Porto 2023 Part 2

May 10, 2023May 10, 2023 | Mairead

We were off and the first thing we learned was Clara knows Ireland! She once visited her brother who works in Dublin. Both she and he love Dublin. I was chatting with a friend on emails about how we Irish always think we’re going to meet a neighbour (or cousin or someone who knows someone) who just happens to be in the same county on holidays at the same time as us… And here we were in almost that situation… no, not exactly but you know we are going to look up her brother.

Our tour was off to a great start, we were now discussing how very alike the Irish and Portuguese are, something I have believed for a while. We’re very friendly, curious, interested, maybe even a bit nosey? We’re a bit, sure it’ll be grand, no rush, have another cup of tea – the Portuguese love tea too. But Clara insisted we really had to get on with the tour so we did. First stop was an old fashioned grocery store. It was a small exquisitely cared for space. There was fruit, nuts, sweets, wine, port, tins of sardines and chocolate. All Portuguese products.

Clara explained that these shops have had approaches from big food companies interested in buying their property in order to put in a fast food (or other) outlet. We felt very grateful that this hadn’t happened and we could stand in a place that had served generations in Porto. But I can imagine these shops and others like them in cities all over the world won’t be here forever, especially if we’re not buying from them, supporting them.

Marriage… I think that’s what the shop owner said this was called

Then we were off to the Bolhão market. This farmers and producers market has been closed for renovations for three years but now it’s back in business and it’s busy. Everyone seems very happy to be back. The market building itself is open to the air but the market stalls are covered. This makes for a very pleasant visit, no fishy smells and protection if it rains. One thing we noticed was plenty of people sitting around eating and soaking up the atmosphere.

From upstairs looking down into the Bolhão market

This is the market where I wanted to ask lots of questions about how I should behave in general at markets. Like, Can I take pictures? How will I cook unfamiliar foods? Will they gut the fish? The big answer is, Don’t be afraid to make mistakes! That’s actually the answer to most of my questions about behaviour… but maybe that’s not just me. The gist of what Clara said was, Just open your heart, trust your voice and ask. Most people will speak English or the other shoppers will help. And yes, it’s ok to take pictures. The stall holders are so passionate about their produce that they are happy to help in ways that allow you to support them. They won’t be here either if we don’t buy from them, support them.

Minerva have been canning sardines (and other fish) in a Portugal since 1942. I had to admit I thought all the tins of sardines were just for decoration. Well, they are very attractive, but no, they are also for eating. We tasted tuna in olive oil and it was very good. The lady who was giving the tasting loved her product and that made the visit very enjoyable. Clara’s other job is in advertising or maybe it was marketing… anyway, we had a very interesting conversation about packaging. Packaging helps us buy and support producers. I love Minerva’s packaging.

We also visited the Portuguese chocolate shop, Casa do Chocolate, where I had a caramel chocolate (yum!) and the Pastel de Nata bakery where I had another lovely nata… cannot get enough of the natas.

What do you get when you cross a chemist with a painter? Meia Dúzia! Here we tasted the food created by a chemist who was a painter in his spare time. His creation looks like paint. This tasting was the most fun and really appealed to me because I never feel creative when it’s time to make dinner but… ingredients that look like I’m about to play with paint? I can enjoy that! You are probably familiar with a crushed garlic product that you get in a plastic tube? Well this is much more interesting. There were over 30 different tubes of things like olive paste or chocolate orange or fig. We tasted most of them! There wasn’t one I didn’t like. And all made with Portuguese produce.

Paint? No! And it’s okay to play with your food!

Our last visit was to a tiny restaurant where we chatted about writing, poets in Portugal, history including the dictatorship that lasted for 50 years in Portugal and ended in 1974, when the dictator died, followed by a peaceful revolution. And while we chatted we ate threes different types of ham, three different types of bread and olive oil. And then it was all over. We were sad to say goodbye to Clara, she had made our visit to Porto so enjoyable and we won’t forget her… and we’ll definitely be looking up her brother.

Two types of bread, Bacalhau (cod fish cake) and olive oil. The brown bread tasted like fudge to me. Lots of villages in Portugal seems to have their own version of bread

Clara pointed us in the direction of São Bento and we rambled down the steep hill. We were tired and ready for bed but it was only 3.30pm and we had a train journey to take first.

