect English. His tour was really interesting and the first thing I learned was that there is no such thing as an Olive tree! Olives do not grow on trees. They grow on shrubs. In order to illustrate this Tiago brought us to the oldest trees on the farm. He told us they were definitely over 1,000 years old but because they weren’t trees you couldn’t measure their age by the rings. Also, the center of the main stem (or what we’ve been calling, the trunk) disintegrates with age so that the appearance looks like two trees… but it’s not even one tree, it’s a shrub.

2018 3

(One of the oldest olive plants on the farm. Can you see the center has disintegrated?)

Tiago explained the process of farming the olives. The yearly pruning by a Spanish team who are experts in pruning and only prune olive plants and travel to olive farms all around Spain and Portugal. The harvesting of the olives happens in September and is all done by hand by a team of thirty people. The number of people is significant, Tiago told us, because they want the time between the olive being picked and the olive being crushed to be less than 3 hours. So thirty people begin work on a section of the farm. First they lay gathering mats on the ground to catch the olives without bruising. Then one group of harvesters wear scissors on their hands and pick off the olives. The next group has combs (imagine a huge cartoon-sized hair comb) and comb out any remaining olives. The next group search for olives missed by the first two.

2018 1

(Olive flowers)

Then the olives are gathered into the pressing shed. They go through a washing machine, gentle cycle, then a hammering machine, then a stone grinding machine  – with actual stone wheels like the old days for grinding flour but in a machine (imagine a machine with stones? I was very taken by this.) Each time the olives go through a machine the output passes through a sieve. Anything left in the sieves will be used next year for compost. So from the stone machine (I think I like the stone machine because it reminds me of the Flintstones!) the oil goes into huge steel cylinders and each day they turn the tap at the bottom and at first they get some debris not caught in the sieves, then they get water and then oil. The day they turn the tap and just get oil the contents of that cylinder is ready to go to the holding tank. Tiago told us that even at this stage the oil is not ready, it is too bitter, it must sit for a while. I can’t remember how long, but I do know about being bitter and sitting for a while sounds very sensible. Just sayin’.

2018 19

(The stone grinding machine. Can you see the grindstones?)

Then it was time for tasting. I have never tasted Olive Oil… well maybe I should say, I never drank Olive Oil. I remember, for my whole childhood, we had a small little bottle of olive oil in the medicine cupboard. It was used when we had an earache. You heat the oil in a spoon – not too hot – and pour it carefully into the sore ear. It was never used for cooking. Of course as an adult I have used olive oil for cooking. I also mix it with balsamic vinegar for salads… but drinking. I was not looking forward to this. Tiago was such a nice young man I did not want to insult his olive oil but how could I possibly drink it?

2018 25

(Tasting time…)

At the beginning of the tour when we were out visiting the oldest olive shrubs one of the people on the tour asked Tiago if it wouldn’t be more efficient to dig up the old plants and put in new ones. Tiago explained there was no reason to do so as neither the quantity nor the quality of the olives diminish with the age of the plant and also it takes years for the young plants to reach maturity… about 20 years! So I suppose I was already feeling the love for Tiago and the olive farmers who tend and care for the old olive plants and I would definitely be doing my very best to swallow this liquid that I was more comfortable putting in my ear…

2018 21

(The huge cylinders. Can you see the tap?)

… but it was absolutely delicious! Really, it was. I’m not just saying it. I am still amazed. I really enjoyed the tour and learned a lot about olive oil. Like, it doesn’t last indefinitely in your larder (or medicine cupboard) probably up to two years but the way to check? Drink some! And if it’s not rancid then it’s still ok and the tests show the vitamin content remains good too. Also, light and heat make it go off faster, so keep it in the dark and away from the cooker.

I will be drinking my olive oil from now on… Mairead.