Clara’s route to São Bento had the best view

At the station we saw a photo exhibition with photos from journalists taken in 1974 on the day of the peaceful revolution. One showed two soldiers with rifles and in the muzzle of each gun was a carnation. Clara had told us earlier that the people wanted democracy and the army were fed up fighting with their own so when someone put flowers in their guns, they didn’t stop them. Freedom Day is celebrated on the 25 of April each year.

Photograph in the station. Can you see the carnation?

The train driver got off the train again on the way home but this time we knew what to do – wait, soon you will be going in a different direction. We loved our tour with Clara in Porto. I know what to do in the markets and on the trains and I know flowers can be powerful.

Porto 2023 Part 1

May 9, 2023May 8, 2023 | Mairead

As I was saying yesterday we were parked right beside the train station. We had our tickets and we were ready to go so we got up early-ish and got the 9:18am train. But not before taking some pictures of the old station. (beautiful blue tiles) Then off we went delighted with ourselves. Very soon we realized we were sitting on the wrong side of the train… every seat on the left side going towards Porto was full, we were sitting on the right side. That’s the side the sun was pouring in… we were soon roasted, but grand.

Within an hour we had arrived in Porto at a station called Campanhã and then the train driver got out – a bit disconcerting. We were supposed to be going to Saõ Bento. You know how it is, you’re watching everybody else wondering what they are going to do? Asking yourself, “is this really the last stop?” And then the train started up again and we were going backwards… into Porto.

Train lines around Porto… never know when you might need it!

We saw some beautiful views over the river including the bridges but I wasn’t able to take pictures because like I said, we were sitting on the wrong side of the train. But, it was spectacular. If you ever go to Porto get on one of the trains that go over the river, any of the trains and any of the bridges. Also there’s a walking bridge that has a metro line running on it too. Walk on that one too. I’ll see if I can find the name of the bridge and the metro line. (It’s the Don Luis I Bridge Metro Yellow or D line.) There are amazing views of Porto from that bridge.

Now we were in the train station at Saõ Bento in Porto and we had until 12.30pm to wait for our tour. We had decided not to have breakfast or coffee, we wouldn’t eat anything until the tour because it’s a food tour, there will be food… oh I nearly forgot Saõ Bento station is impressive and it’s worth taking a moment to look at the blue tiles covering the walls of the big hall at the entrance. Lots of people are doing the same thing – just standing there taking pictures. Then we walk out of the station and see the most people we’ve seen in one place for years! Literally. The streets are jampacked… we look at each other and decide to change our minds about the no coffee and sit at the first free seat in a cafe across the road from the station.

Took this as soon as I sat down but it doesn’t properly depict the crowds…

Denis went in to order coffee and a nata while I kept myself busy watching dodgy looking characters. There would be no leaving my bag, nonchalantly on a chair here. To be honest I saw nothing out of the ordinary but my nervous system was indeed on full alert. Probably didn’t need the coffee then… hmmm.

After coffee, we headed off to Trinidad station (to meet our guide) just walking the streets of Porto is so nice and was very comfortable. Not every part of the center was as busy as the station and it was a beautiful day, not too hot in the shade with a nice breeze. We spent time in a book/stationery shop and I got a book of poems from the Portuguese poet, Fernando Pessoa and Denis bought a phone cover.

It was time to meet our guide, Clara, she had sent me a WhatsApp earlier and we were to meet up outside a cafe near the Trindade train station. We were supposed be waiting outside the café but it was hot so we were waiting in the shade and we could see the cafe in the distance. It wasn’t long before I realised that she may also be waiting in the shade somewhere and we really better go stand outside the cafe… in the hot sun.

This beautiful building on route to Trindade is a seed shop

Almost immediately I saw someone who could be our guide, I went up to her and said, “are you Clara?” No it wasn’t Clara, the clues were, her lack of response and the fact that she was vaping. Fortunately, at that very moment, a friendly voice said, “hi, I’m Clara, are you waiting for a Clara?” Clara had a huge smile and shook hands confidently and I thought, yes, I picked the right tour. The power of first impressions.

Beautiful cafe/hotel… forgot to look at the name, sorry

Remember when we were in Vila Nova de Milifontes? And I got the the idea for some kind of tour that would help me navigate food markets. Well, there were hundreds of food related tours you can go on in Porto and there are thousands of reviews. A lot of information to wade through and choose. So I chose the one that felt right… having no idea if this tour would do the trick but trusting it would be grand.

Famous Majestic Cafe, there’s usually a queue

So here we are with Clara and she sets off at a quick pace with the two of us tagging along. You know how it is when you’re in a new place and every junction needs to be paused at just in case you’re going the wrong way? And more importantly you need to look both ways twice because you’ve forgotten again which way the traffic flows? Well, Clara always knew where she was going and was confidently walking across junctions. And I was happily trusting her with my life. (Yes, I did secretly look both ways, ready to grab her if she missed something speeding in her direction, did I mention my on full alert nervous system?)

Part 2 tomorrow…

Aveiro, everything we needed

May 8, 2023May 8, 2023 | Mairead

Not the prettiest of views but… we can see Ruby from the train station!

On Wednesday the weather got even hotter and the pressure rose higher as we drove north towards Porto. We didn’t have a place to stay in Porto and there was a possibility we wouldn’t be able to visit this time which was disappointing because it is such a beautiful place. By the time we arrived in Aveiro neither of us were thinking straight, we had headaches and were tired. There are only six or seven spaces at the official motorhome parking in Aveiro, although later we realised there’s an overflow parking about a hundred meters away. At the time we weren’t sure what we would do if it was full.

And it was full when we drove in. Now what? We drove around once looked longing at each full space and then noticed a motorhome at the far end was driving out… so we drove in feeling very happy. And then the rain came. Never before have we been as excited about rain and parking. The rain was glorious, the air pressure returned to normal, the heat broke and we got a parking space. On top of that, it was free. Best day ever!

Some of the art nouveau buildings in Aveiro

We only adventured out to the supermarket, less than 3 minutes walk way, for the rest of that day. Next morning we went to look at Averio. In the first century its then name translated as, “a gathering place or preserve of birds and of great salt”. Now it’s sometimes called, the Venice of Portugal. Averio is a university town with a young, international population and very vibrant. There are beautiful art nouveau buildings, some in great condition, some not so great. And there’s a canal.

The reason it got the Venice name was because of the canal running through the city. Boats, not unlike Gondolas, previously used to transport seaweed now give tourist trips up and down the canal. We walked twenty minutes from our parking to the first bridge we came to which turned out to be the Laços de Amizade. This is the bridge of friendship where friends or lovers write a message on a ribbon (prettier than padlocks) and tie it to the bridge. We sat to have a coffee and watched people write messages and tie their ribbons to the bridge. There’s a booth beside the bridge were you can buy ribbons.

It was late into this second day that we realised we were parked beside the train station where we could get a train to Porto! If we could only work out how to purchase tickets and where to go to get on the train we’d be off to Porto the next day. It turned out to be very easy. The ticket office person spoke great English and we bought our tickets to São Bento train staton, Porto, for Friday. Fifteen euros return, two adults on a one hour each way journey – a bargain.

Aveiro had provided everything we needed, thank you Aveiro!

Batalha and James Murphy

May 7, 2023May 7, 2023 | Mairead

Well, we did the food tour in Porto and had a really great time! It’s been a long time since we were in a big city and you forget how exhausting it can be. Not just the walking, the talking, the stepping around people, the finding your way, the eating. Full-on days need quiet days. Will tell you all about Porto soon but first I need to tell you about the town of Batalha. We went there last Wednesday.

There’s a huge monastery and cathedral in Batalha built in the 14th century. It is one of the most important Gothic sites in Portugal and one of the most visited monuments. And that’s not a surprise, it is very impressive.

Cleaning has started on the magnificent door to the cathedral

On the way out (as we exited through the shop) a book title in the display caught my attention. Does that say, Murphy? Well of course, I had to check, is this Irish? From inside the cover I read, Murphy is an academic journal architectural history and theory published once a year in Portuguese and English by the Impress da Universidade de Coimbra. (Oldest University in Portugal.)

It went on to say the name comes from an Irish born architect, who was the first to promote Portuguese architecture to the rest of the world. James Cavanagh Murphy came to Portugal to study the architecture at Batalha and his drawings of the monastery were published in the 1700’s. Imagine that!

Every approach to the building is impressive

There was no more about James in the book but I searched the internet and… James Murphy was born in Blackrock, Co. Cork (well, of course he was) in 1760 and was a brick layer. He loved drawing and went to Dublin to study either drawing or architecture. He seemed to have a natural ability in drawing. He was involved in work on the House of Commons and the building near Trinity College Dublin that became a bank.

Can you see the cleaned section of “rope”?

When he was 28 he was commissioned by an Irish politician called William Burton Conyngham, to make drawings of the monastery here at Batalha. James Murphy seems to have travelled back and forth from Ireland to Spain and Portugal studying and drawing beautiful buildings for the rest of his life. What a lovely way of life.