Kittens and Coffee

| Mairead

2018 5

(Spring, spring, spring)

We are still at the house of the oranges in the garden. Ruby is still at the garage. We have fallen into a different routine here. Normally we have breakfast and lunch in the van and get dinner out from time to time. This week we are having every meal out. So for breakfast we go to Padeira de Vila (I think it means town bakery) we went there the first morning and we just keep going back. They are really friendly and the way they make Americano coffee is perfect. Breakfast is coffee and a ham roll with orange juice. you can probably guess that the orange juice is not from a bottle. Today we had lunch, a toasted ham and cheese sandwich, I don’t know what kind of cheese it is but it’s amazing.

2018 2

(Poppies and daisies)

It is very unusual for us to repeat a visit to a cafe or restaurant but this week we are and they are starting to notice us. On the second day the waitress (when we were murdering the language with our order for breakfast) said, the same as yesterday? We were delighted and relieved, Yes, please! Em, sim, obrigada, obrigado! Today a lady who works upstairs at the solicitor’s office (see, we are practically locals) came in with an adorable kitten (sorry no photos, imagine a tabby kitten, the size of the palm of your hand, meowing loudly with adorably velvety ears) that someone else had found wandering in the road. The lady in the cafe gave her a box and a container for milk and milk and off she went.

2018 4

(Sunset from last week)

Thirty minutes later she’s back from the chemist with a bag of baby wipes, a lidded jar, a towel and what looks like a baby’s bottle. The kitten is up in her office and she hasn’t been fired yet. We all bond over her dilemma. We understand. We’ve been there. Kittens have such cute little faces. They are so trusting and loveable. How hard could kitten-adoption be? One so young would easily get used to a new home, even a motorhome…

2018 7

(Like a bird on the wire)

It’s getting dangerous to stay here much longer, between the lovely people the beautiful houses, the favourable cost of living and the cute kittens, we are in danger of making snap decisions with far-reaching consequences. Will know later today when Ruby will be ready, probably should keep away from anything cute until then.

Tchau, Mairead.

Thank you, Portugal!

| Mairead

2018 1

(Normally closed these shutters keep the house cool. Can you see the thickness of the wall?)

We are staying in a house on the edge of town, did I tell you that? It’s a very cute traditional Portuguese house. It has shutters on the windows at the front and very small windows at the back and really thick walls. Which all helps to keep the interior of the house very cool. So cool in fact we wear an extra layer when we are inside. It’s the original air conditioning. We have been here three days and I’ve only just realised that something I have been imagining with you, has become real… There are oranges growing in our garden!

2018 3

(Oranges growing in our garden)

Ok I know it’s not technically our garden but it is kinda our garden for today and probably tomorrow and the next day. Einstein seemingly said imagination was more important than intelligence… he was probably thinking of oranges. As well as the oranges, there’s a vine, possibly an almond tree (do almonds grow on trees?) a couple of different palm trees, something that looks like woodbine and a fruit I don’t recognise (picture below.) There are birds tweeting and cars passing on the road outside. Over the road is a field with rows and rows of small trees in blossom but I don’t recognise them either.

2018 1 1

(Unidentified fruit)

This unexpected visit to a real Portuguese house and garden is lovely and the powerful shower is truly lovely. This unexpected week in a small Portuguese town is very different to the way we have been travelling and being temporarily not in control of our destiny has brought up interesting messages…

2018 4

(Also don’t know what theses are…)

Like how much support we have received from the communities in the towns we have travelled through. We have been here in Portugal for two months today. Without the parking spots they provide for motorhomes, without the water and the emptying places, without the electricity and the refuse and recycling bins, without the great mobile data rates, we couldn’t do what we do.

2018 2

(…or this shrub. The flowers smell beautiful)

Sometimes we need a bit of a jolt to realise how incredibly lucky we are and how maybe we’ve been taking it all for granted. Today is a holiday in Portugal. I googled it but at the risk of getting it completely, insultingly wrong, I will find a real Portuguese person to tell me the story. I think it’s going to be about peace and freedom…

Obrigada, Portugal, you are generous and kind and beautiful. Mairead.