I am inspired by James Murphy to keep up with my map drawing work and in honour of him I have added the town of Batalha to my (not to scale or accurate) ©️Map of Portugal.

The restorers are in the middle of cleaning/restoring the monuments at the moment. The cleaned stone looks great and really sparkles but I also love the grubby stone, it reminds me it has been here a long time and it’s not perfect.

On a different topic… Do you see the captions on my photos? My friend Yvonne has noticed that the captions are not being added to my photos in emails from WordPress. This makes me sad because I love reading captions on people’s photos. If you get this blog by email and you’re not seeing the photo captions I’m sorry 😞 I don’t know how to solve this problem… yet. But in the meantime you might want to try getting the emails from mail chimp by visiting the blog directly at… www.maireadhennessy.com and clicking the Sign me Up link there❤️

Still here… just about

May 5, 2023May 4, 2023 | Mairead

The rains came and the heatwave is gone. And normal service can resume. I don’t know what happens to me but I can’t function in full heat. If it wasn’t for the box of ice creams Denis bought in Silves, I think I’d be writing this from Greystones.

Tiles outside the public toilets in Óbidos

In other good news… We found a tour in Porto and we’ll be doing that tomorrow. I’m looking forward to the food, pictures of the food, ways to cook the food and normal (for spring in Portugal) weather.

To bring you up to date, we decided to scoot past Lisboa (Lisbon) and head for Mafra, Peniche and Óbidos and if we did nothing else these three places would provide enough photos for the rest of our time away.

Mafra has a beautiful well kept huge palace which was closed on Monday when we were there but it’s still impressive from the outside. We visited the palace in 2018 and here’s a link https://maireadhennessy.com/2018/03/15/i-like-an-apple/

Peniche turned out to be not where we were at all! We were at Ferrel. Not as pretty a name but a very beautiful place… the app we are using tells us the best places to park the van. And so we follow the directions blindly. And we stopped and took some pictures and it was very nice and then we looked across the water to a very built up place and THAT was Peniche. I do prefer Ferrel.

Can you see the big white buildings on the extreme right? That’s Peniche…

And Ferrel has surfboards for rent. As you can imagine we were very tempted but we drove on to Óbidos and wow! This is an intact medieval town, a bit like Carcassonne but less commercial. Gorgeous narrow streets and a huge wall running around the outside. Lots of souvenir shops, cafes and restaurants. And bonus, free parking for motorhomes.

We sat with coffee in the shade for a while and walked in the sun for a while and then drove onto a campsite with NO shade. This was the hottest day, I was ready to go back home on a plane but there were ice creams in the freezer and beans on toast for dinner so I reconsidered.

The thing about going on these trips is how do we ever know where we’re going or what it will be like? Sure we can revisit places but they’re never the same or we’re not the same. All we can do is trust that things will work out in the end and remember to save some ice cream for the hottest day…

I’ll grab a picture of a map so you can get an idea where these places are located. I’m guessing you’re missing the maps (maybe you’re not?) but the problem is maps are owned by whoever makes them (or pays for them to be made?) and Facebook blocked me after the last one. So I either start drawing them myself (could try…) or I slip one in the odd time. It’s not really satisfactory, I know.

Well now that I’ve produced my own (not to scale or accurate) map of Portugal I can see why the other map makers might want to keep me from copying…

Map making… not as easy as you might think…

Market Anxiety

May 4, 2023May 3, 2023 | Mairead

Fruit and veg stall at the market in Vila Nova de Milifontes

From Sagres we travelled to a town called Vila Nova de Milifontes where there’s a very old campsite and an old market just across the road. We were really lucky to be there on Saturday morning, market day.

Unfortunately, supermarkets making shopping easy… not a problem but also not exciting. I get a bit overwhelmed by markets… what to buy? What to cook? What is that fish? Will it kill me? How do you cook it so that it doesn’t kill me? How do I explain my anxiety to the stall owner when I don’t speak the language? And also… is it okay to take pictures if you’re not buying? So many questions.

Lovely breeze sitting in the shade waiting for coffee

Walking around the market in Vila Nova de Milifontes made me think again about this and got me interested in a food tour I saw that runs in the newly renovated indoor market in Porto… maybe we can find a way to do that tour! If we do I’ll be bringing you along with me and hopefully telling you what won’t kill you when you’re buying unfamiliar food at a market.

Look at the adorable spoon that came on the saucer with my coffee

We hope to go to Porto this weekend and as the weather is forecast to be not as hot and getting cooler it should be very pleasant wandering around the city.

Here’s a close-up of the writing on the spoon…

The Storks

May 3, 2023May 2, 2023 | Mairead

A tiny bit of the castle walls and the Cathedral, Silves

This is a very quick note because it’s way too hot to think today, over 33 and still rising! But I nearly forgot to send you the storks!

Stork’s nest on top of a telephone pole opposite the motorhome parking

We stayed in Silves before Sagres. We’ve stayed there before and seen the storks and goats beside the motorhome parking.

Close up of stork from previous photo. Can you see the smaller birds? They have nests in underneath

I still know very little about Storks except they like to build their nests high up on the top of narrow poles or chimneys or electricity transmission towers. We’ve seen up to 7 stork nests sharing one of those transmission towers!

The same nests seem to be used each year, whether by the same storks or not I don’t know.

And the nests are huge. So big the smaller birds build their nests as part of the stork’s nest just underneath.

The end of the world

May 2, 2023 | Mairead

We travelled to the edge of the known world on Friday, Sagres. Well the known world before the Americas were discovered. And that might never have happened without Prince Henry the Navigator. Prince Henry grew up in the 1400’s. He was also the Duke of Viseu, remember where I left my bag in the cafe? Born in Porto but died here in Sagres.

Sagres looking out towards the lighthouse of Cabo de São Vicente

Henry was a Portuguese prince who poured loads of his father’s (the king) money into researching and exploring. He hired cartographers and designed (or had designed) a sail boat called the caravel. The prince sent his new sail boats to Africa in search of gold.

By the time Prince Henry had died, the trade of humans from African had become a business. Not everything exciting and new is good.

These days the sea around Sagres is very popular as a surfing destination . You can hire boards and wet suits and go on tours of the best surfing spots in the Algarve. The car parks are full of camper vans and motorhomes with surf boards on the roof.

We forgot to bring ours so we watched instead. Maybe next time.

The Cork Tree Forest

May 1, 2023April 30, 2023 | Mairead

There was a huge cork tree forest beside the campsite. We have never been this close to a cork tree

On Monday night we stayed out in the countryside at a small campsite near the town of Evoramonte. We stayed there again on Tuesday night as the heatwave had arrived and zapped our adventuring spirit. A rest was needed. Showers were also badly needed!

And we had never see the leaves of the Cork tree this clearly

The campsite is owned by a Dutch couple who were very laid back. When we arrived it was the day before Freedom Day a public holiday in Portugal and the husband told us they were very busy so he wasn’t sure if there was anything left and wherever we could find a spot would be grand.

There was a path from the campsite through the fields to a nearby road

This way of doing things can lead to uncomfortable results… sometimes people leave their pitch for the day and expect it will be there when they return because they have mentioned it to the owner. We have been there and have become very sensitive to the signs of a pitch already taken. But there were no signs at one very pretty pitch.

This strange looking bug was on the path. Can you see the red stripes? I realise it would have been helpful to add a coin or my hand for size but he was afraid of me and I of him

In the evening we watched a couple pack up their camp when the original camper arrived back irate and questioned whether they had checked with the owner. Well… we knew it wouldn’t have helped if they had.

Cork trees have to be 25 years old before the first harvest. And 9 years between each subsequent harvest

We might have been in their shoes if the spot had been a little bigger and the trees hadn’t been overhanging. It was a particularly nice spot with shade (from the overhanging trees) a pretty view of the castle in the distance and a cooling breeze coming across the valley.

I can’t believe this is the only picture I took of the view of the castle… this is from our pitch, did I mention we didn’t get the best view. Grand picture of a lamp post though…

If I was making up the story of an irate man and wanted to give him a happier life, I’d have him suddenly come to his senses. He might say… I don’t worry if I have a pretty space, I enjoy it and if it’s gone when I get back I enjoy where I find myself.

Can you see the number 2 on that tree? That lets the farmer know when this tree is ready for harvest

We had our own shade – not overhanging. It was from a row of Leylandii trees. Yes, the ones no one likes in their gardens anymore but when the sun passed it’s highest point they provided the deepest shade. The irate man might have said, trees are very generous with their shade.

The cool of the evening is best time for a walk

Unfortunately, it wasn’t until the next day that I realised that besides shade the Leylandii tree also provided mosquitos… The irate man would have said, ah mosquitoes, another reason to love Ireland.

I have antihistamine tablets and I’m taking them.